Koh Tao is a popular destination for divers because of its beautiful coral reefs and diverse marine life. There are numerous diving schools on the island where you can learn to dive or improve your diving skills. More on that in this blog!
3-day diving course
A 3-day diving course on Koh Tao is a popular activity for anyone who wants to enjoy the beautiful underwater world of the Gulf of Thailand. Koh Tao is known as one of the best diving destinations in the world, with its crystal clear waters, colorful coral reefs and abundance of tropical fish. It is also one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest place in the world to get your diving certification!
I myself had no diving experience so I went for the Open Water Diving course.
Choosing a diving school
Koh Tao has more than enough (international) diving schools willing to help you get your diving license. On the recommendation of many others, I chose for the Dutch diving school on the island: Impian Divers. Just a bit more familiar to learn in your own language, but that is of course different for everyone.
What to expect from this 3-day diving course on Koh Tao
Day 0: Preparation
I'll just call it Day 0 for convenience, because before you start diving, a little bit of preparation is wise. Have you done the registration (including deposit) in advance? Then you will receive the dive theory by e-mail, which is good to read through a few times in advance. This way you will understand the theory better during the first morning.
Furthermore, you will be advised to consume some extra salt the day before your dive (and also during the dive) in the form of, for example, a bag of nuts or chips. To prevent dehydration during diving, it is important that your body is able to retain moisture. After all, you are breathing dry air.
You will spend the next 3 days diving under the guidance of an instructor. At Impian, we had 1 dive instructor per group of 5 people on the first day; for the dives on the last day, the group of 10 was divided among 3 instructors. The diving school also provides the equipment.
Diving in the waters near this beautiful island of Koh Nang Yuan, what more could you want?
Day 1: Theory and basic skills
My first day started around 08:30 at the diving school, where after getting acquainted, we were introduced to the basics of diving. All this including the physics and physiology of diving, the equipment you will use, and finally the safety guidelines. It makes a big difference here if you have already gone through the theory, as you will understand everything a lot faster.
After completing the lesson, you get an hour break for lunch and then go out on the boat. Here you start practicing basic shallow water skills, such as breathing techniques, clearing your mask and sharing air with your buddy. After practicing, another short swim before returning to the boat. Best to get used to just breathing underwater, by the way.
Around 17:30 - 18:00 you finish day 1 and get access to the E-Learning for your dive theory certificate. Try to complete at least half of the chapters, that way you can do the other half on day 2 and have the theory before you start the last dives.
You will fit the diving equipment beforehand, after which it will be ready for you on the boat!
Day 2: Open Water Dives
On the second day of the course you go into open water for your first two real dives. Before you are allowed to dive, a final part of the theory: taking off and putting back on your buoyancy jacket and making an emergency ascent. By the way, the second day started around 11:45.
Under the guidance of your diving instructor, you will explore the underwater world of Koh Tao on two occasions and practice the skills you learned during the theory and shallow part. You will go a little deeper (to about 12 meters) and enjoy the beautiful coral reefs, colorful fish and possibly even encounter some sea turtles and other marine animals.
You will dive with a dive computer on that records your depth and time underwater, but will also beep if you ascend too quickly. After the dive you can read it out and fill your dive logbook accordingly. I myself encountered on day 2 a Black Tip Reef Shark, Juvenile, Tiger fish, Batfish, Triggerfish, Damselfish and Barracuda among others.
Day 3: More Open Water Dives
On the third day of the course you will start early (06:45) and make two more open water dives, which are mainly about enjoying the underwater world. I myself came across a sea turtle on the last day, what luck!
After completing the required dives and demonstrating the necessary skills, you receive the diving certification. In my case, the IDD Open Water Diver certificate, which allows you to dive worldwide to a maximum depth of 20 meters. Furthermore, for Dutch people, this includes dive insurance for the first year.
End of diving course!
At the end of the morning we were back, had updated our dive logbook and the course was definitely over. We had three great days and were able to discover the beautiful underwater world under perfect supervision. Our instructor Lucas explained everything clearly, took the time for you if you did not quite understand something and made sure that everyone felt comfortable underwater.
To celebrate your certification you can for example participate in the Koh Tao Pub Crawl, a great way to end your diving course!
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