Duration: 3-4 days

Cost: $320 USD

Best Time to Go: Year round

CHOOSING A DIVE SHOP

Koh Tao is one of the best places in the world to get scuba certifications. Certifications here are among the cheapest in the world (around $320 USD for an open water course), and there are an abundance of excellent dive shops to choose from—there are over 50 qualified shops on the island, most of them PADI, SSI or RAID. 

(PADI, SSI, and RAID are three internationally recognized scuba diving training agencies and all are members of the WRSTC (World Recreational Scuba Training Council). Individual dive shops choose a particular agency to teach and certify divers under. PADI is the most used throughout the world, but certifications under all of them follow similar training and safety standards, and are interchangeable up to a professional level. Certifications from all three of these are accepted at any dive center anywhere in the world, and certifications under any can be continued with any other agency.)

I was looking to get my Open Water Certification and Kenzie was getting her Advanced Open Water. We chose to get our certifications with Black Turtle Dive, a PADI dive shop that was located close to the guesthouse we were staying at and was able to start us on the dates we wanted. Since there are so many dive shops on the island we were confident we would be able to book last minute, and we were right. We were lucky to end up at Black Turtle Dive—the instructors were both a lot of fun and very thorough, and classes were small (3 people max from what we saw) so everyone got a lot of attention from the instructors. Also all the instructors at Black Turtle Dive are conservation divers which we also really liked. 

Another thing to look for when choosing a shop are packages that include accommodations. It is typical for accommodations to be discounted (or sometimes even covered) by the dive shop for the duration of the class. We were unaware of this when we completed our certifications so we booked housing separately, but many people we spoke to were doing this. 

SWIM TEST

Most of the dive shops will require a short swim test before beginning instruction (typically 10 small laps and then 10 minutes of treading water). I am actually a very weak swimmer and I was not sure I could do this, so after asking, my instructors let me complete the test with fins and a snorkel. After all, you have all of this gear when you are actually out diving in the ocean. I have heard of other dive shops on the island not giving a swim test, but most of them do. 

MY EXPERIENCE

Getting my Open Water Certification was a lot more fun for me than I expected, considering I am not particularly comfortable in the water. It took three days—1 long first day entirely in a pool for our first five dives, and then two additional days with two open water ocean dives each (four total).

The first day was entirely about learning the equipment and diving safety skills in a safe confined environment. The day was long—we started at 7 am and finished at 6 pm, and completed five dives. Five dives was a lot, and I was very thankful for the lunch break where we walked to a nearby hole-in-the-wall restaurant and ate delicious drunken noodles with roasted duck on top.

Once we got to the ocean dives, it really became worth it. It’s just another world down there—it’s one of the only places other than space where you can experience true zero-gravity. I was a little worried about the pressure changes (10 meters of water depth gives pressure approximately equal to the weight of the entire atmosphere) because I have sensitive ears, but by descending slowly I was totally fine and able to equalize without pain. I was reassured that as long as I wasn’t congested (you should never dive with a cold) I would be fine, and that was indeed the case. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Although I am not the strongest swimmer, getting my scuba certification was very stress free and a ton of fun. Diving even 5-10 meters under water put me in an entirely new world, it was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. This is definitely one of the coolest things I have ever done, and I would recommend to anyone who is looking to try something new—strong swimmer or not.