New Years diving - Similan Islands
We just got back from our 5 day special New Year trip around the best dive sites in the Similan AND Surin Islands. Wow, what a great way to start off the new year. They say that the way you spend your new year is a good indication of what is in store for the year to come, and if that is indeed the truth, then we are all in for a treat! We were really lucky to be joined by some wicked guests. From the U.S, Terry, Jane, Sara, Jake, Leah, David and Deb. Bree and Jo from Australia, Denise from Singa...
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Common ear problems during diving....
Let’s face it - we dive a LOT. We have to take care of ourselves...and especially our ears. It is no fun to join one of our diving expeditions and then have to sit on the boat while everyone els is diving. That’s no fun at all! Here’s a look at the most common problems when clearing ears and how to solve them. Congestion: Stuffiness is by far the biggest barrier to ear clearing. Inflamed mucosa in the tubes shrinks the opening, making it harder to force air in and equalize the pressure, and too ...
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Raja Ampat Liveaboard - Crocodilefish footage
Our Raja Ampat Liveaboard trips are now running with weekly departures and, quite simply, the trips are amazing. There are a few spaces left in February and March, but book your spaces early!!...
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Meet Gafur and Fauji – our Dive Guide Trainees from Komodo Island Gafur and Fauji have been a part o
Meet Gafur and Fauji – our Dive Guide Trainees from Komodo Island Gafur and Fauji have been a part of the team at Wicked Diving Komodo here in Labuan Bajo since August, when they both were welcomed to our dive centre on 4 week internship programmes in conjunction with Komodo Kita. They showed such competence, skill and above all passion, that we chose both of them to join the team on a permanent basis and complete Dive Guide training with Wicked Diving. They are great characters with huge smiles...
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3000 nautical miles, 12 guests on 1 amazing boat - Diving Expedition trip report part 2
The second part of our Diving expedition Report...read part 1 here Awesome Crew Day 5 - Diving Karang Island and Atoll, WakatobiTravelling east overnight once more, our bodies routined to the gentle rocking of the waves, we arrived refreshed to Karang Island, Wakatobi. A macro haven delivered on all accounts. A rustic lighthouse, tall and steadfast stood on the islands point determining our first drop point. Steve’s accurately named dive sight ’Fluffy’s Festival Of Fish’ was just that. Schools o...
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3000 nautical miles, 12 guests on 1 amazing boat - Diving Expedition trip report part 1
An expedition is somewhat defined as a journey undertaken by a group of people with a particular purpose, especially that of exploration, research, or war. A Diving Expedition is just that plus a little extra ’mayonnaise’ on the side. Our vessel, the Jaya, a phinisi schooner, is peculiarly precious, outwardly individual and pretty damn gusty. With 12 guests aboard for fifteen days, slaughtering 3000 nautical miles, 3 different seas and a whole lot of rummykub, it was unanimous, we have all been ...
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Wicked Diving - Improving our world one dive at a time...
Hello everyone and thank you for tuning in. We have been busy little bees here in Khao Lak, with the season now in full swing, plenty of memories have already been made. Our staff are working hard (and playing hard) to ensure all guests expectations are being met, and exceeded. In addition to diving, snorkelling, camping, and liveaboard fun, our eco projects too, are top priority. The first thing I would like to share with you is about our. Over the past few seasons, Wicked has built, and placed...
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Thailand Divemaster Course - the final days of first sessions...
THE FULL TRANSFORMATION BETH, TIM and JACOB, or DMTs act more as a DM everyday, the have come a long way. From refining skills and relearning buoyancy, to helping people underwater, setting up dive activities and even having some of our customers problems solved. They have evolved into Divemasters gradually and now they are almost ready, SMB deploying is now natural to them, they proved to themselves that they can pass the stamina tests and in case of an emergency they are sure of their capacity...
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The first Thailand Divemaster Course of the season...
BECOMING A PROFESSIONAL Every dive professional remembers their Divemaster course as a life changing experience. It improves your skills and knowledge but most importantly It changes the way you see people and diving. For Beth, Tim and Jacob, most of the trainig has been done while getting experience with most of out members of the staff. It’s interesting to see how people can improve just by learning form people with different experience levels and styles. They’ve come long way and now they are...
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West Manggarai Manta Ray and Shark Sanctuary
We’re so proud to have been involved in the creation of the West Manggarai Manta Ray and Shark Sanctuary. This ground breaking announcement was made on 24th August after many long months of campaigning the local and national government. We worked alongside MantaWatch to provide data to support this proposal. Much of this data came from you, our guests, in the form of ID photographs and also financial information that allowed us to put a price on how much mantas are worth to the area. The whole d...
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Wicked Diving named in the Top Ten Wild Asia’s 2013 Inspiring Stories from Destinations
Hard work and high rewards for the dive community Last week, Wicked Diving was named in the Top Ten Wild Asia’s 2013 Inspiring Stories from Destinations; a prestigious accolade which recognises tourism operators that strive to make a difference through conservation and community projects. Everyone at Wicked was over the moon that the work we are doing in Labuan Bajo has received this great compliment. Wicked Diving Indonesia runs three core community and conservation projects. The project we wer...
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The first Similan Liveaboard of the season - Manta Ray AND Whale Shark
We’ve just returned from our first six day liveaboard of the new season in the Similan and Surin national parks - and what an amazing 6 days it’s been!!! Whale Shark! Manta Ray! Incredible - nay - Wicked Diving!!! Onboard for the full six days we had Nadav from Israel, Nicholas and Nina from Germany, from the USA Tracey and Wayne, David from Belgium and Danielle from the UK, for the first three days we were also joined by Americans James and Katie, Casey from South Africa, Helen from England and...
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Wicked Diving Thailand - Staff Trip!!!
STAFF TRIP Well, its official, today is the day we have all been waiting for… The first day of the season! We have our first 3 day liveaboard trip going to the Similan Islands, departing tonight! We will have 12 guests joining us, and 4 dive guides on the boat (Give it up for small groups!) The staff, the boat, and the Similans are all geared up, and ready to get this season started. The staff here at Wicked have just had an adventure of their own, on a 2 day, 1 night, 4 dive training trip. And ...
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Thailand Divemaster Course - 2013
Here at Wicked Diving Thailand, We offer a 6 week Dive master Trainee program. Our first set of DMTs have been here just under a week, and have already been busy little bees. They are an integral part of our family here, and we would like to introduce them to you. Beth, Tim, and Jacob….. J Tim… Tim is a very happy go lucky, glass is half full, bright side of the street kind of guy. He is originally from Azores, but lives in Boston at the moment and is working as a Bartender. This is his first tr...
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The Sharks of Komodo
During August, Wicked Diving have been running special shark education trips on our liveaboard. The education trips are designed to inform our guests about sharks in general, their senses, how they swim, the threats they are facing and what can be done by everyone to help save sharks. In the Komodo National Park we see several different sharks on the majority of our dives! Here’s a little overview of the more common species that we can find here. White Tip Reef Sharks Photo by:Jo Marlow White ti...
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Turning school students into divemasters – the next step!
Since August 22nd, Wicked Diving’s team of teachers have been visiting local tourism school, SMKN1 Labuan Bajo, everyThursday. Headed up by Jo, Wicked’s Conservation Manager, and Mei, Wicked’s office superstar and former student of SMKN1, the programme began with a series of lessons focusing on marine conservation.From threats to the marine environment, to information about how many eggs a turtle lays, we aimed to give students a much broader view of what they can find right on their doorstep in...
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Shark Education in Komodo National Park
Shark education in Komodo is something that Wicked Diving is taking very seriously. Throughout August, on board our liveaboard boat, SY Jaya, we have been transforming our guests in SSI Shark Divers. Through a selection of informative briefings, and the chance to dive with these creatures, guests are able to get a little closer to this fascinating species. As with our Special Manta Ray education trips and campaigning in the town, sharing our knowledge and passion for the underwater world is at t...
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Shark Education Liveaboard in Komodo!!!
Another week…another Jaya adventure! Joining us on this trip were Soeren and Kat from Germany, Simon, Mark, Aimee, Flick and Pete from Australia, Julio from Colombia, Sing Yi from Singapore, Altziber and Jose from Spain plus Kev and Ann from England. Instructors Martyn, Carl, Pit and Steve were all ready to show the guests the wonders of the Komodo National Park. The first half of the venture was going to be a special one as it was Wicked Diving’s first ‘Shark Education’ trip of the season where...
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Throughout this busy season, at Wicked Diving In addition to this programme, we are also currently h
Throughout this busy season, at Wicked Diving In addition to this programme, we are also currently hosting 2 interns from Komodo village, located inside the Komodo National Park. Komodo KITA is an organisation which has developed a programme to improve employment options for the local population who live within the park boundaries – effectively giving the land back to the people. Komodo KITA have taken 20 students who have been all been through a diving training programme and all have reached th...
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Wicked Diving Komodo’s newest collection
Ok. We don’t mean to brag, but we are a little excited. We want to show you our new range of coconut shell jewellery which is available to buy in our dive shop in Labuan Bajo. The range includes handcrafted manta ray necklaces and manta ray earrings, turtle key rings and Komodo dragon brooches. These have all been exclusively designed and made for us by the residents of Komodo island. We’re particularly excited about them as they have been made for us from coconut, which is widely available and ...
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