Using helium and oxygen based mixes to explore deeper then conventional air diving.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Big Blue Tech is proud received the authority to conduct the BSAC Sports Mixed Gas and BSAC Explorer Mixed Gas diver courses as BSAC Thailand launch their extended technical diver programs.

Big Blue Tech is a BSAC Technical Instructor Trainer Facility giving the ability to train divers up to the Level of BSAC Explorer Mixed Gas Diver Instructors, this is a first for BSAC Thailand and BSAC Centers outside Europe.

BSAC Sports Mixed Gas Diver
Educates BSAC Sports Divers with Advanced Nitrox training on how to conduct dives to a maximum depth limit of 50 metres. The dives will be conducted utilizing breathing a gas mixture of oxygen percentage greater than or equal to 20% and a helium percentage of up to 30%, for example, 20/30. This will teach you how to plan and conduct dives requiring mandatory decompression and normoxic trimix.

BSAC Explorer Mixed Gas Diver
Aimed at BSAC Sports Mixed Gas Divers who wish to extend your depth. This will allow dives to a maximum depth limit of 60 metres and conduct dives breathing a gas mixture of oxygen percentage greater than or equal to 18% and a helium percentage of up to 35%, for example 18/35.

BSAC Advanced Mixed Gas Diver (*To be released in October of 2010)
Aimed at Explorer Mixed Gas Divers looking to expand your training and extend experience to dive to a maximum depth of 80 metres. The training includes the use of any suitable combination of gas mixtures, gas planning, dive planning and dive considerations.

These courses will be run primarily in conjunction with expedition style liveaboards off the coast of Singapore to the HMS Repulse and HMS Prince Of Wales which is a popular destination for BSAC Divers. However the course is open to all qualified divers regardless of prior certification for diving off the coast of Koh Tao or any other favorite destinations where Big Blue Tech hold office.

Big Blue Tech is the only center outside of Europe authorized to offer these courses.

Fore information you can read more at www.bsacthailand.com

Study, Research, Biology are all part of the underwater study tech program.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Big Blue Tech, in cooperation with Big Blue Conservation releases a new program to give marine biology or people interested in scientific diving the training and tools to conduct their studys or research safely.

While a lot of underwater impact and research can be done in shallow water up to 30m on normal conventional recreational scuba there is a growing demand for deep water research on coral and marine ecosystems in the 50m range where extended time at the depth is needed.

According to Jen Mathews who graduated from Bath University with a Bsc in Biology there is a huge gap of people who are already divers and want to conduct professional level surveys and research but are limited by the confines of recreational scuba with both time, logistics and gas supply.

Big Blue Tech plan to amalgamate the SDI Solo Diver, SDI Research Diver, SDI Full Face Mask Diver , TDI Decompression Procedures Diver and SDI Marine Eco Systems Awareness into one package which will be conducted by both the director of Big Blue Tech and Big Blue Conservation.

British Suba Aqua Club Thailand awards the title of Open Water Scuba Instructor to a lucky student.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Big Blue Tech celebrates the graduation of Colin Tompson from his BSAC Instructor course conducted over a period of 2 weeks on Koh Tao Island off the coast of Thailand by BSAC Advanced Instructor James Thornton-Allan and examined by BSAC National Instructor Les Skelton.

In addition to his training course and instructor exam Colin also had the benefit to assist on a BSAC Ocean Diver and BSAC Sports diver course before taking his TIE (Theory Instructor Examination) and PIE (Practical Instructor Examination) which he passed successfully.

Colin had previously been working for 2 years as a full time divemaster at Big Blue Diving and decided it was time to join the dark side and by becoming a certified scuba diving instructor.

Big Blue Diving is a BSAC School of excellence meaning it offers the top level of training up to the prestigious Advanced Instructor rating.

Technical Diving school adds the worlds most popular closed circuit rebreather to its collection.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Big Blue Tech recently aquired a new rebreather to it’s collection to provide support to it’s european customers and training opportunities through the BSAC and TDI system of education.

The rebreather is a the AP Inspiration Classic which has sold more units than any other closed circuit rebreather in the world. The Inspiration Classic was the first production rebreather and conctinues to win awards from many diving agencies and magazines.

This also allows Big Blue Tech to provide three models for training of rebreathers with the Drager Dolphin and ISC Megaladon and now Inspiration Classic as options.

With 3 litre cylinders, easy maintenance and simple preparation – the Inspiration brought the benefits of optimal gas consumption and gas mix at all depths to the forefront of diving.

Quickly becoming the choice of expedition divers, film makers and sports divers alike, ranging from beach diving to RIB diving. right up to 100m expedition dives.

To achieve CE certification; the first (and only) CCR to feature dual independent oxygen controllers (Patented), the CCR to set the standard in PO2 control accuracy and scrubber duration; the first to achieve minimal breathing resistance in all diver positions and attitudes, the first mass produced and affordable CCR on the market.

The first to achieve worldwide distributorship with all that entails, including the development of the first unit-specific training courses by the major training agencies; and not least, the innumerable individual firsts that have been achieved by the many thousands of INSPIRATION CCR divers in the world today – from the discovery of virgin wrecks to personal depth and exploration records.

Entry level scuba divers choose BSAC as their certification during their holiday.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Big Blue Diving instructors Yvonne Fries and Hele Artal recently completed a BSAC Ocean Diver course conducted over 3 days on Kok Tao Island off the coast of Thailand. This was the first BSAC Ocean Diver Course conducted by the diving school which followed a successful cross-over program a few days earlier.

The Instructors were thrilled with the differences in theory and commented that they were allowed to teach what really matters in diving and not so much “fluff and sales”. This was also combined with skills that were based on repitition ensuring that the essential foundation skills were mastered before progression of depth could be achieved.

Looking back on the course the Instructors, who are also technical diving instructors, described the course as a challenge that unless the instructor is passionate about teaching divers then it wouldn’t be the course for everyone.

As for the 7 students, they loved their course but without anything to compare it to who knows. Several decided to continue their education and progress on to the BSAC Sports diver course as they found the course work to be challenging and gave them a sense of working for their certification.

The BSAC diving programs reflects diving in realistic conditions ensuring that once the student has completed the course, that they can dive these conditions with safety and enjoyment.

Learning to scuba dive with the BSAC is easy. BSAC adopts a progressive teaching method; breaking down the dive skills into small manageable steps making it very easy for the student to reach the required standard of competence. The theory knowledge is also very easy to understand by using effective teaching aids and issuing you with a comprehensive support materials and student pack.

Theory knowledge lessons are conducted by your Instructor who will use simple small manageable steps. Using simple and understandable terminology makes the theory lessons easy to grasp. On the open water dives; again we use progressive training building-up your open experience and depth experience dives, gradually.

Our BSAC Instructors have been trained to high standards and are highly experience people, Yvonne Fries is a triple certification instructor and won the SSI Most Certifications Issued Award, Helen Artal is also a triple certification instructor and is also one of the first female SSI Technical Diving Instructors in the world.

Big Blue Diving will continue to offer BSAC programs along side their PADI and SSI ones giving our customers more options and choices to chart their diving hobby. But be forwarned it’s not a certification gained easily but when you get your card it’s well worth the effort!

New technical diving computer promotion for trimix and rebreather divers.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Vr Technology the British manufacturer of the VR3 Computer, Sentinel Rebreather, Ouroboros Rebreather and the VRx Computer have released a ecologically friendly promotion to recycle and trade in your old model for a brand new one at a fraction of the price.

Big Blue Tech, a technical diving school in Thailand took advantage of this program when one of their old Monochrome VR3 computers was damaged and needed to be fixed, after discussing the repair options of around 200 pounds (400$) it was decided that getting a brand new one for only a few hundred pounds more was wiser and would give us a better product in the long run.

Vr Technology provides the option of either the VRX Computer or the VR3 HD computer. We decided to go with the VR3 HD computer. Both options featured the full unlocked algorithms,closed circuit trimix and colour without any extra costs, this was essential because many of the features in our old VR3 were used daily.

This program was made possible with the support of the UK W.E.E.E (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) scheme which provides funding and support to companies who dispose of electronic devices in a responsible way.

We’re big supporters of ecological developments, we’re an award winning ecological diving school and resort, which is why it’s great to see companies in the technical diving support field taking notice of responsibility to our environment as well.

The stress on your mind, body and soul from deep ocean diving can be eased with the proper level of fitness.

All sports today benefit from 
physical training; this is especially 
applicable to technical diving. You don’t have to be an anatomy chart or a body builder, but being in better condition does help you handle the stress of the extreme sport to be a more efficient and confident technical diver.

When recreational diving a diver uses one tank but on some of the dives performed technically up to six could be required; different tanks with different gases. A much more cumbersome weight to carry whilst on the boat, particularly when it’s time to attempt standing up!. Once a technical diver enters the water they will normally add a couple more tanks for decompression.

All of these extra tanks and equipment take up more space causing the diver to use more energy. So streamlining your equipment is very important. Your gear should be close to your body to help reduce drag, this is the same scenario as with racing cars. The less drag you have the more efficient the vehicle making it faster. Along with being streamlined you need to ensure that you are able to access everything quickly, just in case of an emergency.

The more energy a diver uses underwater results in a the higher Partial pressure of oxygen and carbon dioxide levels within the body which can be very dangerous if not monitored and kept within safe levels. Carbon dioxide controls your breathing rate and if your breathing gets out of control is what usually causes a diver to panic. Oxygen can cause a diver to go into convulsions if the partial pressure gets to high which can come about without any warning. On the surface this is not much of a problem but underwater if the diver experiences convulsions they may spit out the regulator which can obviously result in drowning. This could happen more easily to ‘out of condition divers’ where poor physical condition reduces stamina, with the increased exercise increasing the CO levels. Excessive amount of Carbon Dioxide also increases the likelihood of ‘Decompression Illness’.

Some predisposition factors for Decompression Illness
- Loss of body fluids; Dehydration is one of the main causes of DCI; this can be caused from urination, perspiration, breathing dry gases, alcohol or drug consumption.
- Poor or impaired circulation, which can arise from prior operations, accidents, old age, previously suffering from DCI and obesity.
- Carbon Dioxide build up
- Equipment not properly maintained or prepared, poor physical fitness or heavy exertion.
- Physical Labour- heavy lifting or task loading resulting in over use of joints and muscles.
- Ignorance – not knowing how to use, or adhere to dive tables.

All of this is taught in our courses, where you will learn about equipment configurations, oxygen and nitrogen levels and much more. 

The above predisposition factors for decompression illness show that you can reduce the risk in three out of the five points by maintaining a reasonable level of fitness: And your overall health will improve!

Nobody benefits from being overweight, so lets start talking about diets. Simply put, a diet is what you eat. A common misconception is that when you diet, you’re only eating things like boiled eggs and pineapple, (just an example). Following a fad diet like that will never achieve any goals.

What to eat!
Gain or Lose Weight :
Protein: Try to get two grams per kilo of body weight per day from sources such as chicken, lean meats, eggs, low fat milk or fish. Also a good whey and casein protein powder is an easy way to get your protein intake up.
Carbohydrates: Get most of your carbohydrates from wholegrain bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, vegetables or oats. A few pieces of fruit every day are also good for you.
Fats: Stay away from Saturated fats which come from animal products. Good fats are Monounsaturated (olive and canola-oil) and Polyunsaturated (fish and vegetable oils).

To Lose Weight:
There are many different ways to ‘diet’. I prefer to cut down my intake of carbohydrates for between five and seven days, getting 50% of my calories from fat and the other 50% from protein. Following this with one or two days consuming as less fat as possible resulting in an intake of approximately 40% from protein and 60 % from complex carbohydrates.
The Zone Diet: Your calorie intake should be equal parts protein, carbohydrates and fat.
Low Fat Diet: Doesn’t work for me. My energy level is a roller-coaster ride; I have to eat every two hours to stay sane. Might work for you though. There’s only one way to find out! You could try to have your first three daily meals of protein and carbohydrates followed by three consisting of protein and fat. Separating carbohydrates from fat will minimize the output of insulin, which is very important when trying to reduce fat.
One thing to remember is drink LOTS of water.

How Much To Eat.
Many small meals are better than a few large ones; Aim for around six a day.
Clean up your eating habits and learn how to count those calories. 
Buy a good food scale and keep a food log so you know what works and what doesn’t. 
After a week or so of clean eating reduce your daily calorie intake to equate to 500 a week until you lose no more than a kilo each week; losing any more than that is loss of muscle mass.

To gain weight 
Increase your protein intake to exceed 2.5 grams per kilo per day. 
Increase food with approximately 500 Calories per day for a week until you see an improvement in bodyweight. There’s no point in getting to fat so pay attention to you’re waist and not just the scales! To gain muscle you will also gain a small amount of fat.

How to train
Cardiovascular fitness is very important for the technical diver as it reduces air consumption, which not only enables diving with smaller and therefore lighter tanks, but it also reduces the risk of decompression sickness.

To increase your Cardiovascular capacity you need to raise your heartbeat for 15 minutes or longer. Participate in exercises such as jogging, cycling, swimming, step machines or skipping. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you do it!! Aim for three to four times per week. You can do the less demanding forms of exercise for longer periods or the higher ones for shorter. Varying your training makes it more fun. Try a round with a skipping rope for one minute (full speed) followed by a rest for 30 seconds. Repeat this cycle until you’ve had enough, next time try to increase the number of ’rounds’. Try the same with running and walking; it works very well.

Strength
Also important but you don’t have to look like a body builder. A well-balanced weight training program with a bit of extra work on legs, back and waist is what you need. Doing too much is counterproductive. Quality, not quantity is what matters.

45 Minute Circuit
This workout will give a combination strength and cardiovascular workout in one 45-
minute session. The key is to move from exercise to exercise as quickly as possible.
Select a weight for each exercise that leads to failure in 12-15 repetitions.

1. 5 minutes warm up on the treadmill
2. 1 set to failure of the following exercises:
• Chest Press
• Leg Press
• Lat Pulldown
• Hamstring Curl
• Biceps Curl
• Triceps Press
• Crunches
• Leg Extension
• Shoulder Press
• Calf Raise
• Seated Row

3. 5 minutes stationary bike, moderate intensity

4. 1 set to failure of the following exercises:
• Crunches
• Lunges
• Chest Press
• Biceps Curl
• Calf Raise
• Lat Pulldown
• Triceps Press
• Seated Row
• Leg Extension

5. 5 minutes elliptical, high intensity

6. 1 set to failure of the following exercises:
• Chest Press
• Hamstring Curl
• Triceps Press
• Leg Extension
• Biceps Curl
• Calf Raise
• Shoulder Press
• Lat Pulldown
• Crunches

7. 5 minutes elliptical, high intensity

8. 5 minutes cooldown on treadmill

This exercise should take you 45 minutes to complete and should be done twice a week for 4 weeks when preparing for any technical diving activity

Technical Divers arrive on shore in Khao Lak after 4 days diving in the Similan National Park

Khao Lak, Thailand – Big Blue Tech arrived this afternoon in Khao Lak peir after a 4 day technical diving liveaboard in the similan and surin islands aboard their luxury liveaboard the Mv Pawara.

Over the 4 days expedition leader and senior technical instructor James Thornton-Allan delivered a TDI Compressor Operator, TDI Gas Blender and TDI Extended Range course to students Emily Billingham, Andy Cavell, Mark Slinn and Matt Payne. These course we taught using the on board continuos flow nitrox system installed by Big Blue Tech in November and during dives on the different sites.

The course went smoothly and everyone passed with the exception of Matt Payne who was unable to complete his training dives due to an allergic reaction but he will complete them later on Koh Tao along with his TDI Divemaster Course next month.

During the dives in the similans it was easy to see why it’s so attrractive to dives with clear blue water and white sand, large rocks to swim around and diverse marine life. With dives around 50m the diversity was even greater and the technical divers saw different life then the recreational divers showing a clear option for deeper diving.

While the majority of the diving was around boulders and coral there was a trip to a shipwreck and some deep drift hangs to spice things up a bit.

In general the liveaboard is perfectly suited for technical divers with amble space for technical diving gear. The dive deck is low and easy to get in and out of the water. Additionally the continuous flow and oxygen fills were easily accesible and accurate with operation.

Returning tpo khao Lak for one night and some well deserved rest and then on to Krabi for some Cave Diving.