They call this Work...!

Ok Now that O ring thingy is meant to be sticking out right..!

Gary Hawkes Director of SSI Thailand and Koen De Whit Owner and Instructor Certifier at Scuba Junction Koh Tao ,Have found another excuse to go and play with their cameras whilst pretending to be at work.

The new revised SSI Digital Photography Course.

DIGITAL UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIALTY COURSE Content:

• Your Entry to the Underwater Photography
• Your Digital Camera System
• Using your Camera System
• Taking digital pictures under water
• Composition of your underwater pictures
• Editing your digital pictures

The conditions where perfect with Vis exceeding 30 mtrs giving us both ample of time and practice opportunities to get that all important shot Besides with the knowledge from the editing section of the course any minor mistakes where easily rectified.......Now how do I photoshop a whaleshark in this picture ?

New Instructor Certifiers

Perttu, Olegs, Marcel at front Gary from SSI Thailand at the back

SSI has Three new Instructor certifiers.

After a week of final training with Colin Mckenzie of SSI Australia all the hard preparation the candidates had put in paid off.

Between them they can speak a mind boggling variety of languages..Russian, Dutch, Finnish English, German Thai To name a few.

Marcel Bruijs will be working out of Wicked Diving in Kow lak
bruijssie@hotmail.com Wicked Diving

Perttu Kivinen will be based at Koh Tao Divers Koh Tao
Perttu tu_1922@yahoo.com KohTao Divers

Olegs Eiduks from Russia is based on The island of Koh Chang
info@divessi.lv Kalypso Diving

SSI Thailand wishes them all the best for the future.

Thai IE

Khun Off taking a well deserved break

SSI Thailand run another IE on Koh Tao for Phoenix Divers keeping with our policy of small group size we would like to welcome new SSI Thai Instructor Weerawat Sanamthong known as Off on board and Sam Pennycook Also known as I am.

Both Candidates showed great professionalism throughout the two day IE and SSI Thailand is looking forward to seeing them both move through the Instructor ratings in the coming year.

Looking at becoming an SSI Instructor ? Dive SSI

Aquadivers Phuket

Simon Speight Instructor Certifier from Phuket Scuba Club has been busy again ...

This time crossing over more staff at Aquadivers in Phuket SSI Thailand welcomes them aboard and looks forward to working with them all in the future.

Andaman Coast Road Trip...

Khao Lak Beach

Gary and Donna Hawkes from SSI Thailand had a great road trip In February and March.
In all they visited over 60 dive centers including our existing customers and meeting new ones that will be crossing over in the next qtr.

Places visited included:

Khao Lak

They were happy to report that Khao Lak is having a great season with most reporting full bookings over the Christmas and new year period.This resort town has changed beyond recognition the last two years ,yet has still managed to keep its laid back charm and balance with nature particularly along its HUGE beach. SSI looks forward to returning in the low season to train more instructors and dive centers in the SSI system.

Phuket

Whilst in Phuket they met Beat to set up a new card distribution for the west coast meaning our customers can now issue INSTANT certifications a first for the industry in this region.We also enjoyed sometime with Simon Speight of Phuket Scuba Club at his beach front office enjoying the views and getting a tan.

Donna also spent a huge amount of time enjoying the shopping to be had on this cosmopolitan island.Gary tried to eat his weight at bakeries daily.

Koh Phi Phi

As always Phi Phi was a dream to visit and is one of those places you have to have to pinch yourself to make sure you are really there.Our customers there all report a good season and state the diving is better than ever with almost daily reports of leopard sharks. SSI has had great success here and is happy to report that we gain stronger here each season. Tobi the local IC from Phi Phi Scuba was busy teaching as always and was exited about teaching more dive control specialists on the island.As always Gary and Donna both made excuses to stay an extra day all for SSI Business of course.

More Vietnam crossovers.

From left to right, it’s Clive (Vinadive), Dmitry (Amigos Divers), Guy (Coco Dive Center), Peter (Octopus Diving) & Bertrand (Coral Reef Dive Center).

Al Stewart SSI Training Manager has returned from Nha Trang after successfully crossing over Instructors from Vina Dive - Amigos Divers -Coco Dive Center- Octopus Diving- Coral Reef Dive Center.

Vietnam continues to be a great growing market for SSI we expect the region will continue to grow and we see new changes to Nha Trang on every visit.

If you haven't been yet go check it out.The food is great (thanks mostly to the French ex- pats )
The accommodation a bargain, beaches are long and well kept,the locals are on the most part friendly and relaxed. Then theres the diving Vietnam has surprised us each time we head under water the critters are fantastic and the diversity is surprising.Maybe we have been lucky but each time we have ventured out we have had a respectable 15-20 mtrs of vis.

I for one cant wait to return for some more work if you can call it that.Its hard I Know but someone has to do it.

A New and Improved Multi language Digital instructor manual is now here to help you as an SSI dive professional better serve your Customers.
After listening carefully to our customers in the dive industry SSI Thailand has made many changes to name but a few.

• A totally different and easier user interface has been developed.
  
• New Advanced adventurer and Resort Diver outlines.
  
• More content meaning more value,latest version has more specialty outlines.
  
• Ease of use for the traveling instructor the 2008 version now includes Australian standards.
• A completely new section including ITC videos and transcripts.
• New and improved Stress and Rescue teaching aids.
  

We have also made the move away from plastic packaging and use recyclable card products from a renewable source instead.

New changes at the helm...

DOUG MCNEESE AND ROBERT STOSS TAKE THE HELM OF SSI WORLDWIDE AND ANNOUNCE AN EXCITING FUTURE FOR THE DIVING INDUSTRY

Fort Collins, Colorado – Scuba Schools International, the premier education and business support organization, announces a change in ownership. March 26, 2008 marked the official changing of the guard – Doug McNeese and Robert Stoss, two recognized industry experts, have joined forces to provide the company with a wealth of experience in all facets of the diving industry: Training, Retail, Manufacturing and International Business.

Doug McNeese (President and CEO) has been involved in the diving industry since the age of 10 when his family opened up their first dive store. In 1982 he purchased ‘The Dive Shop’ from his father and began the expansion of the company.

In 1993 Doug purchased NASDS and in late 1998 merged with SSI. Nine years following the merger, Doug is and will continue to be a driving force in the promotion of SSI Worldwide and strengthening its growth through retailers and manufacturers. Doug strongly believes that the “doorway to diving” is the retailer. His passion is to go beyond what has been done, bring more people into the sport and to make scuba diving a lifetime activity.

“In Europe, Asia and Australia, SSI Regional Centers are growing and gaining market share. In the USA successful retailers continue to join SSI based on a proven business model of creating divers and selling scuba equipment. Resorts in the Caribbean, Red Sea and Pacific are also joining the SSI Network so they can access the hundreds of thousands of SSI Divers around the world,” stated McNeese.

Robert Stoss (Chairman) has been actively involved in diving since 1977 as an avid diver, instructor and retail store owner. For 10 years, from 1987 to 1997, Robert had a successful career with Scubapro® with the final position of Vice President and Business Unit Manger of the North American Diving Division of Johnson Worldwide Associates in Racine, WI from 1993 – 1997.

A new opportunity led Robert back to Germany in 1997 where he purchased Seemann Sub®, a leading German manufacturer and importer for a full line of scuba diving equipment. Over the last 10 years, under Robert’s guidance, Seemann® has earned the reputation as the innovative leader in the price to value dive gear segment. In 2007, Seemann Sub was acquired by Johnson Outdoors.

“I joined the SSI Network in February of 2003 as the licensee of the newly formed SSI European Service Center. SSI Germany has since taken a leadership position in the European professional dive market and today is head to head with the leading agency in Dive Center membership,” says Stoss. “I am confident that this new partnership with Doug will create unique opportunities for SSI retailers, instructors and resorts worldwide.

The Clark family is leaving Scuba Schools International on a high note. From a worldwide perspective, the SSI brand is more widely recognized now than ever before. The company is in peak financial shape and beat its all time high sales and profit goals in 2007.

“We are very excited about the huge opportunities in the diving industry,” McNeese and Stoss continued. “All we can say is - prepare to be amazed.”

SSI Global Summit

SSI’S 2008 INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT: MOVING SUCCESSFULLY INTO THE FUTURE

During the second week of March, Scuba Schools International held its annual International Summit at the World Headquarters. Those in attendance were part of SSI’s Global Steering Committee. The Committee is made up of five territories - Europe, Australia, Asia, Latin America and North America. This group represents SSI’s 29 Worldwide Regional Centers. The goal of the Steering Committee is to provide a strategic direction for Scuba Schools International on a global level. The 2008 Summit was spent reviewing the overall strategic direction and confirming the consistency of SSI’s global effort. There was a buzz of excitement throughout the meeting based on the continued growth of SSI Dive Centers, Resorts and Instructors throughout all regions. During 2008 the main goal for SSI Worldwide is to continue providing solutions for the challenges that SSI Retailers and Resorts are facing in today’s highly competitive marketplace, as well as creating a framework to increase diver participation throughout the world. "SSI has spent the last 5 years expanding our worldwide strategy focused on combining education with equipment sales and dive travel. The result, successful retailers continue to join SSI based on a successful business model of creating divers and selling scuba equipment. In Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia, SSI is growing and gaining market share. Resorts in the Caribbean, Red Sea and Pacific are also joining the SSI network so they can access the hundreds of thousands of SSI Divers around the world," stated Doug McNeese SSI Executive Director.

Records set...

SSI SETS NEW PERSONAL RECORD FOR RECYCLING

Scuba Schools International has always made a concerted effort to remind divers about the importance of being environmentally responsible while diving. This attitude is not just preached to others it is put into action every day at Scuba Schools International USA Headquarters.

SSI has taken the time and energy to implement recycling at the headquarters location, attend Eco-friendly community meetings and complete annual reports and assessments of progress. This month SSI received their recycling figures for 2007 and it showed huge advances from ’06 to ’07. SSI not only recycled more, they recycled a larger variety of items. The numbers included:
• Tons recycled - ’06 = .71, ’07 = 5.31
• Trees saved - ’06 = 12, ’07 = 90
• Pollution prevented - ’06 = 42 pounds, ’07= 318 lbs.
• Landfill space saved - ’06. 2.33 cubic yards, ’07 =17.51

Some of the things SSI does to be environmentally conscious includes: shipping orders using compressed brown paper for packing, buying cartons that fit top selling items to eliminate the need for packing, recycling all corrugated cardboard from incoming shipments, finding a demand for all wooden pallets so virtually none end up in the landfill, using environmentally friendly ballasts & bulbs throughout the administration building, donating leftover inventory to various industries and groups, as well as maintaining tight inventory control so very little waste ever makes it to the dumpster, recycling of all aluminum, plastic, newspaper, paper, magazines, and shrink-wrap plastic, providing a battery recycle service for employees, as well as an annual paint collection for disposal, weather stripping all exterior doors and bay doors, use of programmable thermostats throughout the office areas, one fax machine is stocked only with previously printed paper, 99% of notepaper used in the office is the reverse side of previously used paper, to name a few.

"Our philosophy is simply to impact the environment as little as possible while we conduct business. Anything we can do to keep the earth clean just seems to make sense. If it doesn’t end up in the water then we’ll have a clean place to dive. To me it just doesn’t make sense to put things in the landfill that can be reused," stated Linda Clark, SSI Director of Purchasing and Operations.

Platinum Pro 5000

BECOME ONE OF DIVING’S ELITE: APPLY TO BECOME A PLATINUM PRO 5000 DIVER!

Applications are currently being accepted for the 2008 Platinum Pro 5000 Diver Inductees. This is a non-affiliated award. Any diver from any agency should apply.

Being honored with the Platinum Pro 5000 Diver Award places you among the world’s most experienced water explorers. The list of cardholders is a "who’s who" of diving, containing the world’s most prominent dive leaders, scientists, photographers, manufacturers, retailers, and resort operators. This honor cannot be purchased. Individuals must apply for the award and be recommended in writing by two Platinum Pros.

What makes the award so special is that it’s all about diving. The unsung dive master on any island and Jacques Cousteau earned their cards the same way-by diving 5,000 times, or diving 2,500 times and making a documented, significant contribution to the recreational scuba diving industry.

Becoming a Platinum Pro is a great way to be honored for your diving accomplishments. This award is truly about you and nothing else.

Already a Pro? Nominate a friend.
Want to be a Pro? Apply today.

Don’t wait. Deadline for 2008 is Friday, June 20th.

Apply today! Visit www.divessi.com/platinumpro. You can also check out everyone who is already a Pro!

A busy Qtr.

November 2007

SSI would like to welcome the following schools to SSI Thailand.Khaow Lak: Sea bees ,Wicked diving ,Krabi:Scuba addicts, Aquavision. Phi Phi: Seafrog.

Once again Al stewart and IC Beat Druss have been busy develpoing new products and conducting crossovers.

SSI also conducted a successful IE on the west coast Well done to the new Instructors and welcome to SSI.

Gary Hawkes Director also returned from his SSI seminar in Australia hopefully he has gained as many new ideas as he has Kilos on this visit.

October 2007

The Andaman coast is getting into high gear.

The island of Koh Phi Phi is reporting that many new SSI divers are successfully completing there open water course.Tobias of Phi Phi Scuba is busy conducting more crossovers to help keep up with the demand for SSI professionals on this busy diving island.

Al Stewart our training manager has made the temporary move to Phuket to assist with start of the new 2007/2008 Andaman season.Al Stewart Training manager claims he will be busy with work, At SSI HQ we are convinced that he will be out diving the famous sites of the west coast Still its tough work but someone has to do it.


September 2007

After an excellent season for SSI in Vietnam, Turtle Dive became the latest dive centre in the popular resort town of Nha Trang to crossover to SSI.
Instructors from Angel Dive, Coral Reef Dive Center and Octopus Diving, also completed Instructor crossovers in Nha Trang, to contribute to the ever increasing number of SSI Dive Centres and Instructors in Vietnam.
Earlier this year, Instructor Certifier Neil Farmer and Training Manager Al Stewart conducted instructor crossovers for instructors for Coco Dive
Center and Octopus Diving.
Responding to demand from dive centres in Vietnam, SSI Thailand and SSI Australia are planning to conduct an Instructor Training Courses in Nha Trang early in the new year.

Nitrox at SJ

SSI Platinum dive school Scuba Junction has a nice new Nitrox system in place.


Koen or (K) has spent the time money and effort to be able to offer SSI divers the chance to dive on Nitrox giving there customers a prolonged safe diving experience.
In its first month the panel has been put to good use and SJ has successfully certified many SSI Nitrox divers.
K as an experienced instructor certifier will also be able to certify SSI instructors with the Nitrox instructor rating.

SSI Thailand wish Scuba Junction all the best with this new venture.

Phuket Scuba Club

On September the 16th Phuket Scuba Club owners Kevan and Chantal celebrated an industry milestone - 10 years in business!

SSI Thailand are proud to be working with PSC in the coming season, and look forward to some local diving (Kevans Favorite) right off the beach in front of PSC .If Lucky we will even see Ringo the shy Juvenile angel fish that there logo is based on

Simon Speight an experienced Instructor certifier with SSI has the hard task of being based at one of Phukets only beach based dive centers for the 2007/2008 season."Sunset here is particularly spectacular" states Simon with a grin on his face.

Also on September the 15th PSC members Joel, Rachel, Mick and Sharon joined up with other Phuket Dive Operators with the Underwater Reef Clean up.
Joel and Rachel had recently just graduated as SSI Open Water Instructors last month in Phuket with SSI Instructor certifier Simon T Speight - welcome to the family!

SSI Thailand is very happy to announce that we are now supporting PeunPa Foundation (Thai for friends of the wild) a member of the Wildlife Alliance.

This gives SSI a tremendous opportunity to promote conservation in an arena that affects us all, our oceans.
SSI is confident that our affiliated dive schools and instructors will embrace this partnership and take action where it counts - on a local level.
SSI will be working together with PeunPa to help our dive centers educate and support divers on :

· Responsible and environmentally sound dive practices.
· Responsible and environmentally sound Dive boats.
· Arranging beach and underwater cleanups.
· Whaleshark reporting.
· Coral reef preservation.
· Shark preservation and anti-finning.

To start our collaboration SSI have supported a campaign by PeunPa to warn people of the dangers and consequences of illegal wild life trade.

Keep an eye out for the message displayed at Suvannaphumi airport Bangkok.

So how can YOU get involved ?

1. Report illegal wildlife trade to the following hotline numbers 1136 or 1362

2. Work towards improving your impact on the marine environment

3. Stay informed; Check with SSI Thailand how to become a responsible and environmentally sound dive center.

4. Be responsive to conservation efforts and participate in some way. Check out PeunPa activities at www.wildlife-alliance.org or at www.PeunPa.org which is soon to be on-line.

Koh Tao clean up

On Friday 8th June 2007

SSI Thailand was delighted to see over 60 people from our partner dive schools Big Blue, Simple Life and Scuba Junction,actively take part in clearing both Sairee beach and Sairee dive sites.Master Scuba divers in Mae Haad had a successful clean up the week before covering Mae Haad beach by the Harbour.

On Friday one team spent the day taking advantage of a seasonal low tide to collect any plastics that had embedded in the shore line,taking care not to lift any coral encrusted bottles that may of become ad-hoc homes for the local marine life.

Another team complete with Kayak surface cover combed the local dive site to collect discarded rubbish.Amongst the more unusual finds were a toilet and a fuel tank!!!.

Most rubbish collected consisted of plastics that had drifted in shore from the ocean.

SSI Thailand would like to mention Darren Buckland SSI AOWI instructor who took the initiative to organise the clean up and done a great job at motivating everyone to get stuck in.

Well done to all involved from the team at SSI Thailand.

SSI Regional meeting

SSI regional meeting hosted by Mr Ed Christini from SSI USA in Bangkok.

The meeting was attended by all SSI service centers in the Asia pacific region.

All regions reported a sharp increase in Dive schools crossing over,meaning an even bigger demand fro SSI professionals. In Indonesia,Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia.

This clearly reflects the efforts made by all attending to set a new level of service within the dive industry,Quite simply we understand the different needs of our dive ctrs over this large region and can react quickly due to localised regional management.

This next year will be very exiting for SSI and our affiliated dive schools we thank you all for your support.

Good morning Vietnam

SSI have had great success in Vietnam this first quarter of 2007.

Following requests from Dive schools in Nha Trang The SSI team visited Vietnam .
During the visit SSI secured 6 new schools and has since conducted crossovers.

SSI are very exicted to have made good progress in this developing market.Vietnam is marked for a good future in the region with tourist arrivals and infastructure increasing every year.

Both SSI and our new dive ctenters are looking forward to working together, to both promote diving and ensure Quality instruction in Vietnam.

For more Details on SSI dive centres in Vietnam click here

http://www.ssithailand.com/dealers/#vietnam

SSI TXR Course run in Thailand.

Stewart ready to see whats down the line this time! "one of the advantages of co owning a Tech liveaboard is being the first to experience new wrecks It doesnt get better than this" Stewart Oehl.

In March 2007 SSI Training Manger Al Stewart completed his SSI Tech Extended Range course under the experienced eye of Stewart Oehl of MV Trident.

Stewart is the first SSI Technical Instructor trainer in Thailand.

SSI are very happy to have Stewart on board,In the last two years Stewart and his team at MV Trident have been on the cutting edge of exploratory missions in the Gulf of Thailand, to date they have found countless new wrecks including the SS Lagarto a submarine lost in 70 mtrs of water following military action during the second world war.

As a direct result of their efforts Technical diving is really opening up in the Gulf most if not all of the wrecks found are of great historical interest and are virgin wrecks,a veritable feast for the experienced or new tech diver.

Gary Hawkes Director for SSI Thailand stated " To have the team at Trident embrace our new range of Tech programmes is fantastic news,All parties involved feel that the modular nature of this new programme, and the chance to use normoxic trimix up to 18/30 during training offer the potential Tech student a wide range of both experience and new challenges.Tech diving is not for everybody but if it is of interest what a team to learn from"

Stewart can be contacted Via stewart@techthailand.com
Alternatively check out www.techthailand.com

SSI Instructor Certifiers

To follow is a list of Instructor Certifiers available for conducting

1. Instructor training course
2. Crossovers
3. Instructor training

Al stewart SSI HQ training@ssithailand.com

Koen de Wit (k) Scuba Junction Koh Tao info@scuba-junction.com

Neil Farmer Phoenix Divers Koh Tao info@phoenix-divers.com

Kevin Morgan Carabao Divers Koh Tao info@carabao-diving.com

Simon Speight Ocean lovers Phuket info@phuket-scuba-club.com

Michael Marchbanks Nautica Phuket michael@nauticadivers.com

Mark de burgh Master divers East coast info@masterdive.org


Technical diving instructor training

Stewart Oehl MV Trident stewart@techthailand.com

SSI Technical dive programmes

SSI Technical Extended Range - TechXR

SSI will enter the technical diving market with the official launch of the SSI Technical Extended Range program. It will be abbreviated as "TXR". The TXR product launch includes four courses which are: Technical Foundations, Decompression Procedures, Normoxic Trimix, and Advanced Decompression. Let's Go Xtreme!

Xtreme Excitement
SSI's TechXR programs were created to take the recreational diver to an extreme level for their diving adventures. Whether you want to look for the excitement of deep reef diving or the thrill of exploring wrecks located well past 40m (130 feet), taking the SSI TechXR Program is a way to acquire the training and experience necessary to complete every new adventure with confidence and skill.
Whatever your current diving ability is, extended range diving will challenge you with environments, depths, bottom times, procedures, and equipment not commonly encountered by recreational divers. You will be experiencing advanced levels that require extensive knowledge, enhanced diving skills, and considerable experience.

Want to find out more? email info@ssithailand.com

Shark Project .org

SSI is very happy to announce that we have a new and exiting specialty in partnership with SHARK PROJECT.

SSI have pledged to donate 10% of the income generated by this specialty directly to SHARK PROJECT, This will also mean participants of the course are supporting the survival of the very creatures they are learning about.

Experience the fascination and gracefulness of these amazing diverse creatures in a an unforgettable way!

Divers and non divers have the chance to learn more about sharks there behavior, there fragile existence, there diversity and there important place in the fragile ecosystem that makes up our worlds oceans.

Most importantly divers will be able to use there new found knowledge on future dives ,

SSI — SHARKPROJECT and YOU the diver can make a difference!

www.sharkproject.org

SSI gives Donation to Local school for enviromental projects

In Febuary SSI Thailand where proud to be a sponser for the Koh Tao Underwater world festival.

Unlike previous years where a direct donation was made to the festival commitee SSI was asked to help the local school.

The Koh tao island school consisting of 27 children have pledged to use the money for education on enviromental issues that affect our lifes now and the kids in the future.

Allready the local kids have been involved in beach clean ups,Coral studys,recycling,and helping to persuade others on the misuse of plastic bags they are now encouraging people on the island to reuse the plastic bags and help stop them ending up in our precious Oceans. Furthermore some kids are even getting wet in Scuba gear thanks to the generous support of local dive ctrs.

SSI applauds this action and feels that the young minds are the best hope for ensuring the enviroment can be enjoyed for generations to come.

We are proud to be involved and thank the local school for the oppurtunity.