PADI Sidemount Course

PADI Sidemount is one of the more recent PADI Specialty Courses and is a whole new way of diving. You learn to dive with either one or two tanks attached to your side as opposed to one tank on your back! 

Some of the techniques and procedures used in Sidemount are the basics of Tec Diving so Sidemount is a great way to get a taster for Tec Diving while still within the limits of recreational diving.

Sidemount Diving - two tanks on the side not one on the back

Having scuba tanks on your back isn’t a requirement for exploring the underwater world. Many scuba divers have discovered the joy of mounting cylinders on their sides. Sidemount diving gives you flexibility and streamlining options plus, you don’t have to walk with heavy cylinders on your back – just enter the water, clip them on and go.

The Dive Academy offer both the PADI Recreational Sidemount Course and the Recreational Sidemount Instructor Course.

The Recreational Sidemount Course takes two days to complete. You complete the theory by independent learning then have a short theory review session where we make sure you understand the concepts and differences of Sidemount diving, such as slightly more complex gas management. You then go to the swimming pool where you get to try out the gear used for Sidemount and get used to the different configuration of the equipment and the different way of doing certain skills compared to diving with a tank on your back. As a diver already there aren't many new skills for you to learn just previously learnt skills conducted in a different way to allow for the different equipment set-up. The second day is where you get to make 3 dives in the sea with the Sidemount gear, getting used to the difference in buoyancy, gas management and just generally get used to a different way of diving. Many who have tried Sidemount say they much prefer it to diving with a normal BCD.

If you are a PADI Instructor or are taking an Instructor Development Course and already a PADI Recreational Sidemount diver, the Sidemount Instructor Course can be completed in one day with only 1 dive needed plus a classroom presentation, although we do prefer to have a short theory and pool session the day before. If you are not a Sidemount Diver already the Sidemount Instructor Course can be completed at the same time as the Sidemount Diver Course.

For more information on PADI Sidemount Specialty take a look at our website: http://www.thediveacademysamui.com

and for information about PADI Professional level training:

http://www.idc-thediveacademysamui.com

or contact us by email: info@thediveacademysamui.com

Diving Koh Samui: Sail Rock

Sail Rock is approximately 50 minutes speedboat journey north from Koh Samui, between Koh Phangan and Koh Tao and is a pinnacle shaped like an iceberg that rises out of the water creating a fantastic wall dive.

Sail Rock is stunning at depths of 5 metres and down to a maximum depth of 40 metres, so it is ideal for beginners and experienced divers alike. There are sometimes relatively strong currents on parts of the site, but the site is big enough for you to dive and avoid the current.

Sail Rock is famous for the vertical "Chimney", which begins at around 16m and opens at the top around 6m and is great fun to ascend through. Sail Rock is one of the main sites in the area for sightings of Whale Sharks, but if they aren't around there are always schools of Barracuda, large schools of Yellow Fusiliers, many schooling Trevally, Giant Morays, Large Groupers, Batfish and a great variety of other fish.

Lights, Camera, Action

The Dive Academy recently had the pleasure of hosting famous American conservationist Jeff Corwin during filming of a Thailand themed episode of his Emmy Award winning wildlife adventure series Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin.

On the first day out Jeff and his crew, consisting of his Director, Cameramen, Producer, Sound man and a couple of assistants, wanted to go to our best dive spots to see the best of the marine life in the area. 

For the first spot we went to South West Pinnacle where the visibility was good at about 15m and as expected there was plenty to see for the guys to capture on film. Schools of Barracuda, Snapper, Fusiliers, a couple of very large Grouper, blue spotted stingrays, banded shrimp and the huge bed of anemones were just a few of the things the guys enjoyed filming. 

For the second spot we went to the amazing Sail Rock. The visibility there had dropped to around 7m but as usual there was plenty to see, so much so that Jeff decided he wanted to make two dives there to capture even more footage. Unfortunately there was no Whale Shark but one of the resident Giant Moray's was around and even followed Jeff as he swam away, allowing for some good footage I'm sure, especially as Claire was in charge of the lighting during most of the day!! Again, more Grouper, big schools of Trevally and Snapper and a Yellow Boxfish all gave the crew something to capture on camera.

The second day out was a trip to Koh Tao where the crew were meeting up with Nathan Cook from Eco Koh Tao to look at a couple of the fantastic projects they are running. 
First stop was to the Coral Nursery next to the most popular dive site around Koh Tao, Twins. The crew filmed Nathan and the guys from Eco Koh Tao collecting fragments of broken coral (of which, unfortunately, there is plenty in the area), selecting pieces that are still able to be rejuvenated then planting them in a frame where they will be left to grow. Once the coral has grown to a significant size it will be moved to either one of the many artificial reefs being developed around Koh Tao to ease the burden on the natural sites, or to one of the natural sites to supplement or replace the endangered coral.

After lunch the crew were taken to Junkyard, which is an artificial site built to be used for diver training and various marine projects. Here Eco Koh Tao have developed a Clam Nursery where clams are being cultivated and protected from natural predators, such as Trigger Fish, by mesh cages. Jeff and the crew were shown how the size and growth of the clams is being monitored and once the clams are big enough to be moved they too will be transferred to another site to help restore the failing population. 

And that's a wrap.......

It's not every day you have Emmy Award winners on your dive boat filming and it was a great experience for us to see the program being made and we are looking forward to hopefully seeing the episode when it airs.

An added bonus was that all of the crew were really friendly and  a pleasure to be around which made for two nice, albeit long days out when we were coming back as the sun was setting.