Koh Tao scenes

Koh Tao scenes

After my student successfully completed the Confined water part of his PADI IE in Sairee Beach, I decided to walk back to Mae Haad where I'm staying, a 25-30 minute walk along the beach.

On the way I stopped to make a few pictures to give an impression on island life on Koh Tao.

The small beach road leading from Sairee to Mae Haad, only walking and motorbikes use this road.

Some kids playing in the ocean.

Alternatively you can walk down the almost empty beach.

Working on an old wooden fishing boat.

There's a real laid back feel about Koh Tao and the diving is very good around the Turtle island.

Camille

30th April, 2009

Today's weather;

It's looking like another blue and hot day is warming up over Koh Tao. There's a strong wind blowing though, which does cool things down a bit, which is nice! Current temp at 7 am is 26.5C.

Later today I'm heading back home again, to Koh Samui after my student completes successfully the PADI IE on Koh Tao.

Today is also Koninginnedag in the Netherlands!

Yesterday saw a blue and hot sky with colling winds blowing. Max temp reached 34C.

Camille

Goodbye to April 2009

Goodbye to April 2009

There goes another month and it was interesting one!

Weather wise, it started with more rain than you usually get in April on Samui, but during Songkran it was dry again (same as last years Songkran) and stayed dry pretty much the remainder of the month with hot and sunny days although there were some very strong winds blowing at times.

For work I spend some time in Pattaya, conducting Wreck Instructor Specialties and in Bangkok I attended a PADI Course Director update.
Big news for me was the PADI Award for Instructor Development for 2009 that I received this month.

The Beach clean up at Bang Rak was good fun and the event at Chaweng Pagoda was very interesting and I'm glad I didn't miss that.

The turmoil that Thailand went through was not good and I can only hope that this was the last time we saw this happening for a long time to come in Thailand.

All in all an interesting and good month and it's time to start looking forward to May.

See you next month,
Camille

29th April, 2009

Today's weather;

A broadcast from Koh Tao today, since that's where I am for moral and logistical support for my IDC student who's participating in a PADI IE. Now on to the weather on Koh Tao however, it's blue and sunny with a light haze. Current temp at 7 am is 26.1C with a strong enough wind to cool things down a bit.

Yesterday was hot and if it wasn't for the cool breeze coming in from the ocean it would've been too hot. Max temp reached 33C.

Sunset on Koh Tao, yesterday evening.

Camille

28th April, 2009

Today's weather;

It's blue and beautiful! Current temp at 7 am is 28C! Off to Koh Tao for a PADI IE with my IDC candidate.

Yesterday was hot. There was a 5 minute shower at 11 pm last night, not nearly enough to cool things down. Max temp reached 35C.

Camille

27th April, 2009

Today's weather;

Once more a blue sky is shaping up although some clouds loom in the distance over the ocean. Current temp is 25.5C at 7 am.

For all those people that ask about the predictions, it's looking good. The strong wind has almost gone although there may be some wind back later in the week. However, all the doom and gloom regarding the weather doesn't seem to be coming through from all the forecast sites. It needs some skill to understand them and read them accordingly. They work in percentages and the likely hood of something happening.
On my blog you get the real world hands on deal though. It has been great, almost too hot even recently and the predictions from Windguru, my favorite site, are good and don't predict any rain at all right now for the next week.

Yesterday was very hot and in the late afternoon it turned dark with a threat of rain that didn't come through, it stayed dry! Max temp reached 34.4C.
The current IDC that I was teaching has also been completed.

Camille

26th April, 2009

Today's weather;

Once more a blue sky is shaping up, making way for another hot day. Current temp at 7 am is 27.9C.
The wind is subsiding and seems to be weaker each day.

Yesterday saw a very hot day with a max temp of 34.8C.

Camille

Beach clean up at Bang Rak

Beach clean up at Bang Rak

Today it was time for the Beach Clean up in Bangrak, which was to take place from the Seatran pier down to the Petcharat pier.
It was organised by the Koh Samui Green Island Dive Operators Association GIDOA but various big Samui hotels were attending and also plenty of volunteers, besides almost all dive shops on the island!

A view from the Seatran pier shortly before the kick off of the clean up!

Some of the hotels and volunteers participating.

More hotels and volunteers.

The clean up in full swing.

Part of the collected rubbish.

There must've have been around a 100 or more people participating and my whole family took part, our two kids, my wife and me.

There was plenty of rubbish to be collected, ranging from loads of plastic bottles, to cigarette butts, tyres and you name it.

The Tessabaan came to collect all the rubbish.

It was great to participate, seeing friends and meet new people and having the feeling that you actually do something for the (local) environment makes me feel good!

I will keep you updated on plans for the next beach clean up, probably in about two months.

Camille

25th April, 2009

Today's weather;

Another blue sky is shaping and this morning the wind is moderate. Current temp at 7 am is 27.7C. a good day to start the beach clean up at Bang Rak beach organised by Koh Samui Green Island Dive Operators Association GIDOA. more to follow later.

Yesterday was once more hot! Max temp reached 33.8C. Did I mention it was hot?

Camille

24th April, 2009

Today's weather;

This morning I woke up to a nearly blue sky with a current temp at 7 am of 28.2C.

Yesterday it was once more hot and sunny. The wind is still there but seems strongest during the late afternoon and evenings. Max temp reached 33.2C.

Camille