Koh Tao project "Buoyancy World"

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mgmonk

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Scuba Instructor
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Location
Atlanta, GA
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So what do you think? A permanent area designated for skills (primarily PPB with some Nav possibilities and CESA lines) just off one of Tao's most over visited sites. Off in the sand. The area is reported to be surveyed and devoid of anything too precious (yeah the gobies and shrimp will complain, but...) and it is deemed depth appropriate.

Hoops and obstacles will be installed along with some decorations that double as buoyancy practice and a bit of an experiment to see how the eco-system adapts to man made structures that could turn into nurseries or breeding grounds.

The idea is to get instructors that are teaching skills off the main site but near enough to navigate back.

One the one hand it sounds like Disney World Koh Tao H2O.
On the other, if constructed well and deployed with good judgment, it could reduce crowding and lessen the impact of new students practicing buoyancy over live coral.

It's already planned and currently under construction. The shop I work with is one of the sponsors, and I'm very curious to see how it pans out.

i was just wondering if any of you had thoughts/opinions, and if you're curious, I was going to keep you updated on the progress.

Let me know if you have worked with or seen similar projects. I'd love to know if anyone has experience with such a project.

cheers
 
Interesting.

So what were the prime motives for this designated area? Are the other "training" sites beyond capacity or did the authorities and stakeholders finally realise that some of the practices were wreaking havoc on the reefs? My colleagues and I always cringed at some of the antics taking place at sites like Japanese Gardens (and it wasn't just divers but the day snorkellers boated in from Samui who thought it was amusing to stand on the coral and take souvenirs)?

Yes, please keep us updated.
 
that sounds like a pretty cool idea. moving the beginners (like me!) out over the sand instead of practicing over live coral. do you know when it will be finished? i'll be heading to koh tao in mid-october, and i'm looking to practice my bouyancy skills. hopefully i'll get a chance to participate!
 
Buoyancy World

Here's the most updated info on it. I think it will answer your questions, Louie, better than I could. For sure, Japanese is getting trampled on, and you're right much of the collecting and shallow coral damage is all snorkeler related. Not much we can do about that other than try and preach awareness.

Construction on the buoyancy objects began a few days ago (dry side) and deployment is scheduled for the end of the month. You might be just in time, appleseed!

I'm supposed to head down tomorrow if I have time to lend a hand. I'll let you know what it looks like so far.
 
I think this is great idea. It gives new divers equivalent of what we have here diving in the quarries.

We have training area in depths up to 30 ft with stacked swim-throughs, submerged vehicles, boats, platforms, planes. Allows for some good training options.
 
I love the buoyancy world project! It will save some corals and it will eventually even create new corals. Every year more divers, driven by cheap diving courses, are filling up the dive sites around Koh Tao. Once this project succeeds, we will soon need another one! That might sound quite radical, but the few corals that are left alive around the globe, need to be protected at all costs! Once the corals are extinct, we will be soon to follow....
 
I do like the idea of having a special training area for student divers in a non-coral environment but I'm not sure how much it will contribute to coral-preservation.
Imho (In my humble opinion) it's often certified and "experienced" divers that do most damage to the reef and its creatures.
Student divers tend to be more careful not to touch the reef than the average (camera carrying) certified diver.

I find it often amazing, frustrating and sometimes hilarious to see the complete lack of skill or care of the way "certified and experienced" divers move around on their fun-dives.

I think a (free or very cheap) mandatory check-out dive on a buoyancy-underwater-world site for every visiting certified diver regardless of experience and strict rules and regulations while joining fun-dives are the only way to decrease diver induced damage.
 
Bowmouth.... not a bad point at all... who says that the project is limited to students only? Scuba reviews... new customers (certified) that are a bit rusty... the project had multiple possible benefits.

The only negative feed back I've gotten here is people who think it sounds "cheesy". Disney Land underwater. Well, if that's the worst criticisim anyone can think of, then I'm ready to embrace the idea until it proves to have real negative impacts.

That's my main reason for this post. Anyone with previous experience with similar projects have any input? Anyone with ideas about what could go wrong? We're all ears on this one. Everyone wants it to be a success, and no one is taking a stand on what's right or wrong. It's proactive and that's a start.

All I can tell you is that I've seen a lot of people working very hard over the last week for no pay and sweating their ass off mixing cemment and welding until they go blind. People have put a real genuine effort into the construction so far.

As for the deployment, and assembly in the water... I'll let you know. It's scheduled for around the 20th. No question about it, it's going to be time consuming and difficult. I'm just proud to see so many dive shops put in a collective effort to try.

Please give as much feedback as you can muster. What's around the corner is anyone's guess.

cheers for the input.
 
...All I can tell you is that I've seen a lot of people working very hard over the last week for no pay and sweating their ass off mixing cemment and welding until they go blind. People have put a real genuine effort into the construction so far....I'm just proud to see so many dive shops put in a collective effort to try.

It's nice to hear that this project is a combined effort of several local DC's and not a stand-alone project by one single shop. The more DC's are involved (and stay involved) the better chance it will become a success.
Putting the "structures" firmly on their spot under water is likely going to be the most crucial (and difficult) part of the operation. Make sure you bring plenty of lift bags to assure a soft and gentle landing on the bottom and ofcourse make sure the divers involved know about the hazards of using lift bags and moving heavy objects through the water!
 
Believe me, no one is under the illusion that deployment is going to be an easy task. We're taking volunteers, but it's being segmented into groups based on experience and training level. Some of the structures are beautiful. I was down there yesterday looking at how things are coming along, and I'm very impressed with the creativity. I'll be sure to post pics or links once things "fall" into place (gently....gently....). We have cranes and from there everything goes (via boat crane) onto one of the bigger night boats. Probably the steel hulled Chumporn car ferry.

It's going to be interesting....
 
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