PADI Open Water Diver Course
Koh Tao Thailand

VIDEO: PADI OPEN WATER; LEARN TO DIVE IN KOH TAO

Intro: PADI Open Water Diver Course on Koh Tao

The PADI Open Water Diver Course trains you 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).

Dive Course Schedule

Our course schedule is flexible and we can adapt 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:

Day 1: Arrive on Koh Tao & Orientation

Drop us an email to let us know which ferry you’ll be arriving with and send our taxi to meet you at the pier. We’ll then give you a chance to settle into your room, relax and explore a bit.

Then late afternoon / early 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.

Day 2 AM: Scuba Diving Theory

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.

Day 2 PM: Shallow Water Scuba Skills

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:

• Equipment assembly
• Pre-dive safety checks
• Mask and regulator clearing
• Alternate air-source use
• Buoyancy control
• Communicating using hand signals
• Ascent and Descent procedures

Day 3 AM: Dive Planning Workshop and Quizzes

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!).

Day 3 PM: Open Water Dives 1&2

Now time for the best bit! Open water dives exploring the coral reefs and submerged 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.

Day 4 AM: Open Water Dives 3&4

We’ll finish off the scuba diving 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 we can send an underwater photographer to accompany you. They’ll capture great shots of your underwater adventures.
In the evening we can meet at Simple Life’s bar-restaurant to enjoy looking through the underwater photos [accompanied by a cold beer!] and fill out your PADI certification paperwork.

You’ll then be certified as a PADI Open Water Diver!

Fitness & Safety for Scuba Diving

You don’t need to be an Olympic athlete to join the PADI Open Water course. You just need to be in normal 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.

PADI Open Water Course: Booking Procedure

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.