I have deleted email addresses to avoid any problems with any of you reading this who might be psycho stalkers!
"Koh Tao is worth going there & their are many diving resorts. I did my Padi open water diving course for 4 days and 9,800 TBT at Big Blue diving resort. My instructor is Mr.Simon Garrity, I had a very nice experience with him learning to dive, & now I have my Open Water certification Cheers!"
"The important thing is to find a great instructor. If you have a bad experience diving, you won't ever dive again. I agree with Rickchen on Big Blue. I was there for 4 months, I had so much fun! I learned to dive and be completely comfortable there. Simon Garrity is a great instructor and a personal friend. I did my dives with Alex Daluiso and Simon for Emergency First Response. He is very patient and had a great sense of humor. What ever you do and whereever you go stay away from BANS! I am not saying that as a Big Blue loyalist, I am saying it for your own well being. I have seen BB come to the rescue of divers in the water at Bans and I have seen divers come to Big Blue to learn to dive after a botched attempt there. "
"Just got back from Koh Tao, and you DO have a lot of choice. Baan is a good shop, as is Big Blue. I did Crystal Dive Resort and helped out on a lot of open water and other courses (I was doing my DMT, Dive Master Training). Each shop has pluses... I saw a lot of satisfied Big Blue and Baan divers as well as lots of Crystal Divers.:)ENJOY your diving!"
"I am a big fan of Koh Tao last October the viz was great and there is good snorkeling and diving off of Sairee Beach. I went with Big Blue and not only are the instructors great, my instructor was sensitive enough to arrange for us to be alone on the boat just to show me around and allow me to set up and practise things without the embarassment of being in a crowd of people (I'm a full figured woman). I really learned to be comfortable in the water and did my Advanced which prepared me for manta season in the Similans. "
" Koh Tao is your spot. The diving is not the best in Thailand, but the conditions are perfect for doing your divemaster. There are hundreds of Open Water Students, which means plenty of instructors. This is good, because you will see plenty of different styles of teaching and plenty of mistakes. Just leading divers on dives is not all there is to real DM work, and seeing how busy dive schools work gives way more valuable experience. Also because the diving is cheap, you'll get plenty of dives in the course which makes you more confident. I think there are two great shops on Koh Tao ( I lived there for two years), Big Blue and Scuba Junction. Big Blue is a larger school and there are plenty of dives everyday and you will mentor under several different instructors. Jim, the manager is one of the best guys around. Scuba Junction is much smaller but very anal about all procedures and dives. Really tightly run shop. Kay, the manager there is very tight with the rules, but everyone walks out happy and safe. "
"I just did my open water with a dive operation on Koh Tao called Big Blue. If you're already qualified, their cost is 1,000/per dive with discounts being offered after 5 dives. They offer night and deep dives, and courses for underwater photography and other good stuff. Perhaps the most important consideration should be safety???Big Blue's boat is one of the best on the island and for someone already qualified, it may be their selling point. It's huge, well-kept, looks pretty new, and is one of the only boats to have a top deck from which you can take in the sights and dive 3 or 4 meters into the water below. It made the other boats look kinda ghetto. My guide was great--a former Science teacher from London. He was safe, informative, encouraging, fun, and enthusiastic. The rest of their crew were also very welcoming and friendly. Of course any diving crew is going to be a bit too-cool-for-school, but these guys kept that to a minimum.They also discount their rooms for those doing their courses. "
"I actually did my DM course on Koh Tao and then stayed and worked as a DM for Two years. My experience is that you should find your instructors and see how you click. Three amazing Instructors on Koh Tao are Marcel and Alex at Big Blue Diving and Kay at Scuba Junction. Meet with the people that you will be doing the course with, get a feel. Will you be in the shop a lot? will you get an idea how equipment works (like seeing or helping servicing)? Is your diving limited to just a few dives or unlimited? Do they hire their own DMT's? the last one is a very good clue to a shop - whether they produce DM's that are good enough for thier own standards."
"Hi Koh Tao is a great place to learn to dive. I've just finished my divemaster course with Big Blue in Koh Tao. I've been on the island for about 2 1/2 months now. I've dived in Utila, Roatan, Malawi, Maui, Oahu, East Coast Australia inc the Barrier reef and New Zealand. I've done over 100 dives. During my course here I got to assist the instructors at Big Blue on a number of Open Water, Advanced, Rescue, Deep and Nitrox courses. The staff at Big Blue are all really friendly and helpful, there's a relaxed atmosphere, they offer courses in loads of languages, they have good, up to date equipment, big dive boats with loads of room on them and decent accommodation, which whilst not free for divers is half price whilst you're diving. There's a great party atmosphere in the bar in the evenings (for when you aren't diving in the morning of course!) and they have loads of dive master trainees to help out with the courses (and do all the hard work!). The experience that I gained during my course was invaluable and Big Blue DMs have a 90% success rate in finding work after they finish (they other 10% generally aren't interested in working in the dive industry anyway). Have a look at their website http://www.bigbluediving.com for more info. I would suggest you have a look round, check out a few of the dive schools and see what they have to offer but make sure one of the one's you look into is Big Blue, you won't regret it.It will be low season here around that time but it's good vis at the moment and should still be then. It's not rainy season in the Gulf of Thailand at the moment although there has been some rain. "
"I just did my course last week on Koh Tao. Did it at Big Blue. I was very satisfied with the entire diving operations. They have one of the best boats on the island and a great staff. ""You will find a consensus that Koh Tao is a great place to do a beginning course. There are many other people learning just like yourself and there are few hazards while diving like currents or fish. It is also a pretty nice lifestyle.But be wary when the price is too good! Currently there is price war happening on Koh Tao. That might seem like a great thing... until you realize that prices are too low to either pay the instructors a living wage or to maintain their equipment. You'll see that some instructors are quite good and will not work when they can't get paid. On the other hand you will find desperate beginners or dodgy characters that will teach diving for below living wages. Avoid these shops. But if you ask to meet your instructor and ask about their credentials (ever taught anywhere but on Koh Tao, taught more than few courses) that should be pretty easy to sort out. Much more dangerous are
the shops that save money by not servicing equipment. You can't see inside their tanks, or see how well their regulators are working. And in a sport where your life depends on well maintained equipment, a shop that is cutting corners can be a serious problem. If you are going to a shop where prices drop below 9000 baht, you could be dealing with some nefarious characters. Saving a few coins now makes a huge difference later. While there are some very reputable shops (Scuba Junction and Big Blue are just two) there are some pretty shady characters about. So be cautious and in this case...if the price is to good to be true...it is. " 
" When on Koh Tao there are two really good schools. Scuba Junction & the other really amazing shop, though much larger, is Big Blue. Jim is the manager and you'll be hard pressed to find a friendlier guy. Marcel and Alex are two instructors with more experience and patience than you can imagine - plus they are a great bunch of people... "
"I'd say head to Koh Tao, try out diving, take a look aorund and see what happens. On Koh Tao, Big Blue is a very good place to do it - plenty of great instructors and a great deal for the program. I recommend Marcel (super experienced) and Alex (Great personality) as two of the best. ""With regards to diving, the phrase "the cheaper the better" is not true. For example, the company I work for (not in Koh Tao) offers a very cheap Open Water course by doing beach dives, or a more expensive course doing dives at much better dive sites on day trips by boat. You DO get what you pay for indeed, and with the huge number of dive shops in competition in one small island, be very sure you know what you are paying for.I'll recommend Big Blue Diving. I have not dived with them, but I know the manager (Jim) from a few years ago when he was running a liveaboard from Khao Lak. He's an honest guy who will not do things on the cheap.Happy diving!"
"Koh Tao has some great options for learning to dive. Foremost is Scuba Junction for & I would also add Big Blue diving for several of the friendliest instructors you'll ever meet. "Thankyou everyone, & thanks for the messages. Please feel free to add more on websites as its great marketing for us & we love reading what you say.
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