Best Diving sites in Koh Tao

34 dive logs in “Koh Tao”

1. What is in your opinion the best diving school in Koh Tao?
   I am going there in two weeks and would like to try diving for the first time…

   Thanks!

   Giorgis

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   • I have just done a Padi course and some fun dives with Davy Jones Locker on Koh Tao and it was a great school. My Instructor was really patient and knowledgable and made the experience really enjoyable! I would definitely recommend them and the diving was awesome including some bull sharks on a couple of of dives!

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   • Dive point and ask for Jo. I am doing diving with him and he is an excellent instructor!

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   • Roctopus is another great option. They offer SSI and RAID certifications.

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2. i did PADI Open water diver course at the end of July from Davy Jones Locker dive center, Koh Tao. we had first 4 dives in the north west of the island at Japanese gardens and white rock. dived up to 16 meters and there were no currents. visibility was good. equipment was in good condition and instructors Matt and Steven were excellent,

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3. Im planning on doing the advanced open water course in Koh Tao in the first week of Oct. Any suggestions for dive operators and resorts? Thanks

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4. you cannot delete messages of others without a reason, that is not friendly. public has right to information and sharing different stories if not so divezone.net should be kept for yourself as private to choose what you want people to think

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   • Hi Kylie,

     I don’t delete any comment / review. What happened, your comment disapeared? If it is the case I am really sorry about it. This should be only a technical problem. Please try to post it again.

     Best regards,

     Julien

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5. Probably the best dive center on Koh Tao. Big Blue Diving.

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6. Diving in Koh Tao was really great. I especially liked our day trip to Sail Rock, where there were thousands of fishes and coral life. I went to French Kiss Diving, which was great for french speaking divers. Prices were more than ok, considering I was mostly alone with the instructor. Just inform yourself before heading on a trip, since the groups tend to change and you might end up in a group of over 10 people, which is unfortunate, if you wish to get close to the nature around you.

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7. This was my 3rd and 4th dives after certification. First two dives were in Cozumel over the July 4th weekend. I have to say I was disappointed with diving at Koh Tao. I went over two different days with two different operators and prefer Bans Dive Resort over Big Blue Dive Resort because Bans boat was better for equipment set-up. But the dives were disappointing -visibility was a poor 10 meters both days and while we saw a few nice schools of fish, overall the diversity was low. No whale sharks to be found although they are advertised all over the place as good chance of seeing them at Chumpon Pinnacle. Nope – and the diver master made it clear they’re pretty rare. So no whale sharks, poor visibility, poor diversity. I don’t get why Koh Tao has the reputation it does.

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   molto naturali e spontanei catturando i momenti pi emozionanti del matrimonio.

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9. EASY DIVERS NOT RECOMMENDED – VERY UNPROFESSIONAL

   I was recommended to try out diving with Easy Divers by a girl that was working in the hostel I was staying. Me and my friends started off with just a Discover Scuba Diving day which we all really enjoyed and had a great instructor from Wales who had a really patient teaching manner. As I had had so much fun on the DSD day me and my friend decided we would do the PADI Open Water Course the next day.

   When we went back on Thursday 19th of June we spoke to an instructor called Paul Allard. We only had 2 full days left in Koh Tao but he was really keen to get us on board (presumably for the money) so told us we could cram the whole course in if we worked hard enough to which we agreed. Initially we had to pay a deposit of 4,000THB (£80 approx.) and then we started to study for the exam.

   After we did some exam revision it was time for us to go out on our first dive with Paul which involved completing a variety of different tasks in shallow water. This included things like filling our goggles up with water and expelling all of the water out by breathing out of our noses. Considering my friend and I had never been diving until the day before we both struggled to which I discovered Paul’s teaching methods. After a few failed attempts rather than Paul being patient like most other teachers he was very impatient and was continually shouting at my friend and I, making comments such as: ‘You’re not listening to me!’ and ‘Well, everyone else can do it’. In fact we were listening to him, he just was’t explaining it very well and the whole point of being a teacher is that you are patient with you students. The more he shouted at me, the worse I got because he made me feel so uncomfortable. Eventually we completed all the tasks and got to go on another dive which was fine.

   The next day we completed the exam in the morning which was absolutely fine but when we went to go out diving the boat ride was a lot longer and I got really sea sick, I think this was also nerves because Paul made me feel so on edge as I was scared what he was going to shout at me for today. He was really impatient with my sea sickness, simply telling me I would be fine and then as one of the tasks he made me swim around for 10 minutes – great when you’re feeling sick. When I got back onto the boat I had a drink of water to help with the sickness to which he shouted ‘We don’t have all day get your equipment on!’. So I obliged and sat down next to my diving equipment and was just pulling up a bandage I had around my leg to protect it to which he remarked ‘It will just come off anyway’, which it hadn’t in any of the other dives. He was so impatient and once we got into the water we had to complete more tasks which involved switching from our regulator to a snorkel. As I hadn’t been feeling very well I was struggling with this task. Paul got even more impatient to the point where I felt so bullied that I decided to quite the PADI course. I was so disappointed with the standard of teaching and I just couldn’t believe that I was paying him money just to shout at me rather than teach me properly. Paul tried to persuade me to stay on the course but I said I had had enough. I had only been in the water for a few minutes so I still had a full tank of oxygen and put all of my equipment back on the boat. At the end of the day I washed all my equipment and gave it back and I left without Paul saying another word.

   Unfortunately that evening I got really ill and had very bad sickness which could have been from swallowing sea water. The next day my friend went back to complete the final day of her PADI course and Paul didn’t mention anything to her until after she has completed her last 2 dives and then he told her that I owed him another 1,500THB and he wouldn’t let her leave without paying it! Unbelievable as he hadn’t mentioned anything to me before I left the day before. They said that the 5,500THB covered all of the academic work, two dives and the skills I did on the first day. I actually didn’t do the second dive because I felt ill, so as I mentioned previously there was still a full tank of oxygen so clearly Paul just wanted to get as much money out of me as possible. My friend felt like she had to pay it or she couldn’t leave, which is so unprofessional of Easy Divers as they should have mentioned any due payments before I left the day before.

   I found out a week later that even if you don’t complete the PADI course they should give you a referral form so that you can complete the course within a year should you wish to. This was yet another thing that Paul chose not to mention to me even though it was something I was rightfully owed. This is when I decided to make an official complaint to Easy Divers which I made on Sunday 29th of June. A lady called Elizabeth responded to my email on the same day in which she said that she would check the story. I didn’t hear back from her for several days so I had to chase up my own complaint on Thursday 3rd of July, another unprofessional move of Easy Divers. Elizabeth responded to my email the same day but all she did was send me my referral form. She did absolutely nothing about the complaint that I made which is so unprofessional of Easy Divers because every company should take complaints seriously.

   This experience has completely knocked my confidence with diving and I feel that I could not go back and do it again, it is so bad that a company and instructor have made me feel this way. Paul’s teaching methods were to bully, which makes you feel unsafe when he has your life in his hands 12 metres underwater. I would be very wary of using this company and be careful of which instructor you get as some seem to be better than others.

   I am hoping that this complaint on Trip Advisor will finally make Easy Divers respond to my complaint. I definitely won’t be recommending Easy Divers to anyone I know wanting to dive in Koh Tao.

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   • Joanna just a quick reply about your attempt to brutally destroy Easy Divers, and this dive instructor Paul.

     First of all let me tell you that i am a dive instructor who worked on Koh Tao for a while, although i didn’t work for Easy Divers nor do i know this instructor you have such a problem with.

     First of all you should have filled out a dive medical, which asks whether or not you suffer motion sickness, if you lie on the medical forms, and then suffer sea sickness then this is your problem and not the instructors

     Also you said that you studied for your exam, therefore you should know that you do not dive using Oxygen. This is even in the knowledge reviews you would have completed. So maybe when you had problems clearing your mask you in fact were not listening to him like you clearly weren’t listening when Paul would have explained the question how to avoid problems with Oxygen while diving.

     Also the fact that he made you swim around for 10 minutes makes him a good instructor, not a bad one. It is a requirement before Open Water Dive 2 that you must complete these swim tests. If he allowed you omit this task because you felt a little bit sick then he could have his teaching license stripped. The same with skills such as snorkel to reg exchange, sure he could have been nice and not made you do them, but then he would be breaking standards that he has to follow.

     Also with regard to you being rushed. I’m sure you felt rushed but you had very little time to complete the course, and the instructors also have strict back on boat times so the boat can get refueled and the tanks re-pumped for the next day.

     And with regards to the payment, of course you have to pay for what you use. Sure you didn’t use the tank, but you still used their equipment, and took their boat space which could have been taken by another diver. If you go to the cinema and don’t like the movie do you leave and ask for the money back for the bits you didn’t watch? I don’t think so…. It might seem annoying but they could have easily charged you full price to start with and offer no refunds like so many companies on Koh Tao do.

     You are right though that they should have mentioned the referral forms before you left, and mentioned any undue payments, I don’t mean to pick at your story sorry and if you feel like your diving career has been ruined by this man i am truly sorry. Koh Tao can be a very frustrating place to work as a dive instructor because 90% of people who go there to learn how to dive there do not give a damn about diving and do almost nothing but complain the entire time, in fact they often don’t even want to do it, they only do it because a friend is doing it. Rant over…

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     • Nicely said. I am traveling to the island soon in hopes of diving for the first time and glad I read all these comments. I for one love to learn. In fact, I love the ocean. The whole reason why I am putting beautiful Koh Tao on my list to visit after Bangkok. Hope to see you soon!

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10. Pingback: Bluespotted Stingrays | DJL Diving Blog

11. I am sure new divers will be thrilled but for my 100th dive around the world koh toa was just ok. Saw some big Groupers and blue spotted rats on chumpon and white rick. I thought white rock had more to see but i was here later April. A whale shark is spotted every other week and to see one is luck. Also no one speaks of seeing a shark even on shark point. Sail rock is close to kho phanan so i will try from there. Nit sure where you found free accomidations fir the divemaster course. I get laughed at but mist offer free diving there for life. Bans was the biggest and is a factory. I enjoyed New Way more for less people and group size.

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12. After many year’s of thinking about it i finally bit the bullet and decided to go Diving in Koh Tao Thailand.
    But after looking at many dive shops and seeing so many people packed onto boats, i felt like i was not going to get the training or have the experience i required.
    Another day of searching and an amazing meal at the Gallery restaurant also owned by the same couple, I found A perfect way to escape the crowded dive sites on Koh Tao is with Ace Marine Expeditions.
    They will adapt there schedule after your needs and to make sure that you’ll get the best diving possible on the best dive sites adapted after where the other dive boats are so that you get an exclusive dive experience without the risk of over crowded dive sites.
    Either you’re an experience diver with high demands or just a beginner in diving that want to learn how to dive and do courses ACE Marine Expeditions works to adapt there expeditions after you and your demands.
    One of the best service minded dive companies on Koh Tao.

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13. Very nice to read this information about Diving on Koh Tao. Now living on Koh Tao for 8 years I have seen a lot of Dive Centers but Sairee Cottage Diving really shines in compared with most other ones.

    The Quality and Professionalism is unprecedented, especially with the Sairee Cottage Diving Divemaster and Scuba Dive Instructor IDC Courses!

    Marcel

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    • you must be working there!

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14. Ko Tao diving is ok if you’re a beginner, but people who had the chance to travel more around South East Asia and the equator will not be impressed I think.

    I think Ko Tao gets a lot of great reviews because many people do their Open Water courses here and are therefore rightfully excited. Their reviews drown out the ones from well-traveled divers who can actually compare KT to a range of other destinations.

    Don’t get me wrong, this is not about bashing Ko Tao. If it’s among your first dives, it should be great. The courses there are among the cheapest in the world, and despite the low prices there are some reputable dive centers.

    All of the more experienced divers I’ve talked to found KT (and diving in Thailand as a whole compared to Indonesia, Borneo, Philippines to stay in the region) rather disappointing.

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15. Another great dive on KO TAO is HTMS Sattakut, its an ex Thai Naval battle ship around 30 meters to the bottom of the keel. Still has mounted guns and loads of see life. I’m not much into wrecks but this one is an easy one and still intact, if your heading this way don’t miss this one truly its a great dive.

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16. I did my Open Water course on Koh Tao at Chic Diving. They are one of the new dive school and I couldn’t have been happier. Because they are new, all the equipment is new, they have great facilities using the Tarna Align resort for their base with a 3.5 meter deep pool. The instructors Chris and James were supper friendly and took us out for dinner to celebrate passing the course with the other 2 divers we learned with.

    Not just that but they were one of the cheapest places we found to dive and they also included free accommodation. Check out Chic Diving for your Open Water Course on Koh Tao. =)

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17. Me and my boyfriend signed up to the trial dive at Big blue as we didn’t have any diving experience yet. This was a fantastic opportunity as you get to learn some of the basic scuba diving skills and your instructor guides you around some of the best coral reefs up to 12m underwater. The whole day was absolutely brilliant. Our instructor Reiss was amazing! He took the time to make sure all members of the group were up to speed on the info he was giving and explained and demonstrated everything so clearly that it felt much easier than I expected. My boyfriend was even able to secretly arrange with Reiss to propose to me during the second dive. Reiss really went out of his way to make the proposal happened without a glitch. He made sure that I was wearing bright colored equipment- to make sure my boyfriend proposed to the right girl (everyone looks the same in the equipment) and he found a great spot for the proposal. He even arranged a slate to write “will you marry me”, and for another colleague Anouk (Big blue dive master), to take photos of the special moment.
    This was truly one of the greatest days ever! It was such a shame we left this to the end of our holiday as we would have loved to carry on to do our full open water course. We will definitely l be back at Big blue to do it.
    Thank you so much Reiss and Anouk and everyone at Blue Diving for making this day so special and for introducing us to our new favorite hobby!

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18. Hey, yes I was diving last month (january) on Koh Tao. I must say it was one of the best experiences in my life. I was never a water person before but my girlfriend she “forced” me to do this. Well good for me I guess
    So I did an open water diver course – included were 6 dives, the training, the accommodation and breakfast on the dive boat.
    Day one was a short one, only a little introduction and that was it. On day two we had some theory lessons and practised some skills in the swimming pool. That was also quite cool to feal so weightless, maybe that’s what it must feel like in space!
    On day 3 we had two shallow dives and practised all skills in the opened but calm sea. I was together with my girlfriend and one other guy from Brazil I think. So all the skill practise didn’t take so long and we had more time to watch the fish. Quite amazing what’s all down there. Butterfly fish, Angel fish, Trigger fish and funny cleaner fishes all around! WOW!
    On day three we had two more awesome dives and after our theory test we could call ourselves “divers”!
    On day four there were again two more dives. But this time only “fun dives”. I can say I began to feal really comfortable in my flippers…at least this is what I wrote in my log book
    So maybe this little story helps you, if you are not quite sure if diving is something for you. I honestly never really thought about it before but now I am happy I tried (and loved) it. Always make bubbles! Peter

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19. Highly recommend this diving center!
    Finished my OpenWaterDiver- and AdvancedAdventurer course with Chic Diving and my partner Marcus got a ScubaRevue, couldn’t of asked for a better instructor and assistant!
    The training pool is certainly a one of a kind in Koh Tao- Just awesome!
    Making it both so fun and making you feel safe and comfortable. While teaching and encouraging you to get to be a confident diver they didn’t forget to show you all the cool stuff we have surrounding us in the ocean!
    Thanks Lucy for just being awesome and Nick for always having our backs!
    Highly recommend these guys, if you want to get a good, safe and fun dives! Also really nice new gear and a luxury big boat to hang out on ☺
    Linda&Marcus

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20. Hi there wow sounds like a great experience how do I get started

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21. i love thailand diving it’s good in koh tao

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22. Can someone recommend a good dive shop on Koh Samui that runs day trips?

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23. Hello. Just wanted to share my experience with the readers. I have finished my open water diving course at Davy jones scuba diving school in Koh tao and I finished all the tests and dives . I’ve been told by the instructor Manuel Pelaez that the card or license will be sent to my home adress. That card never arrived and after many times contacting Mr.Pelaez he was keep giving me excuses about different reasons how the papers got lost, how this how that. All that is already taking more then 2years and I gave up on the license . DON’T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID . DON’T GO TO DAVY JONES IN KOH TAO !!!!!!!!!!. Thx for reading it. Ciaos

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24. This article is so innovative and well constructed I got plenty of information from this post. Keep writing related to the topics on your site.

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25. Marcel and Maddy are a dream team to do your professional training with. Marc is by far one of the most amazing Course Directors I could have come across and I’m thankful that I decided to do my IDC with him. I did a ton of research, spoke to a lot of people, read a lot of reviews before I chose Sairee Cottage Diving and Marcel for my IDC in Koh Tao, Thailand.

    Not only is he extremely good at teaching you the nuances of diving which make you popular with your students and fun divers but also he is an amazing human. I promise you that he will not forget you once your course is over, he will help you look for opportunities, build your CV aesthetically and encourage you all the way.

    Maddy has honed my skills as a diver and guided me on every step of the way. She’s the scuba mom you never had!
    With Maddy, you are not just another number as a trainee, you are definitely taken care of and ensured that you gain quality training.

    Overall Sairee Cottage has an ensemble of amazing mentors and they know how to have fun too! Cheers!!

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    • Hello Dev!
      I’m glad that you had a great experience! I simply wanted to thank you for reading Divezone and for taking the time to leave your review here! It sure will be useful for the divers looking for information on scuba diving in Koh Tao!
      Best bubbles, always!

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26. I did my open water course with my girlfriend and it was hands down the best experience of my life. Beautifully clear and calm water. And the marine life. OMG!!

    The choice of diving on Koh Tao is overwhelming. So many dive schools there.

    We ended up choosing La Bombona Diving. They are a small dive school, but man do they have incredible facilities. Everything was on point from start to finish.

    We don’t have much to compare it to but we cant fault anything. The boat was amazing, the equipment was brand new, the pool was lovely and our instructor was really patient (Thanks Genis)

    If you’re looking for somewhere to dive. Koh Tao is the place.

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(61 votes, 3.74/5)

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