Assava Blogs

Since June 2014, Sunshine Divers has implemented the NEW-REVISED PADI Open Water Course. Not much has changed with the course structure, yet only a few additional skills have been added to the program to ensure student divers learn further about the importance of diving within a buddy team, focus on their air consumption and breathing methods underwater, along with extra practice on buoyancy techniques on the surface and underwater.

Our PADI Open Water course schedule is conducted over a 4 day period although we are very flexible with the program times to cater to individual student needs. Our group sizes are small with a maximum of 4 student divers to instructor to ensure this is possible. The general program schedule we offer starts Daily at 4pm with an orientation where you will meet your instructor and watch the first initial videos to give you some insight on what you will be learning over the next few days.  Day 2 is where you will head into a confined pool environment and practice all the skills you will need to know to go diving in the open water. Before heading to the ocean - you will still need to complete a few quizzes. Day 3 we start with your first 2 open water dives - here you have the opportunity to experience diving to a depth maximum of 12m. It's pretty cool!  You are on the boat for the full morning and back in time to have some lunch after all that energy use underwater. That afternoon you will need to complete your final theory and exams. Finally Day 4 we head out again on the morning boat and complete your last 2 open water training dives to 18m.  Yes and then you will be certified!

Recently certified PADI Open water divers include : John Flynn, Srihari Gowri Shankar, and Giarav Shah who enjoyed several dive sites around Koh Tao for their training dives with Instructor Kael Grant-King.  The Group size was a total of 3 students with instructor and a Divemaster Candidate Matt Dempsey who was there for additional support.

Come join in on the PADI Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) program with us at Sunshine Divers and receive benefits upon completion.

You will have the opportunity to practice a few basic skills in shallow water such as, clearing a mask and breathing from a regulator.

The trigger fish on Koh Tao come in two breeds, the slightly more passive yellow margin and the 'angrier' titan.

But why are they angry? Like most species, they are protecting their territory. Acting in a similar way to the damsel fish, they chase away what they perceive to be a threat to their zone, which is a cone shape above it, along with the odd bite if they are really angry. During mating season, they get angrier than normal. Moody sods! Some of them, however, are simply attacking because they are morons!

lf anyone/thing becomes an annoyance, it will flick up it's hidden trigger fin locked down in its spine. That's your first warning. If you get a second warning, it may tilt on its side to get a better look at the problem. Most times, it will swim away but, if not, it will swim at speed to try and chase the threat away. As a diver, it will actually bite your fins if they are a bright colour as that is what they think the threat is, another fish-like looking thing. It's the one piece of equipment where choosing a colour is actually important!

They mainly feed on coral, using their powerful jaws and teeth to break it apart, they stir up the sand which draws in smaller fish looking to feast on whatever it unearths. Often, they can be seen swimming off with a huge piece of coral in their mouths. The theives of the ocean!

But let's not be afraid of them. The clue is in the name, it's a FISH! A fish that looks awesome and can kick arse.

It's all in the name; the cleaner wrasse has one job and one job only, to clean. All species of fish need to be cleaned, or, to be more precise, for someone to remove its dead skin cells and parasites that attach themselves to the fish as they sleep at night, hidden amongst the rocks and coral.

This is where the cleaner wrasse comes in. Its job is to remove all this grime by eating it off. Basically, it works for food and gains diplomatic immunity from all species, even the predators.

Fish of all sizes will arrive at a cleaning station which is actually advertied by the wrasse doing an inviting dance. Once the fish has chosen its station, the team of wrasse get to work. Usually led by a male with a team of female workers, he manages his employees, even admonishing them if they get a bit greedy and bite their customers followed by apologising to his client by giving them a fin massage. Fish can watch the cleaners in action and, if they don't like the look of it, they move on to another station just down the coral. However, if you are a diver they are very annoying if you have some open wounds or scabs as they will see that as something that need a good cleaning and, before you know it, MUNCH! They have gobbled up your scab.