TIME high school abroad – An internship adventure

Hello!

We are three guys from Karlstad’s international TIME program, Sweden. We have been given the opportunity to spend three weeks in Ao nang, Thailand, as interns for Kon-tiki Krabi. Karlstad’s international TIME program is an upper secondary school that educates students in Digital Medias.

So what we will be doing at Kon-tiki is helping them with web project that will help them reach out to more who wants to try out diving and experienced divers as well. And Kon-tiki has also given us the opportunity to get an Open Water certificate; we are really looking forward to this.

Our journey started at Saturday, 8/3-14, where our flight took off from Arlanda, Stockholm. We reached Ao nang around 11 o’clock on Sunday. We had been told to meet up at Kontiki’s shop with our supervisor Niclas for the first time. He showed us the way to our hotel, where we will be living for three weeks, after introducing ourselves.

At Monday we started the project with creating a new webpage. Monday morning our ride picked us up at our hotel and took us to Kon-tiki’s office. We meet Niclas and another of our colleague Martin at the office.

As I mentioned, Kon-tiki have given us the opportunity to try SCUBA diving. Therefore Niclas took us out at Wednesday for one of Kon-tiki’s Discover Scuba Diving Trips. Our ride arrived at 7.30 am that would take us down to Ao nang beach. We met the Kon-tiki crew at the beach and jumped into one of the boats that would take us to Kon-tiki’s diving boat.  This boat would take us first to the Phi Phi Island, where Niclas guided us through Phi Phi. We took the opportunity to take a short swim at the wonderful beach in Phi Phi, were the weather was great!

We went back to the boat after a short swim and now the boat would take us to the first place where we would dive. When the boat was on its way to the first dive point, we started preparing and fixing our equipment before arriving. In that way we could jump into the blue immediately when arriving to the diving point. Of course Niclas told us the safety rules and told us what we needed to think about while being under the water. When our equipment was ready we jumped into the water with Niclas. He was the one who would take us through the adventure. We had a lot of luck this day because the visibility in the water was very clear and this means we had a good chance to see a lot of marine life. Down under the surface we meet a new world. Hovering of the sea bottom without falling down was something completely new and we had all kind of fish species around us.

And above all of our expectations, we saw sharks. It was not only one shark; the total count was approximately 15 sharks and we saw them many times. The name of the sharks is Black-tip reef shark. They were very beautiful and they showed no signs of aggression at all. It’s really a pity that they have such a bad reputation.

If we let them be, they won’t mind us at all. We lost the sight of them when we moved on and after 50 minutes we were up on the surface again. Now it was time to get some food before the second dive. Meanwhile at the boat we were served free drinks from the Kon-tiki staff. Nice fresh fruits were served all the time, a good way to keep the heat down. After a well-served lunch we prepared our equipment and got ready jump into the blue again. This time we would go deeper down and follow a beautiful reef with all kind of species.

This time the diving itself went much better after some problem with keeping a constant height and we started to feel confident in the water.  In this dive we actually saw a beautiful seahorse and the reef itself was amazing.  Along the way we saw a couple morays lurking in their dark holes.  After following the beautiful reef it was time to get.

When we got up on the boat again after the last dive, it was time to put back in the equipment and get home to Ao Nang again. The start of our adventure couldn’t have been better due to our supervisor Niclas and the Kontiki-staff. Thanks to all of you on the boat and we are looking forward to further dives with you that hopefully will result into Open Water certificate.

The adventures of a Kon-Tiki intern – fourth week

It’s another week again so here I am!

This Monday I was on the snorkeling safari for the first time and it was great! My job activity this day was to fix the last boat taxi and bring it to Ing-marie, Kon-Tiki´s smaller boat. Now both of their boats have them. The day after I was in the shop was we were making the schedule for the weeks depending on how many guests they have booked. I also went to Kon-Tiki´s dive center to leave some DSD papers (Discover Scuba Diving), talk to costumers and placing out new goods. This week I also been to the Sunset BBQ for the first time, it was raining but we had a lot of fun anyway! When we were night snorkeling I saw something that I have never seen, it was glowing dots in the ocean. These dots come from a plant down in the water that sends out particles that glows when you move your arms or legs. It was very cool experience.

This Saturday I had my day off so me, Martina and another friend went to try Muay Thai, which is traditional Thai boxing. It was a very rough work out, but it was also really fun. Today I’ve been with Mauro at Sheraton. When I and Mauro came there were people in the pool who were doing aerobics so we couldn’t have any try-dives at first.  But eventually we could do some try dives with different families and their children got to swim around with diving equipment.

Daniel Nilsson,

Kon-Tiki Trainee

Discover Scuba Diving – there is a first time for everything

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to breathe underwater? Can you see yourself glide over the reef between fish and corals and the whole sea come to greet you?

Any day our professional Kon-Tiki instructors can introduce you to Scuba Diving to see if you like it. During the boat ride our PADI instructor will give you a theory lesson in diving. You learn the basics you need to dive under the direct supervision of a PADI Professional diving instructor. One thing you’ll learn is that you really can breathe underwater and whether you like doing that or not.

Nothing beats that feeling of being under water for the very first time. It takes a little getting used to, but after a few minutes of adjustment, most first timers realize how easy scuba diving really is. As this is not an actual PADI scuba certification, during the Discover Scuba Diving experience you’ll learn how to use scuba equipment in shallow water and get a quick and easy introduction to what it takes to explore the underwater world.

Plus, you can get credit! If you like the Discover Scuba Diving program so much you want to continue, we can continue to your PADI Open water certification.

What you waiting for? Sign up today for your next holiday here in Thailand? Weather it is a Koh Lanta, Phuket, Khao Lak or Krabi, it is all the same fun.

Three Generations of Divers

Recently I realized I might have one of the best jobs in the world! This is when you are sitting onboard Kon-Tiki Krabis Petchmanee 10 on the way back from a beautiful day at the sea, surrounded by smiles on new divers and snorkeler’s faces. You ask yourself? How often does one get the possibility to dive with 3 different generations from the one and same family?

Here is a great example on a family who loves the sea, marine life and everything in between……

One early morning with all of our guest on Petchmanee, we aim for the famous Phi Phi islands. Once PADI Discover Scuba Diving papers are filled out, we can get started with the different briefings. Some are snorkeling, some diving the first time and some old timers with 3 digit numbers in their log books. However all have the same passion for the marine life and it is great to share this. When all PADI briefings are done, questions answered and the equipment is assembled it is time to get in the water.

After skills are practiced and divers fell comfortable in the water it is time to venture a bit deeper to see what we can find and within minutes the inhabitants of the sea bid us welcome. Banded Sea snake is spotted, in the search for food between the corals, the famous clown anemone fish is trying to chase us away from the anemone and schools of snappers are circling around us. Seeing the eyes grow into tea cups on a 10-year old boy, when he realizes he is looking at something rare and unimaginable as a Tiger tail seahorse, is just fantastic.

Feeling the excitement of a man in his 70ties, who have seen most things in his life and still can get amazed by the marine life and how they live in a great eco system, makes you look forward to that time in your life.

Looking at the confident diver in his prime time of his life, gliding through the water like a fish and smiling through his mask, when he spot his son and father in the water. Well that just makes one instructor extremely happy.

It is just priceless!!

The best part is that the whole family shares this together with grandmother on the boat keeping a close eye on her precious family. Mom and daughter learned how to snorkel the first time and were fortunate enough to see a baby Black Tip Reef Shark and lots of interesting marine life.

One the way home time fly, while we fill out the log books and some might have to give in and take a nap, as with so many new impressions it can be hard to keep one eyes open.

I wanted to thank you so much for the visit and I look forward to see you all again.

Malene Jensen
General Manager
Kon-Tiki Krabi