The PADI Open Water Diver Course trains your from beginner through to PADI certified diver, qualified to dive to 18M anywhere worldwide.
We run the course runs over three and a half days, covering scuba diving theory, shallow water training and four proper dives exploring the amazing coral reefs and marine life around Koh Tao.
Here at Simple Life Divers our experienced western dive instructors run all courses in small groups to make sure everyone gets plenty attention, qualifies as a competent diver & has a great time along the way! (And we can arrange private courses on request).
Our course schedule is flexible, and we can adapt the itinerary to fit with your travel plans. But usually the PADI Open Water course runs as follows:
Day 1: Arrive on Koh Tao, settle into accommodation
Day 1 – evening: Course Orientation (nothing too challenging!)
Day 2 – morning: Scuba Diving Theory
Day 2 – afternoon: Shallow water scuba skills session
Day 3 – morning: Dive planning workshop & quizzes
Day 3 – afternoon: PADI Open Water Dives 1&2 (max 12 meters)
Day 4 – morning: PADI Open Water Dives 3&4 (max 18 meters)
Let’s take a look at each step in detail:
Drop us an email to let us know which ferry you’ll be arriving with and we’ll arrange our taxi to meet you at the pier. We’ll then give you a chance to settle into your room, relax and explore after your journey.
Then during the late afternoon / evening (depending which ferry you arrive with), you’ll meet your instructor for an orientation to the PADI Open Water course. We’ll fill in some paperwork and talk about what will be happening over the coming days.
The following morning we’ll cover some scuba diving theory. We’ll watch some videos and review a few questions to make sure you understand. Content on this first day includes safe diving practices, scuba diving equipment, effects of pressure, the buddy system and more.
During the afternoon the open water course continues with a shallow, confined water skills session.
Against the backdrop of the ocean, our beachfront resort has two custom built swimming pools (shallow and deep) specifically for scuba diving training. It’s the ideal environment to take your first underwater breaths, familiarize yourself with the scuba unit and gain confidence.
We’ll start in very shallow water and gradually proceed deeper. Your instructor will demonstrate skills which you will practice back, designed to get you comfortable using scuba gear. Scuba skills will include:
Next we’ll cover how to use PADI’s recreational dive planner to plan our dives. This includes determining our depth and allowable bottom time in order to stay well within safe diving limits.
We’ll complete the scuba diving theory with a few short quizzes. (But don’t worry; the minimum age for the PADI Open Water course is 10 years old, so you won’t find the quizzes too tricky!).
Now time for the best bit! Open water dives exploring the coral reefs and hidden pinnacles around Koh Tao.
We’ll board the Simple Life’s dive boat and head out to two of Koh Tao’s shallow dive sites, where we’ll make two open water dives down to a maximum depth of 12M. During the dives we’ll reinforce what you learned during the shallow water skills session, plus have plenty opportunity to explore the Koh Tao dive sites and check out all the amazing aquatic life. As we are maneuvering our way around you’ll also get to fine tune your buoyancy control.
Whilst there’s some variation between courses, typical Koh Tao dive sites we visit for open water dives 1&2 include Twins, White Rock, Aow Leuk and Red Rock (Nangyuan Pinnacle). Expect to see lots of bright corals, tropical fish, moray eels, sting rays and maybe even a hawksbill turtle.
We’ll finish off the scuba course with your final two open water dives.
This time we can visit some of Koh Tao’s more challenging dive sites where we are able to explore down to a maximum depth of 18M. We’ll further increase your confidence by repeating some of the shallow water skills, plus make an exploration of the Koh Tao dive sites, enjoying the underwater topography and marine life.
Typical dive sites we visit during your final two dives can include the Chumphon Pinnacles, Laem Thian, Hin Pee Wee, Shark Island or Green Rock. Around these pinnacle dive sites you can expect to see Koh Tao’s larger species such as giant grouper, trevally, barracuda and batfish.
During these two dives, if keen you have the chance to star in your own underwater movie. Simple Life Divers have our own underwater videographers who can accompany your dives and capture the experience on film.
In the evening we can meet at Simple Life’s bar-restaurant to enjoy watching your Koh Tao diving movie [accompanied by a cold beer!] and fill out your PADI certification paperwork.
You’ll then be certified as a PADI Open Water diver 🙂
You don’t need to be an Olympic athlete to join the PADI Open Water course 🙂 You just need to be in normal good health and able to swim.
If you have a medical condition which you think may not be safe for diving, have a look at the PADI Medical Questionnaire. If you do have any of these conditions, prior to joining the course you’ll need to get a checkup to make sure it’s safe for you to dive.
To check availability, pricing & make a reservation, please complete the following form:
Our manager will reply within 24 hours [by email] to confirm your PADI open water course and accommodation booking. Closer to your arrival date, make sure you drop us an email to let us know which ferry you’ll be traveling on and we’ll send a taxi to meet you at the pier.
Learn to scuba dive in Koh Tao! The PADI Open Water Course is your 1st step. Explore coral reefs around Koh Tao & become a certified diver.
Single day intro to diving. Under instructor supervision, get to dive the amazing reefs off Koh Tao. Minimum age 10 years old.
2 day dive course training you to dive to 12M. Theory, skills and 2 amazing dives. Easy to upgrade to full PADI Open Water certification.
Try specialized diving activities including deep diving to 30M, night diving, navigation, wreck diving & more.
Amazing 3 specialty combo of deep diving to 40M, wreck diving (with wreck penetration) & nitrox diving. Monster special offer.
Join the crew at Simple Life Divers and become a Divemaster. Learn to giude underwater tours & become an expert diver.
Two dive trips each day for certified divers, rotating round all Koh Tao's best dive sites. Small groups, experience dive guides & lots of fun.
Unique opportunity: Join our marine conservation team and contribute to a reef restoration project & nurseries.
Been a while since your last dive? Refresh your skills and buoyancy with a half day PADI Scuba Review session.
Thailand's best dive site? Join our trips & find out! Dive Sail Rock's vertical 'chimney' swim-through & secret pinnacle.
Coral reefs, shipwrecks & pinnacles. Dive all the best spots; Chumphon Pinnacle, Sail Rock, HTMS Sattakut Wreck, Shark Island.
Find Nemo & much more! Turtles, trigger fish, moray eels, clown fish, barracuda, rays, whale sharks, bat fish, giant grouper.
Support our reef restoration project. Learn coral reef ecology & make a workshop propagating coral fragments on our nursery reef.
Join Simple Life's marine conservation team & make a positive contribution sustaining coral reefs in the Gulf of Thailand.
Escape to Koh Tao island & join Simple Life Divers crew. Tropical island life & epic diving. Adventure of a lifetime.
Amazing one month package. Become an expert level diver, exploring coral reefs and shipwrecks, experiencing life on a tropical island.
Join the Simple Life dive team and become a professional diver. Get trained to run dive tours and live in paradise.
Adventure of a lifetime! Become a PADI Dive Instructor, qualified to train new divers. Soak up the tropical island lifestyle.
Advice on travel to Koh Tao from Bangkok, Koh Samui, Chumphon, Suratthani or the Andaman coast.
Simple Life operates three fantastic resorts on Koh Tao, with huge range from budget to luxury.
You want to choose the best dive shop. So what makes Simple Life Divers so special?
Latest photos, trip reports and stories from Simple Life's diving adventures around Koh Tao.
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Astrid, Denmark
kind teachers, we highly recommend everybody who wants to explore underwater wonders, go with simple life
Jim, UK
3 week stay at Simple Life Divers, can truthfully say we had an amazing time! A big shout for all the Pinacoladas
Elise, Norway
This is the place to go. Those who work there are the best and you will never regret if you choose Simple Life.
