Aquanauts Perfect for 2009 as 2 More Interns Become PADI Instructors

Aquanauts closed out its second continuous calendar year of perfect results on the PADI Instructor Exam when interns Dan Cook and Ben Wertsch became new Open Water Scuba Instructors in December.

Englishman Cook, 18, and 24-year-old Wertsch of the United States posted strong scores on written exams and pool sessions at the Pattaya Discovery Beach Hotel next to the Aquanauts main office and then sailed to success during the final open-water training day.

Both are staying on at Aquanauts to become Master Scuba Diver Trainers. Cook has already begun his MSDT and Wertsch will be returning in February.

The two latest passes now give Aquanauts a 100% pass rate for the past 2.5 years and is now the only center of its kind in Thailand with perfect records for all of 2008 and 2009.

December's instructor development course was staffed by Course Director Roger M. Smith, Master Instructor Gary Tytler and IDC Staff Instructor Megan Smith.

Pattaya Mail Covers Aquanauts Turtle Trip, Pattaya Dive Club

Scuba diving was much in the news in the Dec. 11 issue of the Pattaya Mail which carried stories on Aquanauts recent visit to the Thai Navy's Sea Turtle Conservation Center and the formation of the Pattaya Dive Club.

In the Travel & Tourism section, the lead story is Aquanauts Dive students help restore sea turtle population about the Nov. 25 outing to the Sattahip center where interns learned about the endangered turtles of Thailand got to set new ones free into the sea.

“As a leader in protecting the area’s marine environment, Aquanauts wanted to give our students first-hand knowledge about one of the creatures they see and dive with every day,” Aquanauts Managing Director Roger M. Smith told the publication.

The same section also contained coverage of the Nov. 28 seminar where city and national officials laid out a strategy to publicize Pattaya as a wreck-diving destination. In the story "Navy, governments join to promote Pattaya as wreck diving destination," the paper quoted PADI Thailand country manager Hans Ulrich as saying Navy officials discussed the possibility of sinking yet another wreck within one to two years.

You can read more on the newspaper's website but be aware the links above will only work for a few days. After that the paper moves its past stories to its archive. Click the "All Back Issues" link to reach the Pattaya Mail archives.

More Than Scuba: Aquanauts Instructor / Ex-Intern Goes Sky Diving

Normally accustomed to diving underwater, scuba instructor Sally Rathbone decided to try the “other” diving and volunteered to throw herself out of an airplane owned by Sri Racha-based Thai Sky Adventures.

Managed by American Wayne Edmisten and Englishman Harry Hongjindapong, who have a combined 45 years of skydiving experience, Thai Sky Adventures opened in Ao Udom in November with a sales office in Pattaya.

“I have wanted to skydive for years and was excited when I arrived at the center at 9 a.m. and met my instructor, Frank Volkmar,” said the diminutive 27-year-old Englishwoman, who normally spends her days as an IDC Staff Instructor for Aquanauts Dive Centre on Soi 6 and Beach Road. “He was friendly and professional and immediately removed any trace of nerves about throwing myself out of a plane 13,000 feet in the air.”

“He gave me a thorough briefing about my body positioning when exiting the plane, during freefall and for landing. After that we geared up and headed off to the airstrip where a small plane was waiting. Along with us was Scotsman Dave Burnett, who was completing his first assisted solo dive for his Accelerated Free Fall course, which will qualify him to do solo dives.

“As we ascended I looked down at the view and felt mainly excitement with a few underlying nerves. Frank firmly secured my harness to his and, after watching Dave jump with his two jumpmasters, we moved to the edge of the plane with the videographer. Before I knew it we were falling fast through the air and I was enjoying every second!

“I expected to feel fear in the free fall period of the dive, but it was the best part. All your natural instincts are still telling you to stay alert since it is hard-wired into your head. But your brain just starts watching and enjoying what is happening. It is the most peaceful you can ever feel while still having an adrenaline rush. It’s scared, excited, and calm, all at the same time.

“I expected to see the ground rushing towards us, but because of the height it barely feels like you are falling. When Frank opened the parachute at 5,500 ft. the deafening sound of the wind suddenly disappeared to leave behind complete peace and silence. As we glided in, we had a great view of the area and Frank allowed to try steering the parachute before landing smoothly at the drop zone. What an amazing experience and one to definitely be repeated!”

Thai Sky Adventures is located in 19 km from Pattaya just off the main Bangkok-to-Pattaya highway. The company provides transport from your accommodations to the drop zone or offers car and motorcycle rental, if required. For more information contact 085-900-3412 or online here..

Navy Suggests 5 Wrecks Could Be Sunk in Pattaya; New Details on Dive Club Plan

The Royal Thai Navy is prepared to sink as many as five wrecks to promote Pattaya as a wreck-diving tourist destination, according to Chesta Jaipiem, a Navy private-sector liaison who attended last month’s joint Pattaya-Tourism Authority of Thailand-Navy seminar on diving in Pattaya.

According to Robert Camp, the owner of Pattaya’s Adventure Divers who attended the Nov. 28 event at the DusitD2 Hotel, public agencies want to work together to preserve Pattaya’s marine resources, promote the city as a diving destination centered around wrecks and promote the city’s dive operators to spur tourism.

To do this, the Navy is prepared to start sinking additional ships as artificial reefs. The first could be sunk by the end of 2011 and, should public- and private-sector organizations work together, as many as four more over the next 10 years.

“In the desire to work together, the Royal Navy wants to have suggestions from the Private Sector about the placements of these wrecks. These placements will be subject to the approval of the Royal Navy; the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources; the Department of Fisheries and the Marine Transportation Department. The private sector’s suggestions will be given fair consideration,” Camp wrote in an e-mail to other Pattaya dive operators.

Camp believes the city has already set aside a budget of 16 million baht for the project based on the possibilities of attracting more tourists to the city.

“My interpretation of what the various government agencies that were represented that night were trying to tell the private sector is that if we try to help ourselves they will try to help us,” he wrote.

Camp said Freddy Kruyt, owner of Neptune Dive Center, has suggested at the meeting that the Navy isn’t the only route to building the wreck-diving sector. He believes the industry could obtain some privately owned vessels and use some of the city’s budget to sink one before 2011.
“Other suggestions, such as trains to sink, maybe an underwater statue zoo are all things to be considered,” Camp wrote.

While there’s obviously some excitement among Pattaya dive operators, all talk of wreck placement or obtaining vessels will have to come after actual operation of the tentatively named Pattaya Dive Club and the opening of its website.

Navy, Governments Join to Promote Pattaya as Wreck Diving Destination with New Pattaya Dive Club; Sink New Wreck Within 2 Years

Pattaya city officials, the Royal Thai Navy and the Tourism Authority of Thailand have joined forces to market Pattaya as a premier wreck-diving destination and with the formation of a new dive operator club and the sinking of another shipwreck within two years.

Tentatively called the Pattaya Dive Club, the association will promote all the city’s dive companies through a joint Internet website that will be advertised worldwide with funds from both the city and the dive operators.

At a Nov. 28 seminar at the DusitD2 Hotel in Pattaya, Pattaya Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome, TAT Pattaya office Director Niti Kongkrut, PADI Thailand Regional Director Hans Ulrich, Navy Capt. Chettha Jaipium and Dhorn Dhamrongsawasdi, advisor to the director of the Marine and Coastline Resources Department discussed ways to development a tourism plan to bring divers to Pattaya. Officials agreed that while areas such as the Similan Islands offer better coral-reef diving and more wildlife, Pattaya has a unique draw in its three existing deep wrecks, the HTMS Khram and Kood and the Hardeep wreck in Samae San.

Ulrich said Kunplome and Kongkrut were especially enthusiastic about promoting wreck diving and that Navy officials discussed the possibility of sinking yet another wreck within one to two years. Much will depend, he said, on the ability of Pattaya-area dive centers to cooperatively promote and advertise the city as a destination and not just their own businesses.

Kunplome has already signed up to get his Open Water Diver certification and Kongkrut has volunteered to temporarily head the new dive club until dive operators can get together and name their own president.

Toward that end, Aquanauts Dive Centre, the area’s leader in marketing of Pattaya diving online, has already registered a number of new Internet domain names and will work with all area operators to develop an impartial website through which all participating centers can individually contribute.

Participation in the Pattaya Dive Club also requires a financial commitment toward advertising of the dive club’s website and the city. Details will be worked out in coming weeks.

Be sure to subscribe to this blog or check back with details on the Pattaya Dive Club website.