MV Scuba Cat is an ideal scuba diving platform. Her design gives stability that is only found in a very large catamaran liveaboard. She operates amongst the protected waters of the Similan Islands making this the most "friendly" liveaboard to be found...seasickness is rare. From only 12,000 Baht per person.
Whats new at Scuba Cat Diving, Phuket, Thailand
Only days go until the start of High Season here at Scuba Cat Diving, 5 * CDC Center, Phuket Thailand.....Is the worlds doom and gloom making you miserable? Is it now winter where you are? Are you dreaming of sunshine, flat seas and warm water?
Well its winter here now but not winter as you know it...the seas are flat the diving is awesome and the sun is shining......Why not look at what we have on offer this winter here at Scuba Cat Diving, Phuket Thailand........
Dive 2008 (one week to go!!!!)
Scuba Cat Diving, 5 * CDC Center, Phuket, Thailand are please to announce Sarah Kench and Andrew Coombes will be attending Dive 2008 at the NEC, Birmingham, UK at stand number 1666 November 1st and 2nd 2008. Please visit us for show stopping specials or just to say Hi. Full details on our New Career Internships will be available.
Local Diving
MV Scuba Fun
November 1st 2008 our full daytrip schedule starts for the High Season with the full range of local divesites available.
Half Day Diving & Night Dives
Only have half a day for Diving this holiday or wish to do a nightdive from the shore?
No probelm Scuba Cat Diving, Phuket, Thailand are pleased to announce this is available form November to April. Contact us for more details....
Similan Liveaboards
MV Scuba Adventure and MV Scuba Cat start their Similans schedules mid November 2008. So if you want to spend 2days/1 night or longer we have something to suit all of you. Day trips can also be arranged through our booking office. We are pleased to announce our experienced tour leaders with be in the Similans with us this season.
PADI Speciality of the month
Night Dive Speciality
What do you need to start:
* PADI Open Water Diver or Junior Open Water Diver certification (or qualifying scuba diving certification from another organization)
* Minimum age: 12 years old
What will you do?
You'll learn night dive planning, organization, procedures, techniques and potential problems. You'll also learn how to control your buoyancy, navigate and communicate at night. Since many of the plants and animals you'll see are different, you'll also get an introduction to nocturnal aquatic life.
What's included in the course?
At Scuba Cat Diving, Phuket, Thailand all our scuba diving certification courses include manuals and free scuba diving equipment rental For the Night Diver program you'll receive the PADI Night Diver manual. In addition we teach all of our diver level courses in small groups to ensure that you receive the attention that you deserve. All our courses are taught to PADI Standards.
PADI IDC
Here is our IDC schedule for November:
- PADI IDC 2nd - 13th
- PADI IE 14th - 16th
- EFRI 13th
- Speciality Instructor 18th to 21st
Let me know early if you know anyone interested to join in!
Congratulations
Congratulations to the 4 most recent IDC candidates from Scuba Cat Diving, 5 * CDC Center, Phuket, Thailand who were successful in becoming PADI OWSI's.
- Eric Smulders - The Netherlands
- Akiko Muakami - Japan
- Parasu Komoradat - Thailand
- Wayne (Jo) Bell - England
All are staying at Scuba Cat Diving, Phuket, Thailand to continue their education, Eric to Speciality Instructor and Jo, Akiko and Parasu to MSDT Instructor.
Akiko and Parasu completed their EFR Instructor.
Courses
Congratulations to Kerry Adams who qualified following a 4 day Reef Check Course.
Phuket News
The Leatherback Turtle
Mai Khao beach the longest beach of Phuket located all the way in the North West of the Island is a beautiful natural, undeveloped beach. On this beach the leatherback turtles are founded as they use this beach for laying their eggs.
During the grand Opening Celebrations of JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa in March 2002 the Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation was launched. This foundation raises funds and works to support the efforts of local people in this very important cause. The Leatherback turtles were confirmed as “Critically Endangered in Thailand” in 1996. The breeding process and to rise the number of Leatherback Turtles are very important. Therefore the preservation of their natural habitants and breeding places must be kept.
When a female leatherback wants to lay her eggs she returns to the same place she is born. The beach has to be quiet and dark otherwise the turtle will be scared and return to the sea before she is finished. Therefore it’s so important to let people know they shouldn’t disturb a turtle when she is laying her eggs!
The turtle crawls to a dry part of the beach and flings away sand with her flippers. First she makes a ‘body pit’ and then an egg cavity is shaped into a slightly tilted tear drop. A female leatherback can lay 50 – 180 eggs per nest. The eggs come out two or three at a time. Because the eggs are very flexible they don’t break as they fall in to the chamber. Once all eggs are in the chamber she pushes sand over the top and begins to refill the body pit by throwing sand in all directions. This way it is much harder for predators to find the nest.
After the little turtles came out the nest they orient themselves to find the horizon and dash towards the sea. If they don’t make it to the ocean quickly they can die of dehydration or predators like birds, crabs, dogs, ants and sadly sometimes humans. Only 1 of 1000 baby turtles survives to adulthood.
Facts about the Leatherback turtles
A leatherback turtle is a cold blooded reptile which can increase it’s body temperature with 10%
Fossil evidence tells us the leatherback turtle is already on this earth for at least 150 million years! That’s even before dinosaurs ruled the world.
Leatherbacks live all around the world in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian ocean and are spotted far north and far south on the globe.
Female leatherbacks always return to the same beach as where they first hatched to lay their eggs.
The average adult leatherback weights about 449 kg/1,110 pound and is 1,8 meters/6feet long.
The leatherback is the only marine turtle without a shell. The protection of the turtle is a leathery, scale-less skin made of tough, oil-satured tissue.
Because of their ability to regulate their body temperature they can dive deeper and swim into colder waters then any other marine turtles.
The temperature of the sand governs the speed at which the embryos develop.Cooler sand produces more males while warmer sand produces a higher ratio of females.
They can live for over 100 years!
Scuba Cat Diving, 5 * CDC Center, Phuket, Thailand would like to thank Lindie Van Zutphen who has been on a 20 week internship with us as part of her degree with NHTV in The Netherlands. She has been an asset to the team and her contributions to the Newsletters and the running of the office will be missed when she returns to The Netherlands early next month.
Compared with most "dive centers" in Thailand (a lot of them is just a website - a "Virtual Dive Company") - Scuba Cat owns their own fleet of diving boats and have been in operation since 1994. If you do a Course or a Dive Career Package with us, all your dives will be from one of our own dive boats, not "we got to do a beach dive, 'cause it is not enough students" or from a "last minute rented long tail boat, 'cause all the other boats are full".
Scuba Cat Receives Project AWARE Foundation Environmental Achievement Award 2006.