One for the Road Pirates Dive Club
After the amazing fortnight we have just had, we feel we owe an entire blog entry to the One for the Road Pirates Dive Club.
After a full-on two week visit by the 35-strong contingent of the Chinese ex-pat Pub and affiliated Dive Club, they sadly left us yesterday, exhausted and recovering, but with a lot of great memories. They became part of the TSD family and we are missing them terribly.
After a shaky arrival and a slightly rough crossing during the typhoon that devastated Manila, we met in the Pub to get reacquainted with old friends, meet new friends, and sort through the stash of goodies brought from China courtesy of Jason (two suitcases full, I kid you not!).
Stuart and Marie were here for the second time; Jason, Hannah and John we here on their third visit, Fernando on his FIFTH! Many of them were not yet certified and the Pirates took a whole range of courses all the way from intro dives for those who just wanted a taste (way to go Marie!) up to instructor level courses for Fernando.
Poor 9 year old Siv was desperate to do her Open Water course, but as she is still too young, did PADI’s Bubblemaker and Seal Team programs for kids. She has already told her parents they are coming back in May so she can do Open Water with Mike when she will be 10.
While our instructors worked flat out for two weeks teaching assorted courses, the others did lots of diving on our boats that were hijacked and kitted out with PIRATES flags.
Pirate boats
Congratulations go to all of those who passed courses and made for our biggest certification celebration evening ever:
Bubblemaker and Seal Team: Siv
DSD: Marie
Open Water: Max, Stephen, Nicolas, Nat, Bryan, Ruby, Jamie, Gobby
AOW: Max, Amber, Jake, Stuart, Eric
Nitrox: Max, Amber, Jake, Stuart, Eric, Lee, Soo, Jason K
EFR & Rescue: John and Jason
PPB: Jason
Thresher Shark Specialty: Jason and Jake
Wreck Diver: Ian, Minney, Eric
Instructor Update: Fernando
Certification celebration shots