scuba diving treasure hunt pattaya thailand michael nichols

Yes, 13th, would you believe it. The Treasure Hunt has been a Memorial for a great friend of Mermaids, Michael Nichols. Michael was a dive intern with Mermaids Dive Center and tragically died in a traffic accident. Since this happening Stephen Blumenthal, the late PADI Course Director dedicated the annual treasure hunt to Michael.

The Underwater treasure hunt is always over a weekend with chances to win great prizes on both days. Some of the prizes included a Live-Aboard Trip, D6 Dive Computer, and T-Force BCD - very nice prizes indeed.

Treasure pots are planted under water at an undisclosed island until the day - that island was Koh Nok, Pattaya. All divers get to dive 1 or both days to recover a maximum of 2 treasure pots each - 1 each day. Many of the divers from the Saturday returned for the treasure dive on Sunday also. Both the Saturday and the Sunday saw almost 50 divers diving for prizes.

The evening of the Saturday we had a large buffet and prize award at the Captain's Corner Hotel in Jomtien and the Sunday evening a party at Shooters to give away the last of the bounty. Have a look at some of the pictures from the 2007 Michael Nichols Memorial Treasure Hunt. (Photos open in a new window (pop up) - Check out more photos at the Treasure Hunt Page 2).


Setting off.		All hands on deck.	Buddy Checks...	and more buddy checks.


Terry checking divers in.	Sue and Phil checking divers.	Preparation and entry.


John.	Ah ha! Treasure being found.			Tactics!


Desi	Slinky	Marty	Tiring work indeed.

				See page 2
Then the Evening celebrations ...

MERMAIDS Dive Center – PADI COURSES / DAN COURSES / DIVE KNIVES / BACKPACKS / RASH VESTS / EANX DIVES, CAPTAINS CORNER – MEAL FOR 2 X 2, DIVE SUPPLY – D6 Dive Computer / SCUBAPRO T FORCE BCD / BODY WARMER / BACKPACK, TDS – MINI B / HYDRO OPTICS Diving MASK / CLEANING SYSTEMS / FUNKY FINS, SEA KING Divers – LIVEABOARD TRIP, TOM ROSSETTI – BUNGY JUMP VOUCHERS, SIMPLE SIMONS – MEAL FOR 2, SHOOTERS BAR JOMTIEN – BOTTLE OF SANGSOM/10 BEERS/5 BEERS, BELL HELICOPTERS – STATIONERY PACK, MANHATTENS STEAKHOUSE/ALAN VERNSTEIN – 2000B MEAL VOUCHER, ROSKILDE – BOTTLE OF SANGSOM, TQ2 – BOTTLE OF WHISKEY, UP2UBAR – PERSONAL PARTY, SHOOTERS, SOI DIAMOND – 500B DRINKS VOUCHER, TOTAL ENTERTAINMENT – WAKEBOARD SET X 2

Mrs. NICHOLS - allowing us to remember Michael with the Treasure Hunt - PATTAYA PEOPLE – Advertising, SLINKY – Great T Shirts, JOHN ELLIOTT – Rallying the troops, STEVE DAMBROGGIO, PHIL LIU, DUSTIN MCPHERSON AND RICHARD WILSON – Running the boats, EVERYONE – For attending