Most Dangerous in Thailand

[mikelegurra]

diving in thailand i had the oporunity to see some trigger fish. none of them came in our direction but we were very careful not to tease them. stories ran around that some of use to byte pieces of wetsuits ? can this be true ?
i guy with a video camera tried pissing off three of them and they also refused to attack.
i found this "bugging-for-video" a little annoying myself. i thought the guy should just leave them alone...

the most annoying thing we had to endure were stings from "invisible" origin. i felt the sting, no rash though. could this be pieces of jelly fish ? we tried finding the damn things but unable to see them.

and another dangerous thing was the amount of sea urchins, the long stemed ones, that we're on the bottom. a lot of divers who are taking the open water confined part do it on the beach (there's no pool) and some were having trouble with the buoyancy control. they kept bumping on the beach floor, and were coming real close to the urchins. this didn't help their confidence and will to master the fine points of buoyancy...

 

[Wijbrandus]

and another dangerous thing was the amount of sea urchins, the long stemed ones, that we're on the bottom. a lot of divers who are taking the open water confined part do it on the beach (there's no pool) and some were having trouble with the buoyancy control. they kept bumping on the beach floor, and were coming real close to the urchins. this didn't help their confidence and will to master the fine points of buoyancy...

That would motivate me to improve my bouyancy control rather quickly. The last thing I'd want is a belly full of urchin spines. Yikes.

 

[H2Andy]

box jellyfish, blue ringed octopi, and sea snakes, oh my...

i LOVE diving Florida.

 

[durian]

box jellyfish, blue ringed octopi, and sea snakes, oh my...

i LOVE diving Florida.

Excellent!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mako Mark]

I was stung once by a box jelly, but in Honduras. I wouldnt have believed they were there if I hadnt seen it and identified it. I got a 2.5 cm sting and thought I would pass out from the pain. My girlfriend got a 5 cm sting and did pass out, had diffuculty breathing and cardiac arythmia.

There is however something even more dangerous than the box jelly, it is called irukanji, and has the same (australia indo pacific) range. the difference is that it is much smaller, ten times worse, but is not restricted to turbid coastal waters like the box jelly.

Titan triggerfish. Those who know them fear them. Especially one called Mike Tyson that defeated the world famous "Trevor the triggerfish" from Koh Tao in the gulf of thailand.

Aparently the DIR way to deal with Triggerfish is to tangle them up in your long hose.

Things that make grown men cry.

Better stay in Florida Andy, leave the real adventure to the big boys. 8o)

 

[H2Andy]

"leave the real adventure to the big boys. 8o)"

big boys still be boys. real men do caves

(well, not me personally, not being cave certified yet,
but, in the spirit of things, as it were, "we" in the collective)

 

[Mako Mark]

real men do caves

Actually, my favorite cave diving partner is a girl, and I would be in a cave with her at this very moment, but she cancelled, so I am stuck here talking to you.

You live in florida and you are not yet a cave diver?

¡ponte las pilas jefe!

 

[H2Andy]

very soon now...

so close i can taste it

also, if your diving partner who is female can qualify
as a big boy, why not then as a man?

 

[mogwai]

Got stung twice on holiday in the Red Sea. Both times on the top lip. In exactly the same spot the second time as well. First time wasn't so bad, nipped a bit but went away. Second time was bang on the same spot and thought someone had went to work on my top lip with a red hot needle. Had a small crazy spell swearing out of my regulator using rather nasty words while plucking at my top lip. My buddy wondered what the hell was wrong. Was pretty funny in the end. Me with my face screwed up at 18 metres cursing goddam sea lice, planktonite stinging things.

 

[Sea Squirt]

Been attacked twice by triggerfish - once in Koh Tao, Thailand, and once in Oman.

There is a famous Titan trigger in Koh Tao called Trevor who is renowned for taking chunks out of divers' fins, wetsuits, calves, etc. The bite leaves a round, deep hole. In the old days the "nurse" on the island used to treat this with the Thai equivalent of iodine- Ya Daeng. Trevor went after me and my buddy on a dive and we were miles from his territory. We had to kick him vigorously to get him off us - finally one of the other divers with us punched him - he eventually got tired of us and left with a piece off the tip of my buddy's fin as a souvenir.