June 14-24 2014: Emersyn and I participated in the annual Concordia Marine Ecology Program dive trip to Koh PhiPhi, Thailand. This was the second year at Koh PhiPhi were we are surveying a designated section of reef to document changes in coral, fish and invertebrates. The data collected goes to Reef Check who studies the data to determine the reef health (improving or declining). We are also supported by Professor Suchana “Apple” Chavanich, Ph.D., who heads the marine ecology program at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok and is a world-renowned marine ecologist.

The trip began at Pudong airport very early on Saturday June 14 where we met the other participants – 19 kids ranging in age from 12 to 16 along with 5 chaperones. We flew to Hong Kong and transited to Phuket, arriving on Saturday evening. The group made it pilgrimage to Jung Ceylon mall for dinner and a quick shop before hitting the sack.

On Sunday morning, we boarded Manta Queen III, a live aboard dive boat, for our 3 hour journey to Koh PhiPhi, where we would be anchored off for the following 9 days. As the title of this blog suggests, we dove, we ate, we slept (or napped) and then started again – sometimes up to 5 or more dives a day. Days start at 6AM wake-up, the first dive at 7AM and bedtime by 9:30pm.

This year, Emersyn again was in the returnee group – she only selected one specialty – Rescue Diver – to continue her dive education (along with 2 other divers). Rescue Diver is one of the most intense training courses, requiring divers to take part in simulated emergency situations staged at anytime throughout the week. Emersyn was on her toes at all times expected a simulation. Her successful completion Rescue along with prior specialty work now puts Emersyn in an elite class of diver known as a Master Scuba Diver.

Having just completed my Diver Master professional certification, I was involved with the instructors training the first year students on their Open Water and Advanced Open Water training programs. Unfortunately, Emersyn and I only dove together once the entire trip.

We enjoyed dive sites at Koh PhiPhi Lei – including Viking Bay, Phi Lei Wall and Loh Samah Bay. The highlight dives were at Koh Bida Nok, a short ride south of PhiPhi were we saw reef sharks, seahorse, octopus, Napolean wrasse, zebra moray, lobster, barracuda, crocodile needle fish, pipe fish and turtle. We also dove a newly sunk wreck that was swarming with sea life.

Other highlights included the rescue scenarios – one was a Titanic moment, were all the kids “fell” off the back of the boat as panicked swimmers and the rescue team of 3 had to “rescue” the other 16 – making priority decisions between responsive and unresponsive victims. Another was the lost diver scenario where another DM and I quietly donned our dive gear and slipped off the back of the boat – my buddy then resurfaced in a panic screaming he had lost his buddy while I played “unconscious” at the bottom waiting to be rescued. Emersyn did a great job taking the lead on this rescue, pulling me from the bottom, performing rescue breathing, getting me back to the boat and finishing up with CPR.

There are strange traditions on the diving community when you reach a milestone dive – 50 and 100 being a couple of milestones. For the 50th dive, a diver eats a banana underwater (I did this last year) – there is nothing like a salty banana. For the 100th, a diver makes a dive in their birthday suit. Emersyn reached the 100th dive milestone along with Jean, another returnee – the two of them went on a night dive together to conduct the birthday suit ritual.

Throughout the trip, there were multiple pranks played to keep the mood light and keep the kids from getting homesick. Some of the memorable pranks included food coloring in dive booties – so the kids have colored feet, flying underwear on the flag pole, a cold cup of water here and there, and cornflakes on the BCD pocket to attract the fish. I also continued the tradition of “baking” brownies after the kids completed their Advance Open Water certifications. When I say “baking”, it is more like steaming, as there is only a wok on the boat. Overall the kids had a great time and kept the mood light and fun throughout.

The culmination of all the dive training and the main objective of the Program was Reef Check on Sunday, June 22. This required the kids to be divided into 3 teams where they made 3 reef-check dives each taking data along 100 meter designated section of reef. The kids had to take detailed substrate data every half-meter, count fish (reef indicator species) and count invertebrates. The day is a whirlwind as the first group hits the water at 7 AM and each team follows on the hour every hour until we have a total of nine data collection dives. We follow with a reef clean up, collecting all the trash documented along the reef.

As we stepped back on land on Monday afternoon, June 23 with our wobbly sea legs, the kids commented they could not believe the trip was over so fast and wanted to keep diving. In the end, the kids are exhausted but fulfilled. The only thing left is the return flight to Shanghai to start summer vacation for the kids and step back into real life for the chaperones.