Freak and Freaky
Happy Real Divers
Another page in the history book of Real-Divers:
It all started at 8 am in the morning on the 11th of February, that Neil and Pete surprised the Real-Divers team and friends that they were going to join them on the dive trip.
After 30 minutes of dusting of the cobwebs off their dive equipment, sucking in their bellies and squeezing into their old wetsuit's, they were finally ready to join the dive trip.
After a 10 minutes ride in the taxi they met their friend Danny, the owner of the Reel Hooker dive boat, and they were off to the coral island of Koh Larn.
On the way out to the island the Real Divers were busy putting their equipment together and talking about their dive planning. Big Irish Gary was laughing at his old instructors Neil and Peter joking around saying that they should do a Scuba review as it has been a decade. As this is a family website we won't repeat the comments that Neil and Pete said back to Gary.
As we moored up at the dive site, the sea was glass top, the snorkelers got into their safety jackets, mask and fins, jumped in the water and away they went for their fun in the sun.
The diving conditions were superb, offering an easy 15 meter visibility. Some of the divers were lucky enough to see a turtle, puffer fish, coral grouper, blue spotted stingrays,
Lunchtime was a fantastic lunch with ribs, fried vegetable, and fried chicken.
It was great fun watching Pattaya's only whale-shark Howard, who was floating around the boat.
Then it was time for the second dive where the Real Divers team did a nice drift dive, Neil and Pete went snorkeling with the ladies (I wonder why?).
To complete this fantastic day, everybody went back to the dive shop where they sat down and had a few beers to ease aching legs and cool their sunburn.
Pattaya the 21st. of March,
Well the pigs were flying over Bangkok on Saturday as Neil came out on the boat to have some fun in the sun (this must be the 3rd time this year).
The day started by Neil and James aka Emo tucking in too their rice soup while DHC, Johnny be good, Tok and the Stalker loaded the Stud Duck Truck with the dive gear and it was off to collect Tel Boy and try to make the pier as the Pattaya musical festival rocked on .
The Real Hooker with the Sea duction lads Bulldog Big Matt and Snaggle tooth were ready to go and the fun began.
The lads did the HTMS Kood, what a great dive plenty to see and not bad vis, then it was off to Koh Sak.
The diving Gods were with us nearly 20mts vis and clear water no current. Life is goooooooooooood the whole mob had a great time Neil could see DHC big butt from 15mts away, now that's scary but it didn't spoil the dive.
Once again the Real Hooker offered a superb lunch the best ribs in Pattaya and so much to eat thank god the Yanker was not on he would have scoffed the lot and licked the pans we would have needed a crane to get him into the water.
The 2nd dive was at Koh Kwok and Neil's team saw the huge Turtle chilling out at 8mts on the corals, Tok and the Stalker couldn't believe how big the Turtles are in Pattaya. The diving Gods were still with us as the vis was boasting 15mts and again very clear water.
The Team got back to Pattaya at 4pm and back to the shop for an ice cold beer and a trip to the RDs favorite drinking hole.
Big thanks to the Pattaya diving Gods ,Tok,Stalker,Johnny be Good,Tel Boy ,Kat and the Sea Duction lads for such a fun day in the sun .
March 27 2009,
As the wheels of their plane touched down in Bangkok, the second battalion of Norway marched into Thailand to be met by Freaky, Drac and the Cat from Real-Divers. It didn't take long to get to know each other with the help of a few cold beers as we travelled to Fun City.
The lads didn't waste any time as they went out to explore some of Real-Divers favorite watering holes, led by the experienced Pattaya tracker the Freak.
The next day was a relaxing day to get over the hang over's and to start the sun-tan.
The following day the real fun began with the start of the PADI Open Water Course, Freak and Freaky passing their experience of scuba diving and the Pattaya nightlife.
The lads spent the next 2 days in the sea learning their confined and open water dives with Freaky, Emo, Drac and JBG. Once they had completed their dive course we celebrated in traditional Real-Divers style with heaps and heaps of cold beer, even the store next door was sold out of beer........
The lads had so much fun on their Open Water course that they all decided to go on to the next level of diving: the PADI Advanced Diving course. As the course was proceeding the lads were starting to get Real-Divers nick names, one of them took a tumble on his motorbike and was given the name Crash, the other one was enjoying to much of the local Thai cuisine like fried bugs and ended up getting the name Sick note, so that left us with 5.
The PADI advanced course was a great experience for the lads as they got to dive both of the Pattaya shipwrecks and also had the opportunity to do a night dive and experienced the need for speed on the Real-Divers underwater racing scooters. And once again once these lads had completed the course in fine style.
Real-Divers would like to congratulate:
Freddy Kruger, Animal, Crash, Sick note, First Blood, Sunbudda and Speedy,
We wish you all the best with your military career and your new career in scuba diving. SKOLL!!!!
April,
As Real-divers kicked in to april, which is one of the most fun times to be here in Thailand and especially in Pattaya, not only do we get wet from scuba diving but also as people play in the streets with water and powder on Songkran festival. The 19th is the day that Pattaya goes water crazy ,we kicked off with a local water fight with our neighbours and their familys drinking beer and getting wet at the same time is so much fun .We then took the wet walk into the heart of Jomtien soaked and covered in powder and drinking beer was outstanding it was fun to see all these strange people playing like this .The Team and our students had a day that they never will forget
As normal the diving in april was fantastic with glass top seas and supurb visibility on the coral and wreck dive sites. Real-divers started their speedboat trips again, we had four lads in from Iraq who did not like to get up early in the morning so Pete suggested a 10:30 am start and then they should be back in the TQ1 for 14:30 pm. The diving was great on the HTMS Khram as it took us only 35 minutes to get there. The guys decided to do a great drift dive on Koh Krok were they had a chance to see the big turtle. And like Pete said they all made it to the TQ1 in plenty of time.
One of the things that Real-divers did to help the local Pattaya community was a beach clean up. The started of at 7 am in the morning with a cup of coffee and Neil cooking scrambled eggs on toast for the team. Pete gave the guys a detailed briefing of what part of the beach they were going to clean. Once the team hit the beach it was time for blue rubber gloves and black binbags. After 3 hours of cleaning the team took a well deserved break when many tourists and local Thai people came over to congratulate and thank the team for all their hard efforts. By the time it was 5 o'clock in the evening the team had filled 22 bags full of everyday's rubbish and the beach looked so much cleaner and nicer.
May,
It was nice to see Brad aka Hickey return to the diveshop. He informed us that he was about to start his divemaster internship. As Pete and Neil smiled to each other and said: " you are about to know the meaning of, Baptism of fire" and away we went.
The weather was very rough through the whole month with strong winds, high waves and lots of rain however we were extremely busy this month doing PADI courses and taking people out diving. We put our customers safety first and did most of our diving on the near islands and the HTMS Kood shipwreck.
The underwater world was a lot better to be in than on the surface. As it was getting more busy, we had to rely on the old guard ( Neil and Kuz) to take care of the discover scuba divers. After 20 minutes of making jokes of Neil and Kuz they plunged into the water and did a cracking job because the 3 discover scuba divers booked for the open water course.
The Real-divers decided that it was about time to get some exercise and work on their public relations ( Pattaya Hash House Harriers, a running club with a drinking problem). Have a look at www.pattayah3.com
The Hash run is where a group of locals and tourists get together and go on a run in the Chonburi country side, where it will give you an opportunity to see the real side of Thailand, local people will laugh at you in a nice way also you have a chance to see some of Thailands wildlife (wild buffalo's and packs of wild dogs) and if you survive this great run there is plenty of beer to re-hydrate you. Real-divers would recommend everybody to do this run at least one time because it's fun in the sun.
June,
June was a strange month in Fun City as the Swine flu came and the streets where empty.
After a few days it was back to business as life goes on.
The weather was not helping the divers out as we had strong winds and some good size waves with the scattered showers, most of the diving was on the Pattaya near Islands Koh Sak, Htms Kood ship wreck and Koh Kwok.
The diehard divers had the chance to see the huge friendly turtle who chills out on the corals at about 5 meters depth on Koh Kwok. A few of the divers got some really nice photos of him.
Koh Sak was giving us some real cool drift dives, the visibility was down but the speed of the water was brilliant fun.
Good old Cookie kept us happy in between dives with some tasty hot lunch.
Real Divers put on one of their fun scooter races we had Emo Canada, Drac Holland, JBG England, Jason America and Hans from Germany.
To win the prize of Beer the diver had to show certain skills like the salmon skills, victory rolls and riding 2 up also making safe descent and ascent. The winner was EMO who like a true Real Diver shared his prize with the rest of the guy's.
Mike came in from the USA and showed the young guy's how easy it is to become a Padi Open water Diver, you're never too old to dive mate lol.
Colin aka Road kill who completed the Padi wreck speciality good luck with the rest of your specs and the Master Scuba Diver will be yours very soon.
Little Steff came into do the Padi Rescue course one giant step for women divers.
The Team worked her very hard on the course but she took everything in her stride making brilliant rescues and always laughing, Emo and JBG were very impressed with her diving skills and beer drinking skills after she had completed the rescue course.
Well that's it from Scoop this week keep logging in to the site and see what happens next month.
Dive Safe Scoop and the Team.
July,
Real Divers started the month in a very busy mode, the lads where kept busy with Discover scuba divers and certified divers.
Then Graham came from the Uk to do his Padi openwater course, the guy's had so much fun on the course that Graham went onto the Padi Advanced openwater course where he dived the wrecks, did a night dive and of course got the chance to try the yellow racing scooters, great!
The team called him aka ghost due to his very white face lol.
You will be seeing and hearing more from Ghost as he returns to Pattaya to do his Padi Rescue course well done mate from all the Team.
Johnny be good completed his Padi Divemaster Internship, 3 months of hard work, studying and exams as you know we don't do the easy 10 day or 1 month way like some other dive schools lol.
Our DMT's train and learn everything a Padi Divemaster needs to know in the 3 months.
Also it's a great place to study this warm water and sunshine with friendly experienced staff to help you.
The team did buy JBG a few beers for all the hard work. Well done mate and good luck for the Padi Dive Instructor exams.
The Brothers got a special night dive on for little Steffi, the divers went out in the afternoon and made a day light dive; they could see all the coral and fish life. At night the dive site looks so different, they got to see plenty of Bamboo sharks and schools of Squid.
Shame they couldn't catch any Squid as they sure taste good.
They got back here at 8.15pm, The Brothers had put on some nice food and a few beers for the team and that is a great way to finish the day.
We have found a nice chilled out place to go to with free pool tables and you can bring your own music to play and very good drink prices, so am sure the Brothers and the team will take you there.
Well that's it for this month look to see what happens next month in Fun City.
I'll write it as ill see it.
Dive safe,
Scoop
August,
As we kicked off the month of August with our little friend Steffi saying she is going to become a Padi Rescue diver.
This was great news as we don't get too many of the girls becoming Rescue divers which is a shame.
The Team worked her very hard and Steffi did great on the Rescue skills as the lads tried to dunk her a few times lol.
After Steffi has passed with flying colours we treated her to a few cold beers in one of the local watering holes.
WELL DONE Steffi and see you back here for the Dive Master course.
Mike who spent 20 years plus in the US Military signed up to become a Padi Open water diver , well done mate you'r never too old to dive.
Also Tom and Steve who went from Padi Openwater diver to Advanced Open Water diver, glad you had fun on the under water scooters.
Also we had a great week diving with the lads in the US Marine cor. Thanks for divng with us all week and hope to see you lads again diving and fun in the sun .
The diving has been really good this month with 15mts vis on the coral dive sites and 10 mts on the ship wrecks, most days we have had sunshine and glass top sea's. It was good to see Colin aka Roadkill who loves to dive deep and now you can as you have completed the Padi Deep spec, well done mate and drive safe on the scooter lol.
JBG and Coup Deville passed the Padi Assistance Instructor great work lads. Freak did a great job in the classroom and swimming pool hope you both enjoyed the course and see you back here to complete the rest of the Padi Instuctor course.
Well this month has been fun and busy, poor old Emo was diving everyday but living the dream lol. I Am sure next month will be just as much fun and crazy adventures.
The forum has been made so that any one can acces it now and read all the messages that people have posted, if you would like to leave a comment then you have sign up.
Please keep on hitting the forum and letting us keep you updated of what goes on in the Land of smiles.
I'll write it as it happens, safe diving to you all.
Scoop.
This is little Steffi the rescue diver who just completed her first night dive.
Now it is time to party!!!!
Congratulations to Johnny be Good for passing the PADI divemaster course and the Real Divers divemaster internships program.
Next is the PADI assistant instructor and we wish you all the best.
The Real Divers Team.
September,
As we start the month of September with Ken and Peter starting their Padi Open water course, the guy's did a great job and had alot of fun despite the rain lol.
After they had completed the course a few ice cold beers at the RD shop.
We had a great day out with the guy's from Sweden all 8 of you doing the Padi discover scuba diving it was fun and more fun to see Neil's sunburnt head at the end of the day.
Danial and David from Germany who completed the Padi open water with Drac as the translater who was a big help, good to meet you guy's and Neil has to learn more German if he is to understand the jokes in the Kanya bar.
We had a BBQ night outside the RD shop. The pig was a huge 45 kilos so plenty of pork left over, even the street devil dogs could'nt eat any more and the crates of beer Lao went down great.
We had a busy week with Nobu San and his many lady friends and the green water which we drank so much of, hope to see you back soon Nobu San. The Freak and the Joker have put Real Divers on the map again just about every bar, cafe and Thai lady seems to know us guy's but for all the right reasons lol.
We had the 2 Kiwi lads in Steve and Ricky who passed the Padi Rescue course, not bad for Kiwi lads, the lads did a great job.
Emo was having trouble keeping up and he is the Instructor lol, must be all the rugby and pies the Kiwis eat.
Well done to to the 5 lads from Holland who dived with Rd for 3 days, good to meet you crazy divers see you next time for more diving and a few beers.
If you want to hear about more non diving stories check out the Real Divers forum very easy to use and alot of fun.
Well the weather this month has been rain, sun, rain, sun, plenty of rain but hot hot and hot.
The diving condidtions have been great flat sea's and up to 15mts vis.
The Rd Team has been diving the HTMS Khram and Koh Rin North and South Rock have been by far the best dive sites this month plenty to see and some of the best corals to look at.
Well divers stay tuned for next month its gonna be a live one lol.
I am Scoop and i see it as it happens .....Dive safe to every One .......
"Baptism of fire" ?
Real Divers party !!!
October,
October kicked off with some really great diving. The HTMS Khram, the far island ship wreck, was boasting again on the vis and fish life,
The vis was 15mts very clear water also we saw a small black tip shark all of 20 seconds before the shark swam off. Hope to see that one again lol.
Diving on Koh Klung Baddan was good the south point of the dive site offers some teriffic corals but watch your depth it can get very deep to 40'ish meters.
Hoo Chang in Thai means Elephant Ears, was a great dive site as their was no current the divers really had the chance to explore the dive site with plenty of good fish life to see as well.
We had Ricco and Jez who came in from Iraq to take on the Padi Open water course which they passed with ease also with Freak and the Joker who guided them through the fun of Pattaya at night.
Hope you lad's had a great time.
Well done to Sue and Mark for passing their Padi Open water and having a few celebration beers with the team also to Franz from Holland who took on the underwater scooter spec, yep their fast lol.
John for passing the Padi JNR Advanced course who also did his first night dive good luck with the new school and you're exams.
It was D-day Joker going back to Iraq well we had half of the Pattaya restaurants and Thai Ladies crying as the taxi left for the airport, no drama mate you will be back.
Also our Aussie mate Daryal who was here for 3 months, well done on the Rescue course and partying mate see you and Bruceo again.
Well thats a wrap for this month we have many of the old guard coming in over the next few days so it will be fun in the sun.
This is Scoop with the whole truth and nothing but the fun truth ....SAFE DIVING TO YOU ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Poor Joker going home
Daryal and Ricco just before Daryal had a little "misunderstanding" with the big advertisement board behind him :))
November,
November started at a rapid pace as the Team had Dannie from Holland come back to do her Padi Rescue course and EFR.
Dannie did really good in the course and the lads were very happy as she Rescued JBG and Little Brad in training exercise also how strong she is as well gave some of the lads a good work out.
Well done Dannie and see you back here for the Divmaster course.
Mike from Germany who passed the Padi Openwater course with ease.
Well done and see you back next time for the Padi Avanced courses.
Little Brad who came back to Fun City on a mission to complete his Padi Divemaster course and he did with flying colours ,all the sweat ,pain and studying was well worth it mate see you back for the Padi AI course next year.
Tom and Sean the lads from Liverpool well done lads on the Padi Openwater, shame about the football team lol see you next time lads.
Big Ron and his Dad Ronnie the ex Para who did a Discover scuba dive on his 70th Birthday well done mate see you next time.
Welcome Larry "no regs" who starts his Dive master Internship good luck mate. Also Tyler one of our old guard and his mates Reily ,Kam and Kai who have just got into Fun City.
The team has been diving in Samea San with the Real Hooker moored there. The diving has been top class up to 20 mts vis Emo team saw a hugh Marble ray off Koh Chang, lucky divers, also the Hardeep has been terrific diving with no current and good vis. This dive trip is a must on your hoildays, the tradential Thai fishing village is only 45mins from Pattaya on the way back we stop at the Budda Image on the hill which is beautiful sight to see as well as the wine vineyard.
The Team have been flat out with no time out for the lads but we still get time to have a beer or two lol.
As more divers and students are booking or turning up to RD it's looking busy for next month so we will keep you up dated in the Land Of Smiles.
I see it as it happens.
Scoop
Samea San fishing village
Samea San scenery
December,
December was a great month for returning friends and business the RD Farm. We had Little Mark come back after 2 years, he didn't waste any time and made up for it by passing the Padi Rescue course he had so much fun that he has started his Padi Master Scuba Diver course and is cracking on at a fast pace lol cant keep him out of the water.
Solo Stan was back and good to see the old boy again with his special coffee. Stan was diving in Samae San and Pattaya as he completed his Padi Master Scuba Diver course, well done mate and see you back here soon.
Mr. Kristian was back and good to him and his sister Abbey, Mr. Kristian was here for the month in that time he completed his Master Scuba Diver and also drinking beer with the guy's after a hard days diving as usual he had his witty Swede humor, also well done to his sister Abbey who did 2 Padi Discover Scuba dives with the lads well done to both of you and thanks for the beers lol see you both in December.
Well a blast from the past that old Marine Yoda came back after 3 years and you can hear they dive a mile away lol, Great to see the old sea dog again still as funny as last time thanks for the bottle of Crown mate don't leave so long next time.
We had another one of the old guard back Tyler from the States and his 3 mates Reily, Kamel and Kai the lads got into the diving and went on to pass the PADI Open water course and Reily passed the Padi Advanced Great to meet you guy's I know you had fun in Pattaya so see you guys on the flip side.
We had Paul from Ireland who passed the Padi open water course nice to meet you mate.
Big Jay from Iraq came in and blasted the Padi Open water, Padi Advanced and Padi Rescue course there ain't no stopping this diver lol.
We had some good night's chilling outside the RD Farm mate see you next time.
Well Larry got his RD nick name Dirty Larry this was given to him by Wigger Woo lol, old Dirty Larry is really doing well on his Padi DMT course keep it up mate.
We had the 2 Danes in Anne and Mike who did the Padi Advanced course hope you guy's had a lot of fun and when Denmark get's too cold see you back in Fun City ,dive safe.
Dirty Dave is a bad bad brother lol great to see you again mate well done for the Padi Advanced course and has the lips heeled yet?? lol be safe brother.
The Team has been very busy we have been diving in Samae san every other day so all our divers and students get to see the best dives sites in both locations.
The Hardeep has been one of the best dive sites we had great vis and with RD's perfect timing no current, also Koh Cheaung and Shark Fin the divers have seen plenty of turtle's and large sand rays the corals are in great shape as well.
To avoid the crazy Russians on their Jet scooters Real Divers have been diving only on the far islands the HTMS Khram has been a hot spot for our divers and Koh Rin is always a must when you dive in the Siam Bay.
The weather has been very nice flat seas and plenty of sunshine.
The lads had a great Xmas and New Year not sure how much they can remember lol.
January is going to be just as fun so it's HAPPY SAFE DIVING TO YOU ALL.
Believe me I see it as I write it.
Scoop
