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IM FROM THE FUTURE posted:Viz waslow enough to make hunting hard, and the only nice fish I put a shot on was too quick. Is that a helmet mounted cam or something, loving the FPS vibe you had going there. I've never used a speargun, but it does look like a fun way to get a fresh meal...
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Mar 13, 2012 22:12
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IM FROM THE FUTURE posted:Although a number of gopros have gone missing from peoples heads. As in the whole thing came off I'm guessing? Yeah I'd probably want to secure it to my BCD or something as a secondary failsafe, but in a way that wouldn't present a danger of it getting tangled up in the octo hose or around tank valves or whatever. IM FROM THE FUTURE posted:Going out, swimming off the beach to hunt dinner completely under your own power. Mmm yeah, when I was in NZ it was really easy to get a fresh caught huge snapper for a decent price, then chuck it in the oven in a huge pyrex dish head tail and all surrounded by fresh veg and water, and have it come out later cooked to perfection and surrounded by tasty fish gravy. The only thing that could make that better is having caught that fish myself.
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Mar 14, 2012 20:07
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I think panicked diver is the role everyone universally loves to play. Sometimes ya just want to make loud noises and flail around like a retard. Good times...Finch! posted:I've locked in my dive controller (SSI's dive master) course. Three months on Koh Tao from late November. Should be awesome... You'll love it, I did my DM internship on Koh Tao last summer. I miss that crazy island...
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Mar 22, 2012 11:02
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Finch! posted:Who did you do it with? I've spent a lot of time there - probably about six months in total - and I only have one place in mind to do it: Big Blue. I love that place. Mmmm yeah it's an addictive little island isn't it, I spent almost four months there when I was doing the DM internship, and fully intend to return and spend some more time. Great memories like jumping off the morning boat after a couple of dives, cheesing it to the chicken and rice place opposite the ladyboy club, then via 7-11 for a bottle of sprite then back to the shop in time to snag a couple more dives on the afternoon boat for the days it was running. Or getting noodlesoup to go from the couple that run the stall outside the 7-11 next to BigBlue and taking that on the boat. I was based at Simple Life which is just behind Wind resort, so right next to where you'll be. drat, even typing this makes me miss that place, need to get my poo poo sorted so I can head back there.
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Mar 23, 2012 20:12
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Finch! posted:Nid's, but not Tik (only place on the island to give me the shits). The pub that's in the old screening room does killer roast pork on Sundays Ahhh Nids, yeah we would roll up there when a hard day's diving (awww poor us) called for a slap up meal - the Cordon Bleu for I think like 150 baht was just the greatest. Someone else mentioned getting a bad reaction from Tiks once I think, but it was on my regular rotation and I don't remember any problem so just luck of the draw I guess. Oh and the the Massaman curry from the place next to Zanzibar - I'd have to take a milkshake along because it is pretty hot, but holy poo poo it was awesome. Which pub do you mean for the roast, don't think I ever tried that? I was there from June to Sept last year, so we were there at the same time though I spent as much time as I could out in the water. Arrived with 15 logged dives and left with 170 and there is still sooo much to learn and do. SgtScruffy posted:As someone who is considering doing a DM internship there, what's the level of "hey intern, clean the toilets in the store and be our bitch" to "live out your dream of just waking up and diving every day in a tropical paradise"? As Finch says, your DMT experience is totally dependant on the diveshop and the way they do things - I imagine it would be very different at for example Bans which is a massive diver factory, to one of the smaller ones. That's not to say better or worse, but most places will probably be set in their ways. To cover my experience, there were no shop days or anything since there was a dedicated shop manager so he seemed to take care of everything there. DMT's would help fit kit to customers, carry the regs and masks and any tanks that needed moving down to the longtail (our compressor was on the boat, so tanks were brought ashore only for maintenance or pool sessions). One DMT each trip would be in charge of the boat list, so they would dictate the number of regs and masks to bring, ensure that everyone who was supposed to be on the longtail was there, do the roll calls on the boat as required and ensure all the kit was returned at the end of the day. Even in that role it was usually possible to do both dives, unless the boat was really full in which case you would stay as surface cover, but that wasn't often necessary. After getting back, all DMT's would pitch in to wash and rinse all the gear, then it was time to decide which restaurant to hit for dinner. Me and my DMT friends had plenty of chances to go exploring, and find sunken treasure:  So yeah expect to pay 60-200 baht per meal, and I was paying I think 9000 baht per month for an aircon room with ensuite hotwater shower, special rate for the diveshop I was with so def check with whoever you go with first for accommodation.
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Mar 24, 2012 12:30
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Finch! posted:Next to Zanzibar... the place that's basically a little stall under the eaves of the minimart or the actual restaurant place on the other side? Yeah, so you've got the supermarket place, then kind of a covered gap, then this place I'm on about (we just called it the Massaman curry place) and then Zanzibar. Check it out. Also the place just past the gas station if you're heading towards Mae Haad with the fruit stall outside during the day. Nothing fancy, just good decent food for a good price and the owners are friendly and helpful. As for the other place I think I know where you mean now, though never heard it called that (or anything for that matter). If it's where I think it is, there was a new vegetable juice bar type place just opened on part of the patio area just to the side. Studebaker Hawk posted:With all this Koh Tao talk, any shop recommendations for first timer doing open water? I have a couple in mind based on various Internet reviews but am always interested in the goon recs Finch already covered some of this but let us know which ones are on your shortlist and we can let you know what we've heard about them. It's likely that Ban's has appeared a lot in your searches - they are the biggest and busiest. That means they have experienced staff because of the volume of people and will have tried and tested procedures for teaching, gear servicing and that sort of thing - such a large machine can't survive without them. Those will work in your favour however the downside is that classes will be large - they make use of the PADI ratio limits (number of instructors/DM's to customers) and this I can confirm from experience... the sight of a Bans capital ship turning up at a dive site then then watching a dozen people doing a conga down the mooring line always made me grin. This means if you or someone needs a little extra TLC with some aspect (equalising, mask clearing etc) then you might get a little less individual attention than if you were with a dive school that takes 2-6 sized groups. Then again they probably have good experienced DM's who will take you aside and help out with that so swings and roundabouts really. Just try and work out what sort of learning environment is right for you.
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Mar 28, 2012 11:43
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Crunkjuice posted:Yes you will. Protip = Get a roll up snorkel and keep that bitch in a pocket somewhere. The way the instructor manual is worded, you don't have to wear it, but have it. Haha scrolled down to post exactly this. I had this great Tusa basic as gently caress model made out of the flexible material, no valve or stupid poo poo like that. Just kept it shoved in my BCD pocket when I could be arsed and slapped it on the mask for a surface swim (I preferred face in the water of on the back most of the time) but then it got stolen or something and they don't seem to make that model any more.  Studebaker Hawk posted:For the goon who asked last page (posting from phone) we ended up going with Scuba Junction as they seemed like a good bunch of people, not too big, not too small. My wife and I have our instructor to ourselves and finish our open water tomorrow. Rough waters and lovely visibility on our first day made for an anxious first lesson, but today was awesome. Yeah you pretty much have to roll with the pot luck on KT. Most days is not bad vis, some days lovely, some days loving fantastic. I remember one of my last dives at Shark Rock and it was perfection. It was like flying, or being in the most pristine aquarium with crystal clear water and at least 25-30M vis. I'd be lying if I said that was a typical day, I've never seen it that good before or since but sometimes you get lucky. Also, bad weather on top can often pay dividends when it comes to the underwater world so you can often get a pleasant surprise.
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Apr 3, 2012 00:13
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Laser eye surgery is the way to go if you can afford to drop the cash, though the 3-4 months until you can dive again might be a drawback (I had it done in August 2010 and ended up doing my OW in November so it worked out very nicely). Also SlicerDicer great pics. Where were these taken?
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Apr 9, 2012 16:11
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That's good to hear, bet he's happy to see some new scenery too after so long in there.
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Apr 29, 2012 13:54
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jackyl posted:a somewhat confused grouper that would follow dive groups around and want its chin scratched. The only thing was that we ended up diving off West Caicos for all 8 dives since the conditions weren't great at some of the other sites. Not a big deal, there are a lot of dive sites there and diving the wall was awesome, but it would have been cool to see a bit more variance. That grouper sounds like he owned. Also if you get a dive where perhaps it is somewhere you've seen before or the visuals aren't great, its a good time to practice your diving technique and style. For example when I was acting as rear guard for a dive group on a site that I'd dived many times before, I would take the opportunity to do things like concentrate on my breathing ratio (how many seconds breathing in vs how many breathing out), counting kick cycles, or just observing other divers or the lead DM/instructor for habits both good or bad. Of course some things like buoyancy and stuff you try and practice on every dive, but putting even more concentration into them when you have the opportunity can pay dividends. It sounds like you're already both off to a great start, so the best thing you can do is keep that momentum going whenever you can. A bunch of dives close together will certainly net you more gain than the same amount spread out, but every dive is valuable experience. Edit: still lovin your pics slicer and especially your advice. Could be worth getting a section in the OP with some of that. Azzip fucked around with this message at 00:53 on Jun 6, 2012 |
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Jun 6, 2012 00:49
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