News from Sea Bees Diving Thailand 2006

	We would like to wish all of our guests a Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year

	A new Star is born !
	After a 7 month construction period is our new day trip boat now ready for action. Besides our dive sites around Phuket will the 'MV Aragon' also offer a overnight trip on Thursdays to Phi Phi Island and Hin Daeng in order to extend our diving program. For more information please contact Hilla at: info@sea-bees.com

	We are remodeling our Dive Shop on Phuket again.
	To offer you an even better service we have decided to enlarge our equipment room for your personal gear and give it a new look at the same time. For those of you who have visited our dive shop on Phuket already: The front room next to the office will be reserved exclusively for your personal belongings, and our rental equipment will move to the back room where you had stored your gear previously. This means for you: more room and comfort while packing and unpacking.

	Here already with a new floor and paint on the wall. Only the shelves are missing. If only Markus could've stopped himself from drilling a hole in the water pipe!!				Taking a break, but normally very busy with remodeling.

	Don't miss the annual Dive Show in Birmingham, the "Dive 2006"!
		Sea Bees Diving will be present again at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) from 14/10 - 15/10/06 at booth#1676. So, if you are there, don't forget to stop by and say hello to our staff. As always, we are more than happy to answer any questions you might have. Your Sea Bees Team looks forward to welcoming you there.

	Marine Biology Seminar with Sea Bees Diving
	Sea Bees Diving will be hosting a two-week VDST marine biology seminar event from 8th December to 22nd December 2006. The presenter, marine biologist Constanze Conrad, is well known for her many activities and television events. The seminar will be conducted in two parts. The first 3-day event deals with topics including reef structure, hazardous sea animals, whales and dolphins. The second part will give all participants the opportunity to be involved in scientific work and participate in a reef check. The cost for the 14 day event, including 6 days of diving and accommodation is 750 Euros. More information and further seminar details are available by contacting us directly.

We are building a new boat!

In order to continue to provide you with the same top quality service you are accustomed to on our Phuket daytrips, we have decided to build a sister ship to our popular Excalibur II.. The new boat's furnishings and equipment will be very similar to Excalibur II. It will have some additional sleeping berths to be able to offer overnight tours to Phi Phi and Hin Daeng.

So our diving program will give our customers greater choice and passengers on the boat during peak times will be more comfortable. Here are the first photos of the boat in the shipyard. The boat will be launched in September. Of course, we'll keep you up to date with photos of the building progress on our website.

We also need a name for the boat and your suggestions are always welcome!


				the water tanks are brought on board		preparation for the rudder system


for our technical people: Nissan V 10, 420 PS with 24 Ltr. capacity for those with an aesthetic sense: chromed vent covers		the Thai version of weight balance.....		What a nice sight, just as many HP as Michael Schumachers Ferrari


the lower saloon with storage cubicles		soon the delicious smell of food will engulf you		the stairs, our pride and joy just like on the Excalibur II


the upper sun deck with view inside the saloon		view from the dive deck towards the showers		still a lot of wood and not a lot of paint


already a bit yellow, but this time we will also add some red.		the work place of captain Rid, instruments and steering wheel are still missing		the engine room - clean and shiny, just like it should be


our new one has also a "Dallas Staircase"		the lower saloon, still without tables, but the storage cubicles for the guests can be seen already		the upper sun deck, the favorite hang out for our guests to relax after diving


		the spacious dive deck is almost complete. Ok, we still have to clean up a bit!

	Congratulation!
	The lucky winner of our raffle at the LIDS in London, is Mr. Phil Wilding from Surrey/GB. We are glad to hand out a voucher which will take him for a 3 day dive-safari on our MY Genesis 1 to the Andaman Sea. Congratulations again and all the best wishes for a great time on board.

	Farewell to a friend
	On the morning of 5th March, we received the terrible news that Rolf, our friend of many years, had died in Switzerland. Many of you knew him as Marco Polo's dive guide and everybody loved his fun-filled character. Beside his great personality he was always loved a joke whether it was above or under water. This great guy will stay in our memories forever. We will miss you, Rolf! At this point, we also want to offer our condolences to all his relatives and friends and to express our most heartfelt compassion. From the entire Sea Bees Diving Team

Underwater - the place he called home

We'll keep you in our thoughts Rolf!

Your Sea Bees Crew


	5 times winner of the prestigious Tauchen award
	Dear Friends, We are proud to announce that we have won the prestigious Tauchen award for the fifth time. Voted for by the readers of Europe's biggest dive magazine, Tauchen, this is another huge success for us and we want to say thanks to all who voted for us. To be honoured as the 'Best dive centre in South East Asia & Pacific' means that we have now to work even harder to maintain this high level of quality and customer service and we promise to do our best in the future to make your stay with Sea Bees Diving a special holiday event. Thanks once again for your vote and in trusting in us and we look forward to seeing you all again soon. Your Sea Bees Diving Team

	National Geographic Dive Center
	In January 2006 we became a National Geographic Dive Centre! As a National Geographic Diver, you will join an elite group of explorers, adventurers and conservationists. The insight and training you gain during this program will broaden your awareness and take your diving skills to a new level. You'll learn to observe and explore like an underwater scientist. Whether you're new to scuba diving, or an experienced diver, the National Geographic Diver program will give you new tools to understand and safely explore the underwater world. With this program we again extend our wide range of dive education and we look forward to many new National Geographic Divers in the future.

	Member of Quality Divers
	Sea Bees Diving is now a member of the "Association of First Class Dive Operators" who are allied to Quality Divers. "Excellence around the world" With this promise, the first association of individual quality dive centres is going public. The members of this group are made up of dive centres, who have met very high standards for safety, quality and customer services. Their highest priority is to give 100% satisfaction to their clients. Divers from all over the world will have comfort in the knowledge that they can find a group of highly recommended and professional dive centres in a dive location they are unfamiliar with. Divers can be assured that they will receive professional and high quality treatment when choosing a member of Quality Divers. At the moment there are seven association dive centres in Egypt, France, Gozo, Madeira, Thailand, Philippines and Croatia. Many more dive centres are applying and Quality Divers will prove a good move for those that are welcomed into the new association. For more information go to: www.quality-divers.com

Palm Garden Resort Khao Lak

Our newly built dive resort, is laid out in the same bespoke and beautiful style as our renowned Palm Garden Resort in Phuket. The resort offers a large purpose built 3m deep pool with waterfall, Jacuzzi, dive shop and restaurant.
All the bungalows offer all the amenities you would expect from a modern dive resort such as air conditioning, TV, minibar, safe, charging station and ensuite bathroom with hot water shower. On your private terrace you can relax and enjoy your meals. An ADSL internet connection is available for those who want to keep in touch with the rest of the world or send those diving photos to your friends!


A place to relax		Comfortably rooms		The pool awaits you

The integrated dive shop sells modern dive equipment and the latest beach wear and the purpose-built 3m deep diving pool is the ideal place for both your first diving experiences and also to test your dive gear. The dive centre also offers a workshop, an area for rinsing your dive equipment and a store room for your personal diving equipment.

Our dive boats are moored at the pier in Taplamu, which is just a view kilometres outside Khao Lak. The MC Stingray, our day-trip boat, takes you to the Similan Islands, a diving paradise. Our liveaboard-vessel MY Genesis 1 operates between the Similan Islands and the world famous Richelieu Rock.

Our restaurant offers a wide selection of delicious Thai and International dishes to choose from. (is this a 24 hour restaurant?) Our friendly and helpful staff will assist you with all your holiday needs and wishes. All in all the Palm Garden Resort is a perfect hideaway for your holiday.