Learn To Dive

Although there are many organisations that will provide you with training the largest in Thailand, and the world, is the Professional Association Of Dive Instructors, better known as PADI. This is not to say that qualifications from other dive organisations are not accepted in Thailand, far from it, just that if you are looking to learn to dive, try a dive or progress your dive qualification it will more than likely be with a PADI dive school.

PATHS OF A PADI DIVER

Courses in blue font are classed as recreational with those in orange font depicting professional level qualifications.

There are pre-courses to the PADI Open Water Diver course but these are taster sessions and should only be used if you don’t have enough time to complete the full course or just want to see if you would like the underwater world. If you are set for adventure then the PADI Open Water Diver course is the ideal introduction to diving.

Once qualified you can dive with a buddy of the same level or higher without the need of an instructor or guide, however a guide will ensure your short time underwater is maxed out with stuff to see so don’t ignore this option. In Thailand it will be very unlikely that you will get any diving done without a guide.

So How Deep Can I Dive?

This will depend on your qualification! As a qualified PADI Open Water Diver you will be limited to a maximum depth of 18m but further qualification to become a PADI Advanced Diver allows you to dive to a maximum depth of 30m. However the maximum recreational depth a diver can go to is 40m but to do this would require further specialist diver training.

How Long Can I Stay Underwater?

This will depend on your fitness level, the water temperature, how comfortable you feel, the depth you dive to and the size of tank you take diving with you. In other words it is hard to say with accuracy how long you will be underwater but most dive guides will try and make sure you get at least 30mins to explore the coral but on most dive trips they try and keep a maximum dive time to 1hour.

How Much Will It Cost?

This, like the previous question, has so many variables it is almost impossible to say. Kao Tao in the Gulf of Thailand was at one time the most reasonable priced courses you could find in Thailand but these prices have now been adopted by some other dive schools in other locations. On average i would say that the cost of a 4 day PADI Open Water Diver certification would cost about 14,000Baht, but i have seen courses advertised as low as 10,000 Baht and as high as 20,000 Baht, you can also find courses with free accommodation offered. So really its how much you want to pay for a course will be the cost! But i will say one thing about the cost that should be remembered - Scuba Diving can be a dangerous sport so when choosing who will teach you please don’t let the cost of the course be your deciding factor.

Will I Need To Buy Equipment?

The short answer is no, you should be supplied with everything you need to complete your course and this should all be included in the cost of your course. To make your life a lot more comfortable however i would suggest you try and purchase at least your own mask and snorkel, this can always be used for snorkeling if you don’t continue your diving. Another comfort purchase would be your own fins (mistakenly called flippers but most people). Fins range in sizes so you can get small, medium, large, x-large, or size 2-5, 5-8 etc, so getting a fin that fits is often down to a particular manufacturer and style of fin. At dive schools however fins are offered in the range size so it may be too big or too small. When training in the pool you may not notice any problems with your fins but when in open water, swimming against light currents or just using the fins to wim can quickly become a painful experience if the fins don’t really fit well. Again if you dont continue with your diving you can still use the fins for snorkelingg

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