May 2015 - DSAT Courses and Trips!

May is normally the last month of peak season here in the Philippines and we thought we'd make the most of this with trips to both Coron Bay and Verde Island.

Our Coron trip was our first trip back to the Coron Wrecks for almost a year so it was great to get back, catch-up with people and dive again in the best wreck diving location in the Philippines.  We even had time to pull together a few video clips from this trip; the YouTube links below should give you an idea of what to expect - we'll be planning regular trips there every 3-4 months.

Coron, Irako Maru Wreck - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dREXbn6E4U
Coron, Kyokuzan Maru Wreck - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGQVO23rl9o

Making the most of the near perfect weather we also arranged a trip over to Verde Island from Anilao.  This trip went really well and is something we'll be doing a lot more of in the near future.  The boat ride from Anilao is around 90 minutes, so is longer than the PG trip but the large (PG ferry) sized boat we used made it a really comfortable trip.  The trip was done over a full moon weekend so some crazy currents were around, especially at the Washing Machine site when the tide was on a strong ebb.

We'd also like to pass on our congratulations to Cesar who this month completed his Tec45 course after a few weeks of diving with us.

The weather here is holding up well with conditions still hot and sunny and no rain it sight (yet!) so we're looking forward to more great dives in June with CCR, Technical and Instructor courses lined up here in the Philippines.

Busy few weeks at Base in Anilao

The last few weeks has been quite busy with Karl conducting PADI Tec Rec training and TDI courses at the new base in Anilao, Philippines. Matt has also been busy conducting TDI rebreather courses with a megalodon mixed gas CCR course for Fabien from France. More Technical Instructor training in progress and a technical trip to finish a busy month in the wrecks of Coron,

10 Years as a TDI It for Mathew

Congratulations to our own Mathew Partridge who recently celebrated 10 years of Instructor Training for TDI (after originally qualifying as an IT in 2003!).

Winding back 10 years to 2005 there were a few significant events, the original YouTube website was launched (although it was a little while before it gained the popularity it enjoys now), Lance Armstrong retired from cycling (as a model athlete...), Pope John-Paul passed away and Benedict was elected, Hurricane Katrina devastated several of the southern US states, Saddam Hussain went on trial and the worlds first partial face transplant was completed.  These events seem a long time back now but even back then Mathew was a key part in producing the TDI instructors of the future.

Mathew is able to teach the following TDI courses at instructor level, and is also the only Hammerhead CCR IT in Asia and a IT for the PADI TecRec courses:

• TDI Nitrox
• TDI Intro Tech Instructor
• TDI Advanced Nitrox Instructor
• TDI Decompression Procedures Instructor
• TDI Helitrox Instructor
• TDI Extended Range Instructor
• TDI Trimix Instructor
• TDI Advanced Trimix Instructor
• TDI Advanced Wreck Instructor
• TDI Cave Instructor (OC or CCR)
• TDI Rebreather Instructor
• TDI Sidemount Instructor (Basic & Advanced levels)
• TDI Technical DPV instructor
• TDI Gas Blender Instructor (Nitrox &Trimix)

If you're interested in becoming a technical instructor feel free to drop us a message to 'info@protech-ph.com' or check out our website at www.protech-ph.com.  A full list of professional courses we offer can be found at http://www.protech-ph.com/courses/professional/

March 2015 - TDI and DSAT Technical Courses

In March we held technical courses under both TDI and PADI, with Marie and Pavel finishing off their Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures courses and Cesar continuing on his Tec45 programme.

The ideal technical dive team size is the group of three so having three divers at similar course levels in the water is a please to teach in terms of team awareness and communication, as well as watching how individuals respond to a different team dynamic.

With everyone using the same Shearwater Petrel computers it was also good to be able to spend the last dive focusing on decompression diving using a computer and the importance of gas planning before the dive and monitoring the required deco gas reserves during the bottom phase of the dive.

Pavel also got to try out his new custom made to measure Santi eMotion drysuit which fit like a dream and came in very useful with the water temperatures still hovering at around 24C.

Congratulations to Marie and Pavel on completing their TDI Decompression Procedures and Advanced Nitrox courses and looking forward to their TDI Extended Range course next month.  We'r also looking forward to seeing Cesar again in April for the final part of his DSAT TecRec Tec45 course.

Colour Coding of Standard Gases

We've decided to start using a colour coding system for all of our decompression and bail-out tanks as part of our annual stage tank overhaul.

The intention of this isn't to use the colour coding underwater, but to make visual recognition of tanks much easier on the surface, especially then having tanks passed town from boats on while donning tanks at the shoreline.

The colour coding also provides a quick visual reference underwater (we only used colours at the end of the visual spectrum - i.e. black, white, greens and blues).

We normally use standard gases for all our courses;

Black on White - Oxygen for Decompression from 6m upward
White on Black - 50% Nitrox for Decompression from 21m upward
White on Blue - Trimix 18/45 from 67m upward
White on Green - Trimix 10/70 from 130m upward.

The only other standard gas we use tend to use for decompression is Trimix 35/25 which we tend to make specifically for dives rather than have as a pre-filled standard gas.

February 2015 - Cesar Tec 45 Course

February saw a former recreational student, Cesar Teng, return for his Technical training.  Cesar had previously completed the DSAT TecRec Tec40 course in Puerto Galera and 3 of the 4 Tec45 dives in Moalboal; both of these previous course were completed in Sidemount - as Cesar wanted to also complete Tec50 we decided it was best to switch to the more suitable back mounted twin tank configuration in preparation for two deco gas dives.

Being new to Twin Tank diving is someone most of us don't remember fondly, we spent a few days covering the core skills and standard procedures we use for planning dives.  Despite a niggling back pain Cesar's enthusiasm for learning is just as strong in technical diving as it was in recreational diving and it's great to work with him again.

We're looking forward to having Cesar back shortly to close out his Tec45 course and move onto the Tec50 course.

January 2015 - Piotr TDI Extended Range Class

To start off the year we welcomes returning technical Diver Piotr Sliwakowski who completed his TDI Extended Range course having previously completed entry level technical courses with us in 2014 while based in the Philippines.  Piotr was visiting from Europe on this occasion and took the opportunity to further his technical diving knowledge.

The water in Anilao can be cold in January/February but this year has been particularly cold with water temperatures at 23C and below 20C at 50m!  Having made quite a few dives in twin tanks with stage bottles while in the Philippines, Piotr had no worries in closing out the course and completing his training.

Congratulations to Piotr and hope to see you back on your next visit for some Trimix diving!