Quang is a marketing / sales intern who is with Scuba Cat for a 6 month placement from his university in Holland. As part of his internship he is receiving dive training up to Advanced open water through Scuba Cat. This is a great way to be involved in the industry and understand more about what you are trying to market. This though was more of a challenge for Quang than previous interns as he was unable to swim at the time he joined us.

Quang worked really hard, learnt to swim and snorkel and too 3 discover scuba dives prior to taking his open water course, this is his story of the day he got certified in his own words…….

Taking a deep breath, Breathing out, Opening my eyes, Seeing the sunlight: “Damn, I am now certified!!!” That is my first thinking when I completed the first of the last two skills in dive no.4 – Mask fully removed, replaced and cleared!

I could never forget two worst moments when I wasn’t able clear my flooded mask. That led to lose my regulator and suddenly come up to the surface in scare. I couldn’t recall how many times I must practice clearing my mask at the pool – win then loose, on then off because the feeling of water in my eyes and my nose is the most irritating thing for me!

I always remember the first two dives I did with Sean Porter. He is the first instructor who saw my mask clear problem and also the last one to help me end it. He must be the most experienced, the most incredible instructor I’ve known ever!

The journey to become a certified Open Water diver takes so much time and effort of me and several instructors. Yes! Several ones!!! I have done 3 times of Discover Scuba Diving with 7 dives in total without being able to swim, spent 3 days at the swimming pool. For me, each dive at that time was exciting yet worrying. I brought with me excitement, joy, nerves to underwater every time.

I must say I used to hate breathing through regulator (the weirdest kind of air ever), I couldn’t get over the feeling of water under my nose (perhaps feeling only), I wasn’t be able to be calm every time I clear the mask (I did it too fast and improperly), I couldn’t kick fins correctly and balance myself underwater. On top of that, my heart beat ten times faster every time I descended! However those things only existed in me until yesterday 26 of April.

It was a lovely Friday at Racha Yai. There was no big wave, the water was as clear as its best visibility. Benoit and I were ready, excited to finish it. I told myself hundred times “Just do it and I can!”

Racha Yai Island

Tony- my instructor- always encouraged me and made me relaxed on the way to the islands while Sean and Claus kept teasing us. We went through briefing to make sure that we understood correctly what we were going to do underwater. Yeah! There is no difference from the pool except 6 meters deeper down the sea J . “You two watch me then repeat one by one” That’s what Tony always gave a sign before each skill. We took time to perform all the skills from easy to difficult. Fortunately, all went on slowly, gently and properly. After done with skills, we had fun dives – swimming around and look for some special stuff to see

I love Racha Yai because it is a new-diver-friendly dive site. We went from a sandy bottom to a hard corral pinnacle. Marine life down here is amazing! At the dive no.2 we immediately saw a moray eel. At first, it can remind of you the giant monster undersea with big long mouth and sharp teeth in the imaginary movies that we often see, in fact, it is not dangerous at all.

There are many blue sea stars laying on the ground, many ugly moving sea cucumbers, lots of groups of colourful fished that I don’t know their names… They all look amazing!

ImageAt dive no.3, we were so lucky to meet a group of barracuda. We got closer to them, watched them and stayed with them in a while. I really wanted to get into the group but afraid that they would swim away.

At dive no.4, Tony taught us to use the compass. It is quite important to master the navigation skill by compass. It helps us direct and avoids getting lost underwater. Once swimming on the surface with my compass, suddenly I forgot my buddy Benoit and swam too fast. Tony wasn’t happy about that and reminded us the importance of staying together with the buddy. Sean and Claus were watching and laughing a lot, yeah teasers again!

Once I finished CESA, I descended with Sean while Benoit and Tony were doing CESA. Few minutes later, I met Tony, Benoit and my lovely Thai colleague: Fon. I had prepared for this last dive, perhaps because of my uninteresting skill: Mask fully removal and replacement. After Tony’s demonstration, he came closer to me, hold my BCD and put his fingers on regulator. I knew he was always there in front of me. Taking a deep breath, I took the mask out, closed my eyes, pinch my nose for one second, slowly breathed out through my nose, put the mask strap over my head, pulled over and put on my face, taking a another deep breath, Breathing out through my nose, Opening my eyes, Seeing the sunlight, “Damn, I am now certified!!!” That was my first thinking. Looking at Tony, I saw his smiley eyes. He shakes my hand to congratulate me. I gave him a sign to show my happiness again. I swear it has been the happiest moment so far!

I felt all of the stress, worry and scare were released with the water once I finished it. I now could stabilize myself in the water by control my breath inhale and exhale, my fin kicking got better. There were moments I stretched myself out like a cat on the sofa. I turn myself around and enjoyed the feeling of being free.

As swimming around the pinnacle, we found a red octopus. It was my first time seeing it. Keeping our eyes on it in minutes, it suddenly swam away, we slightly moved after it, it went to a rock and changed its colour. What an amazing scene!

Not to bother it anymore, we continued our journey, on the way back I saw a lionfish. I have seen it few times and I couldn’t hold back to lionfish’s beauty. This lionfish noticed us so it opened its fin spines to warn us. How beautiful it is to see! But okay we would leave it alone.

Coming back to the boat, many people cherished me. I certainly couldn’t hide my happiness. On the way back to the pier, I was thinking of the efforts of so many peoples. What I have achieved today in dedication to Sean’s training, (Santa) Claus and Patrick’s experiences, Tony’s instruction, Debbie, Fon and Sang’s supports and many other’s encouragements.

The lionfish is a common site in the Andaman and seen on all of the dive sites we go to, both by daytrips and liveaboards.
Nobody knows for sure how they got their name, and they are also known as turkey or dragon fish in some area’s. One thought is when they spread out their pectoral fins it sort of looks like a lion’s mane, and they are ferocious predators

They are beautiful and fascinating fish but due to their colouring, as is common in nature, most times bright and beautiful means dangerous. Its bright colours advertise its poisonous tentacles. The venom of the lionfish, delivered by up to 18 needle-like dorsal fins and is purely defensive. A sting from a lionfish is extremely painful to humans and can cause nausea and breathing difficulties, but is rarely fatal.
The scientific name for the lionfish is Pterois, and there are fifteen different species in the Pterois Genus of fish.

The largest of the lionfish species can grow to about 40cm in length, but the average is closer to 30cm, with the smallest around 6cm, and they weigh somewhere around 500 to 900g. Their lifespan in the wild can be around 15 years.

They are mainly active during the day and at night the Lionfish find crevices among rocks that they rest in, this is so they are not out of the open where they would be at risk of predators consuming them.

It relies on camouflage and fast reflexes to capture their prey which is mainly fish and shrimp.. Adult lionfish use their distinct pectoral fins to attract the prey. As soon as the prey comes within their reach, they swallow it in a single motion. Though not quite unique, this method of hunting is highly successful in regions where the lionfish is a non-native species as the native population of the area is not used to such traps. They are able to move around very quickly in the water. They are very good at using those long pectoral fins to herd fish and other prey into a confined area, trapping it making it simple for them to get their food. The lionfish’s stomach can expand to 30 times its normal size so they can really fill up, this is why it is such an invader in the Caribean.

They are solitary and they will become very aggressive if they feel that their home territory is at risk. The males tend to be more aggressive overall than the females. While adult lionfish are solitary creatures, juveniles are known to live together in groups. Over the course of time, they become highly territorial and don’t even hesitate to take on the other members of their group to capture and/or defend their territory.

The native habitat of lionfish spans the rocky crevices and reefs of the Indo-Pacific waters, but they can be found in the eastern coast of America. It is not clear how they have found their way there but it is thought that some specimens who were released by certain aquariums, and have begun to thrive in these warm waters without any natural predators. There is one documented case of lionfish escaping from an aquarium located in a house damaged by Hurricane Andrew – the fish were seen swimming nearby after the storm. The “on purpose” introductions are assumed to occur from hobbyists who dumped them into canals (not knowing any better) when the fish either got too large for their aquariums or became unwanted. Genetic evidence from recent scientific results suggests multiple introductions.

Learn more about marine life in the area with our AWARE Fish ID, Naturalist or Advanced open water courses.

Why would you choose an e-learning course when it could be more expensive than the standard course after paying the fee’s?

The reason is simple, for more convenience, you can complete all the classroom portion of the course at your own pace prior to arrival, so no classroom whilst on holiday. All you need is a high speed internet connection.

At the moment you can do this for the Open water, Advanced open water, Nitrox or enriched air specialty, Digital Photography, Rescue diver, Dive Master and Dive Theory. There is even the Scuba Tune up on line.

have also introduced the e-learning gift pass, you can customize this for special occasions, such as birthdays, holidays, weddings etc, as you are even able to provide a personal gift message to the recipient.

So if you are trying to think of a different present this may be the answer.

Family name: Antennariidae
Order name: Lophiiformes
Common name: Frogfish or Anglerfish
Scientific name: Antennariidae
Frogfish are very misunderstood and very little is known about this unique underwater lie-in-wait predator. They live generally on the ocean floor around coral or rock reefs throughout tropical and subtropical waters. Most species live in shallow water although some species are deep dwelling. Recreational divers in Asia are most likely to spot certain species including giant, clown and painted frogfish.

Around the Andaman we have seen frogfish in the Similans, Richelieu Rock, Koh Tachai, Koh Doc Mai, Phi Phi, Racha Yai and Noi.

Frogfish, are named because of their squat resemblance to the common amphibians, they range in size from around 5cm to the giant frogfish’s 40cm. The resemblance to frogs is that their fins are more like legs, which they use to walk slowly over the sea bed and on top of sponges and corals to lie in wait for their prey.
Colour is often not much help in identifying different frogfish since they can change this to allow themselves to camouflage and blend in with the environment they are in. Depending on the species, this change might take seconds or weeks. Some frog fish’s skin is also covered by bumps, flaps, hairs and tassles which further allow for mimicking the nearby seabed, corals, sponges or weeds. This also explains how divers can often cruise straight past, not noticing their presence.

There are not many other fish that you could mistake for a frogfish but it can be exceptionally difficult to distinguish between the sexes or species. Unless you get out your scalpel, there is no way to tell male from female. Since colouration is not a method of identification for all but the most rare species, you should be looking out for species-specific features such as what form the lure takes (maybe it is mimicking a worm or fish), the number of eye spots and the number of spines.
Frogfish move very slowly but they have the fastest strike speed of any other animal on earth. They move by gulping water with their massive mouth, then forcing the water through the gills, this allows them to move about the reef or bottom.

As the frogfish is scaleless and unprotected camouflage is an important defense against predators. Some can also inflate themselves, like pufferfish, by sucking in water in a threat display. In aquariums and in nature, frogfish have been know to when moved from their hiding spots and are clearly visible, to be attacked by clownfish, damselfish, and wrasse, and even to be killed.
It is the feeding approach of anglerfish that makes it such interesting creatures. They are perfectly camouflaged and lie in wait for any prey. The lure may be used to attract prey in a variety of different ways, depending on the species.

They can also use a chemical attractant so sometimes they just lie in wait for some unfortunate creature to venture too close. When the prey is within grasp the attack takes place. The frogfish expands its oral cavity engulfing the prey with a reflex that instantly sucks it in by creating suction pressure inside the mouth. Taking no more than around 6 milliseconds.

Frogfish have also been seen stalking their prey by sneaking towards their target along the sea bed.

They eat mostly small fish, shrimps and crabs but their prey sometimes being up to twice their own body size. As they are toothless the frogfish swallows its prey whole, allowing digestive enzymes to do the rest. The prey can often be seen twitching and writhing against the walls of the its stomach until they no longer are alive. Frogfish have also been observed to eat lionfish; the poison appears to have no effect on them.  In addition to expanding their mouths, frogfish can also expand their stomachs to swallow animals up to twice their size.

What eats anglerfish? the main answer is another frogfish, they are known for being cannibalistic. However considering that they are designed more to catch fish swimming in the water column, this is a rather rare phenomenon. Moray eels have also been witnessed eating frogfish, but again, this is an uncommon sight.

Learn more interesting facts about the local marine life to Phuket by joining us on a Naturalist or Fish ID specialty course.

Second trip for MV Scuba Adventure of the High Season was a Full Charter going out to Phi Phi Islands for 2 days/1 Night and 7 fantastic dives.

As part of the trip we had 1 person doing Discover Scuba Diving (first time ever diving), 1 completing his open water course, 4 people finishing and 1 person doing the full Advanced Open Water Course as well as 6 people just fundiving -and then a single snorkler…

Weather was very nice and vizibility on most dives was more than 20 meters… Most divers got to see Leopard Sharks, Black Tip Reefsharks and Seahorses… With the usual Barracudas, Seasnakes, Spiny Lobsters, Cuttlefish and Nudibranch thrown in for good measure…
-but no matter how good the diving was, the most memorable from the trip is probably the food.. Our cook really outdid herself on this trip..

Thanks to everyone for a great trip..

The Scuba Cat Team