In 1991 we opened a small little dive shop at the 
end of the pier. At that time it was only the second shop on Koh Tao.
By 1999, as Koh Tao became more popular, we opened Big Blue Diving Resort, a PADI Gold Palm Resort, offerring Beach bungalows as well as fan rooms & AC rooms, and restaurant dining quite literally on the waters edge with one of the islands most popular beachside bars.
By 2000 we branched out & opened up a small Dive Center in Koh Samui with luxury speed boat trips to Koh Tao, Sail Rock & the Angthong Marine Park.
Then in 2003 we opened Big Blue Diving Khao Lak, on the West Coast of Thailand in the sleepy seaside resort town about an hour north of Phuket. Here we originally offerred Full Day trips to the Similans and within a year or 2 were also offerring Liveaboard cruises onboard our own private Liveaboard MV Pawara, aswell as faster daily speedboat services to the Similan & Surin Islands.
In 2004 Big Blue Diving Koh Tao became Koh Tao's first SSI Instructor Training Center with South East Asia's most experienced Instructor Trainer, Simon Garrity.
In 2007 we opened Big Blue Tech- our Technical Diving division of Big Blue Diving specialising in Wrecks, Tech, Depth, Nitrox, Trimix, Rebreathers, Caves, & Side mount diving. With excursions around Thailand Singapore & the Phillipines, Big Blue Tech fast became one of Thailands leading Tech, Wreck & Cave Diving Operators.
By 2008 we were outgrowing our Sairee Beach Diving Resort so we opened up Preewa Guesthouse. A brand new clean, spacious & quiet little building set back about 100 meters from the beach & just a 2 minute walk from our main resort. It was perfect for light sleepers & also for Dive club Groups who were looking for something a little bit nicer & where everyone could stay at the same place. In early 2012 we renamed Preewa Guesthouse to Big Blue Bed & Breakfast.
2009 saw Big Blue Diving become a BSAC Center of Excellence
Also in 2009 we officially opened Big Blue Conservation an Eco Conservation arm of our organisation. They organised the Charity Event Swim for Sharks which raises money & awareness of the inhumane practise of Shark Finning. We've won awards every year since we formed Big Blue Conservation from the Project Aware Foundation for outstanding contribution to Eco Awareness & in 2010 won SSI's prestigious award for Most Environmentally Active Dive Center in Thailand.
In 2010 we also won other awards from SSI. Outstanding Contribution to Tech Diving, Best Dive Center in Thailand, Best SSI Instructor, Dive Center with the most SSI Certifications & the most SSI Instructor Certifications in Thailand. The same year we were also recognised for the highest amount of Tech Diving & Rebreather certifications in Thailand.
In 2011 Big Blue Diving became the first Dive Center in the world to partner with the Coral Cay Conservation Society in the education of Marine conservation & Coastal resources.
This year -2012 - we are very proud to be opening our second Beach front resort also on Sairee Beach. A little more upmarket than our original resort Big Blue Two offers Air Conditioned Bungalows on the beach, Private AC & Fan rooms with ocean views, a purpose built divers pool, & another excellent Beach side Restaurant & Bar. From here we also offer the accommodation at Koh Tao's legendary backpacker beachside bungalows- Mama O'Chais.
We got it all! Rustic Beach Bungalows, Backpacker domitories, Bed & Breakfast, Air Conditioned Beachside Bungalows, private AC & Fan rooms for those on a budget or for those looking for something a little nicer. Beachside bars, beachside Restaurants, sea views, sunset views & Swimming pools.
Check out time is 10.00am and we can look after your bags in the diveshop if you need to store them somewhere. We offer a free pick up service at the pier if you let us know what boat & at what time you will be arriving & we also give you a free lift back to the boat from our resort twice a day at 9am & 2pm when you need to leave, sorry if you really have to leave.
For breakfast our beachside restaurants open at 6 am every morning in plenty of time to tuck in to the most important meal of the day before the first dive boat of the day departs. The restaurant tends to stay pretty busy throughout the day as it is in such a great location quite literally right on Sairee Beach! The place is a throng of activity especially in the mornings as new arrivals arrive & existing guests depart.
Around lunch time, the place throngs even more as our morning trip returns & our afternoon trips get ready for their departure. After lunch the restaurants tend to quieten right down as the sunbathers come out in their droves to laze around & relax on our sunloungers, or the surfers come out to use our free wi-fi service. Our television is on all day usually with news, sports or music but we do play movies in the afternoon and programmes can be changed at your desire!
Late afternoon, early evening gets very busy again especially at the bars as our afternoon trips return & divers collect a round of beer or 2 to discuss the afternoons events & highlights. Many of us gather around the video with a pizza & enjoy our videographers efforts at making a visual recording of our day! If there’s no party at the bar that night then wait a day & there’ll be one tomorrow!
We also offer laundry service & motorbike hire at the Sairee Village entry side to our Resort. Laundry service is charged per item & the motorbikes are among the cheapest available to hire on Koh Tao. You also don’t need to leave your passport with them if you are staying & diving with us. Always a bonus!
Our dive shop can organise onward journeys off the island & is also where you can organise all your diving activities, or lust after the latest dive gadgets in our dive retail section..
In Sairee Village you can find ATM's, 7/11's, internet cafes, clothes shops, pirate DVD's, sports bars, sandwich bars, restaurants & now there's even a live cabaret show for all our lady boy friends! Not that there's anything wrong with that!
| Big Blue Restaurant |
Big Blue Restaurants at both of our resorts offer great quality food from all over the world at affordable prices, together with an ambience afforded by the beachside location makes our Restaurants the perfect place for a lunchtime snack or evening meal.
Add a little spice to your life with one of our local
Thai dishes:
Kaeng Phed Ped Yang - roasted duck in red curry.
Kaeng Kua Gung Supparot - prawn and pineapple in red curry.
Gung Phad Ped - curried sautteed prawn with young green pepper corn
Or if it's Italian food you're after, you won't be disappointed;
Spaghetti Marinara - fresh local seafood in a tomato sauce.
Tagliatelle al Genberete - with tuna, prawn in a tomato sauce.
Fetuccine al Fredo - in a ham and mushroom cream sauce.
Freshly Baked Pizza- voted the best Pizza on Koh Tao 2006 & 2007!
Thai style fresh local seafood:
Kung Thod Kratiem Priktai - deep fried prawns with garlic and pepper.
Taley Jan Ron - stir fried seafood with sweet and sour sauce.
Pla Naung Manow - steamed fish with garlic, lemon and chili sauce
...as well as a range of other top dinners that won't disappoint.
So whether you're an early bird after breakfast, or need a power lunch between dives, you'll find some tasty dishes in East Restaurant, and we don't just mean the restaurant staff!
| Big Blue Beach Bar |
Divers are many things and having a beer and filling out logbooks at the end of your days diving is what makes après diving as well known now throughout the world as après skiing!
Chill out and enjoy a sunset beer or two after a day's diving, or stay to drink the night away in an atmosphere and ambience a little different from what Koh Tao's other bars have to offer.
Choose from a wide range of beers, spirits and cocktails, or get into the spirit of things with an island bucket.
Party Time... Dive Master Challenges are arranged for all of our recently certified Dive Masters to celebrate their work, past themes have been Stocks and Shares, Play Your Cards Right, The Alcoholic Olympics, James Bond party, Sumo night, drag queens, and many more.
Big Blue's Beach Bars arrange many special themed nights. Come to one of our legendary parties, where you learn the fundamentals of enjoying tropical island life!
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