So you’ve just finished your Open Water Diver Course – what do you do next? Well, you stick around Koh Tao do to your Advanced Course, that’s what!
The Advanced Diving Course is a bit different from the Open Water Diver Course. You already know most of the theory you need to know to be a safe and skilled diver, so the Advanced Course is mostly just diving practice under the supervision of one of our great Scuba Diving Instructors.
It’s a skills-based course. There is no exam and the majority of the course work is completed while out scuba diving. You’ll learn how to use a compass underwater, learn skills to improve your buoyancy, and (almost most importantly for most people) you’ll learn how to safely dive to a maximum depth of 30 metres. The Advanced Diving Course is the perfect way to do more scuba diving on the gorgeous dive sites around Koh Tao and get more experience while still under the supervision of an instructor.
So what is the Advanced Course all about?
The Advanced Diving Course includes 5 open water dives at some of the best Koh Tao dive sites. One of the dives is a mandatory deep dive to 30 metres, but the remaining four advanced course dives are up to you. Each dive counts as the first dive for that speciality course, so if you find something that you really like, you can easily transition into the full speciality.
Choices for advanced course dives include:
- Night diving
- Wreck diving (without going inside the wreck)
- Perfect buoyancy dive
- Navigation dive
- Coral ecology dive
- Fish identification dive
- Computer diving
- Underwater photography dive
- Search and recovery dive.
I want to do the Advanced Course on Koh Tao but will I have enough time?
You sure will. The course itself takes usually about two days to complete. It’s really easy to make a quick stopover on Koh Tao to get your Advanced certification before heading towards other diving destinations. You’d hate to get somewhere only to be told that you have to have a minimum certification of Advanced to join a dive.
Here’s what the general course schedule looks like. But we’re pretty chill and flexible so we can tailor a course to fit your exact time needs if that’s the case.
DAY ONE
- Morning – Meet your instructor and your fellow students in our beachfront restaurant and start your first academic session.
- Afternoon – You and your group head out for your first two dives, usually buoyancy and navigation practice.
DAY TWO
- Morning – Your group will be on the morning boat and the first dive will be the one that gets you down to 30 metres. Afterwards, the fourth dive is usually around our house wreck, the HTMS Sattakut.
- Afternoon – You’re off! But hold on before you grab that lunchtime beer. You’ve got a night dive coming up and you can’t drink before diving.
- Evening/Night – This is it! This is the part of the course everyone loves. The night dive! Think there’s a lot of action underwater during the day? Wait until you see the big predators come out to hunt after dark!
How do I sign up for the Advanced Course?
Reserving your spot in the best Advanced Course on Koh Tao is incredibly simple. Head on over to either our Advanced Diver Course page or click on any of the orange ‘Book Now‘ buttons. If you have any questions, just reach out to us by email or on Social Media.
Can’t wait to see you on beautiful Koh Tao, and most importantly, diving down at 30 metres!
