2010 – Diving? Me? No way!
2011  –  I can Dive…
2012 – I ♥ diving

I have been scared of the ocean my whole life. Big fish with sharp teeth, dirty water, the idea of not being able to see your feet, etc. etc.  Enough reasons to not go into the ocean with much more than my big toe. If you would have met me a year ago, and said that I would be scuba diving now? I would laugh at you and call you crazy!  How little did I know…

When my family and I were in Phuket in the summer of 2011, my brother was looking for a dive school to go on some daytrips. Walking along the beach we found Scuba Cat. The instructor we were talking to asked whether I was going to dive too and I told him I was definitely not going to, since there was really nothing that attracted me. The idea of breathing through a tube and having a lot of water above me didn’t sound like fun at all.
I don’t really remember what made me change my mind…but I went back to the dive shop to have a dive at the swimming pool, and I liked it.
I felt very comfortable, the instructor was really patient and we talked about the open water course. After thinking it over and over again, I decided to give it a try and see how far I would go. My Instructor Hielke,  was great. From the moment we met I felt comfortable and safe. He was extremely patient (I was a horrible student – and no I’m not exaggerating!) and he has great teaching skills.

After a day in the classroom, we practised the skills in the swimming pool. There were no problems, so why wouldn’t I be able to do the same thing in the ocean? I didn’t like the idea of pulling my mask off (and get seawater in my eyes) though I knew I would be perfectly able to put it back on. And what to think about practising for an Controlled emergency swimming ascent to the surface….looking up, seeing the surface is far, far away, and then take one breath in and ascent to the surface whilst breathing out all the way. But what’s the fun in life if you don’t try new things and cross your own borders?

I went on a complete new adventure, together with my instructor.
The first dive I stayed extremely close to him. No way there would be more than 15 cm between us! I was scared and I didn’t enjoy the dive. It was not horrible, but I didn’t think it was fun either. I didn’t see much of the beautiful marine life, since I was checking air and depth all the time and did my best to keep breathing on a regular base. Repeating to myself  ‘breath in, breath out…’ the dive seemed to last an eternity.

The second dive was much better, I saw a glimpse of the beautiful coral and sea creatures, still staying close to my instructor. I saw my first ‘Nemo’!

The third dive was a complete disaster, what broke down all the confidence I gained in the first two dives. We were sleeping on the boat and I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep…all I did was crying. That night, I decided to never go diving again. I was looking for a way to tell it to my instructor. I actually found it more sad for him then for me if I wouldn’t finish the course, he was working so hard! It was quiet (there was no one on the boat besides us) the fish were swimming in the lights of the boat and the stars were absolutely stunning! ( I can recommend live aboards to everyone, just to watch the stars and experience how quiet the world can be)
Later the instructor woke up and found me awake. We spend a lot of time talking. What were my exact reasons for not wanting to dive again? I don’t know how he did it, but he found a solution for everything (and I can guarantee you: I had 1001 reasons) and promised me that we would go back to the boat whenever I wanted to. I only needed one more dive to complete my open water training, so why not finish it? After finishing the course I could always decide to never go diving again, but at least I would have finished the course (well…I am a perfectionist, so I always finish what I started) He found the magic words and I went in again.

I’m so glad that he found a way to convince me to go back in!

He showed me how much fun diving could be and how beautiful the marine life is. Because all I did was follow where ever he was going and watching everything he showed me (and checking air and depth of course) I enjoyed the dive very much. We saw beautiful corals, many different fish in all the colours of the rainbow.  They say ‘time flies when you’re having fun’ and it was true! When coming up we had spent an hour down below and I thought we were only there for 25 minutes.
After this dive we went in two more times and with every dive I made I gained a lot of confidence.
I enjoyed the dives so much that I was actually sad that we were moving on to national park Kao Sok, away from the ocean.

During our journey home all I could talk about was diving. When diving I felt like Alice in Wonderland and I felt like I need to explore that world more. As soon as we got home, my brother and I booked a flight back to Thailand for December. Within a few weeks I booked our live aboard with a Advanced Open Water course for me and EFR & Rescue course  for my brother.
Before going back to the ocean I went to the swimming pool in the Netherlands to dive there. I wanted to check if I still knew everything, just to make sure. I’m glad I did, because now I had no reason to be nervous at all and I could relax during the flight. That flight was horrible, we had a major delay and missed our connection. We’ve spend Christmas day on the airport instead of under the palm trees. The staff of Scuba Cat was very friendly and helping with putting us on another daytrip and friendly and helpful words on the phone.

My brother and I went on the liveaboard to dive the Similans.

I read a lot about it before we went, but it was even more beautiful then I imagined….

There were some challenging moments (night dive, bad visibility after the rain,etc) but being with an instructor, Kiwi and my brother and a lot of nice people on the boat, I felt comfortable enough to face them. I know that at certain moments I would never have gone in the water if my brother wasn’t there to hold my hand, an instructor to watch over us and many nice people on the boat to share experiences and give some advice now and then. Being on a liveaboard is great. The food is better than in a restaurant, you meet new people and you all have something you share, so you don’t have to worry about awkward silence….I made new friends there and learned a lot.

I was diving more on my own, not so (literally) attached to my instructor or buddy anymore. I swam with big groups of fish, went deeper than ever before, I saw turtles and seahorses and it felt like I was swimming in an enchanted world.
As long as I stay between my own, newly discovered borders, I can explore that world and enjoy it too. The staff of Scuba Cat helped me with that and will help me to learn more things and enjoy diving more and more in the future.
This summer I’m going to Indonesia, but in December I’m returning to Thailand and dive more with Scuba Cat.  I can’t thank my first instructor enough for all his patience, calming words, teaching me how to dive and showing me the magic world of the ocean. Thank you to the other instructors and guides (daytrips and courses) for all your help, advice and guidance. I can’t imagine a life without diving anymore!  A big thank you to all the staff of Scuba Cat to make everything happen, from booking, to food, from diving to have a drink at the bar to celebrate the happy end of our combined story and our future return to you all.  I will highly recommend you all to everyone who wants to dive in Thailand and see you again in December. I’m looking forward to it very much!

Big hugs for everyone.

"Another first for Scuba Cat Diving"

Green Star Award Program 

 Go green and earn recognition for your conservation practices
with the new Green Star™ Award

On January 20^th 2012, Awarded Scuba Cat Diving, 5 * CDC, Phuket, Thailand, the Green Star Award for our dedication to environmentally responsible business practices and commitment to conservation of underwater habitats.

We are proud of being the first dive business in Thailand to be awarded such prestige. We are committed to to push our eco programs and practices to ensure the future sustainability of our Ocean Planet.

  Green Star Award Program

Did you fall in love with the aquatic realm the first time you went underwater? If you’re like most divers, your first experience meeting and greeting the denizens of the deep most likely left a lasting impression – and sparked a deep sense of caring about the health of our ocean planet.

On a more practical level, the commitment of divers to environmental conservation helps preserve dive sites around the world — so divers like you can return to favorite sites year after year.

There’s more to going green than simply jumping on the eco bandwagon.

The Green Star Award identifies Scuba Cat Diving as one that cares about the environment and is acting to protect it.

About the Award  

Dive Centres and Resorts who have earned the Green Star Award demonstrate a dedication to conservation across a wide range of business functions, including (but not limited to):

• Water conservation
• Energy use
• “Environmentally friendly” transportation practices
• Optimized waste management
• Use of sustainable materials
• Conservation leadership

Congratulations…… you have just completed your Advanced Open Water Course.

So how do you show this to Dive Centres around the world?

Your certification card is proof that you’ve successfully completed your training. This will arrive through the Post system to your home address. Once you have the card you are ready to start diving.

If you’re like most divers, you never miss an opportunity to go scuba diving.

If you loose the card, what can you do?

• Replace the card
• Contact Scuba Cat and ask them to do a Check for you then continue your education and get a new certification as a result!

You may also want to replace your card if:

• You damage it .
• You changed your name. (You’ll need a copy of legal documentation of name change.)
• You are upgrading from any Junior Diver certification.
• You would like to replace your existing card with a new Project AWARE Edition Certification Card.

• You want to collect fun limited edition certification cards!

You can easy replace your card online at .com. It will be with you in about 3 weeks. You can also print a temporary card if you cant wait that long.

It’s a little bit harder to change your name, contact first and let them have an email showing the legal documentation. They will change your name on their system; you can then order the new card online. Sound like too much admin? Again why not take the next course?

The future is coming….

As with everything else this small card is going electronic.

The eCard uses the power of the smartphone (initially available for Apple, and Android smartphones) and will be hosted, managed and displayed using the Application.

The eCard will be proof of certification.
Security of the eCard was one of s primary concerns, so QR coding (a specific, two-dimensional code) is integrated to make authentication straightforward and easy.

The eCard will be available for new certifications and replacement cards starting in fourth quarter 2011.

Divers will have the options of a eCard, plastic certification card or both.

Scuba Diving is a sport and  as with the majority of sports there are safety guidelines and it is important to follow these to eliminate risk.

Here are a few considerations for safe diving.

" Safe Diving Practices"

always teach the fundamentals at Openwater Diver level. These include dealing with buddy separation and DCI.  Should you be separated from your buddy then the rule is that you should search for no more than one minute and surface safely. Hopefully, you will be reunited at the surface as your buddy should be doing the same. The key thing here is not to continue to dive alone. If for any reason your buddy does not surface, it could mean that he/she may be in difficulties and if  this is the case then time is of essence if a rescue has to take place.

"Buddies"

Decompression sickness and illness can occur, but it is highly unlikely. There are certain things that you can do to minimize the risk. One of the major causes of DCS is dehydration, so drink plenty of water and stay hydrated. Diving itself is a dehydrator as is the loss of fluid from the body due to sweating.   It is always useful to carry a supply of rehydration salts to aid rehydration.  Also be aware of how much alcohol has been consumed the night before a dive and do not consume alcohol prior to a dive or between dives.  If you decide to snorkel between dives or immediately after diving then stay on the surface as micro bubbles are in your system and duck diving is like having a “mini” dive.  The micro bubbles can be forced into the tissue. The other recommendations are that you do not exercise or have a hot shower immediately afterwards as again this can force micro bubbles into the tissues.  Always remember that flying after diving has time guidelines from 12 hours for a single dive and 18 hours for multiple dives.  To help eliminate nitrogen in the body it is recommended that a safety stop should be done for a minimum of 3 minutes at 5metres. It is important to be a SAFE diver..slowly ascend from every dive!!

Many dives are conducted from boats, which gives rise to certain safety issues.  Divers surfacing should have signaling devices, so that moving boats can see that there are divers below. The most common is the SMB (surface marker buoy) The SMB is normally deployed on the safety stop at 5m. The SMB is sometimes known as a safety sausage and is generally orange in colour. There are two types commonly used, the self sealing and the open ended.  It is not necessary to have a forest of SMBs when surfacing, but be close to the person who has it just in case a boat does pass by.  Also watch your depth while you are doing your safety stop. Try and maintain 5m and not go shallower. Remember, a boat can pass over you at 5m, but at 3m if you don’t have a signaling device, you may be on a collision course.  Engine noise direction is impossible to determine. However, if the noise is getting louder it is approaching you, quieter it is moving away.  Wait to surface once you know that it is safe to do so.

"SMB"

If you see your boat underwater should you swim to towards it? The answer is no. Always surface to the side or at the back of the boat and do deploy the SMB. It is important for the crew to see you. If it is a live boat and the boat constantly moves to pick up divers you do not want to be under the boat if the propellers are engaged.

There a variety of signaling devices on the market including strobes, mirrors to name a couple. However, it is highly recommended that as a diver you should have two devices with you, audible and visible. The audible could be something as simple as a whistle that can be attached to the BCD.  It is also advisable to carry a cutting tool should entanglement happen. The most common  is a small dive knife that again can be attached to the BCD. If you do get entangled remain calm and systematically free yourself with the help of your buddy. Try not to turn around as you may make the situation worse.

"Whistle"

Diving is a very safe sport but there is no room for half measures when it comes to safety. The guidelines are there minimize risk and should be followed at all times.

The Scuba Diving industry over the years has evolved rapidly and more people are becoming involved. There has always been a misconception that it is a sport that is available to the fit and able bodied.  However, in recent years the industry has seen an increase in disabled divers, which has been a major leap forward. Disabled divers have been supported by the introduction of various organization’s that purely work with people with various disabilities, both physical and mental.  Scuba Cat, 5 * CDC Center, is also a DDI Instructor Training Centre (Disabled Divers International). Sarah Kench, the Owner and General Manager, is a Course Director and an  Instructor Trainer for the organization and Hielke Oppers, a Instructor at Scuba Cat Diving is also an Instructor for DDI.  Scuba Cat Diving recently represented the DDI at MIDE, the Malaysian Dive Show in Kuala Lumpur.  Their presence at the show always attracts interest and it is a positive step in promoting the disabled diving community, which is growing.

Scuba Cat representing the DDI at MIDE 2011

Many disabled divers are restricted with their movements  and sensory functions. Can you imagine being a paraplegic, sitting in a wheelchair for most of your waking day? Most people who have been able bodied and due to injury or disease are restricted do have a tendency to suffer from depression. There seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. Diving offers hope. It is freedom from a wheelchair. Scuba Cat Diving has offered this freedom  to many people over the years.

Diving for the Disabled

Scuba Cat Diving has facilities that can accommodate disabled  divers. The training center is a multi purpose building, where disabled divers  can enjoy their theory lessons in comfort on the ground floor. Scuba Cat has it’s own swimming pool and day boat, which means that logistics of accommodating a disabled diver is not an issue.  Every disabled diver is assessed and depending on the type of disability a program is put into place to cater for that individual’s needs and wants.

"No Barriers"

This is a wonderful program and with time hopefully more and more disabled divers will enter the sport.  Disabled is a word that tells the world that you can’t do something. Diving ENABLES these people and highlights what they CAN do!!