Big Blue Diving was the second ever dive resort on Koh Tao. Now there are over 70 dive resorts and dive centres scattered here, so competition is fierce! We have to ensure that our customer service and professionalism are the best and that our facilities don’t let us down. It’s too easy to sit back get comfortable and believe that we can stay on top of our game by reputation alone. We need to prove it too! So let’s focus on every area of our operation and what makes us the best dive resort on Koh Tao.
Our Staff
Every member of the Big Blue Dive Team is a fully certified diving professional. Everyone has up to date health and accident insurance as well as full professional dive insurance. All our staff must be fully certified Oxygen Providers and current in First Aid and CPR Training. Each Instructor and Divemaster has to have their membership with SSI or PADI renewed every year. As a dive centre, we are a sponsor of the SubAquatic Safety Services and have been since it started in 1999.
Our Boats
We have 4 dive boats and 3 shuttle boats to ferry you out directly from our dive resort on Koh Tao straight to the dive boats. Banzai, Waverunner and Enzo, are all purpose-built. None of this converted fishing boat nonsense, which means we have a top deck with tables and benches for relaxing, chatting, briefings and on full-day trips somewhere to sit and eat comfortably. Two of these boats also have sundecks on the roof for all the sun worshippers out there. On the dive deck, we have tank spaces for over 80 tanks so there is plenty of room for cat swinging if that’s what grabs your fancy. Each boat also holds two Bauer Mariner 250 Compressors that can supply all the air we need, ensuring your tanks are always full. For the staff, we can avoid all the back-breaking lugging tanks back and forth from the beach to the boat every day. Each boat also has 2 boat crew in addition to the captain to help you get in and out of the water. If you want they can also help you get in and out of your equipment. We also have our dedicated tech and freediving boat, Big Blue. We’ve had her since we opened back in the day and still have the same captain who has been with us since he was 16 years old back in 1991. A quarter of the size of our other boats, Big Blue, is dedicated to our tech and freediving teams. The freedivers tend to go out in the mornings and our technical divers like heading out for their more adventurous trips just after lunch.
Our Equipment
We are one of the highest scuba certifying dive resorts on Koh Tao. We have an equally large operation specializing in liveaboards to the Similan and Surin Islands in Khao Lak. Consequently, there isn’t a scuba retailer or manufacturer out there who wouldn’t like an exclusive deal with Big Blue Diving. We have been offered several extremely attractive deals but we aren’t in this for them! We’re doing this for us and you! Our equipment is the best for the conditions we are presented with here in Thailand by using Aqualung BCD’s & Aqualung regulators. We also hold a selection of ScubaPro BCD’s whose durability and shelf life are unsurpassed in our experience. We use Mares and Technisub fins and masks. And we purchase all our wetsuits here in Thailand to help the local economy. We employ a 4-person team to maintain, clean and store our equipment, all of whom are fully certified Mares and Aqualung Service Technicians. Our compressor room has a Bauer K14 Industrial compressor to service all our tanks on land. We also operate our Nitrox membrane system from here and rent Nitrox out to most other dive resorts on Koh Tao who aren’t able to operate such a system.
Our Resort
Our Dive Resort on Koh Tao comprises of 10 air-conditioned dormitories with 4 or 6 people to a room. We also have 7 private fan rooms and 7 private AC rooms. All private rooms come with hot water shower and a balcony overlooking the pool. (Please refer to our accommodation page for more details). The Big Blue Restaurant and Bar is a local favourite location on the whole of Koh Tao. The food is fantastic especially the pizza which is famed on Koh Tao for being the best on the island. The Bar sells every tipple you can think of and is the perfect setting for sunset drinks and après dive socializing. It’s also a reasonable sporting venue too with regular beach football or volleyball every night and all the big games shown on the big screen at the bar as well as all the daily dive videos get aired here too. Our pool is 12 meters long by 3 meters wide. The shallow side is 1.20m deep and the deep side is 2.50 meters deep. It has been designed to hold 4 groups in training at any one time, though we rarely have more than 2 groups in at 1 time. It is a saltwater pool and maintained by our Dive Operations Manager to ensure excellent maintenance and care. We also have a beachfront massage parlour here at Big Blue. Not many dive resorts on Koh Tao can offer that!
Big Blue Conservation
Big Blue Diving was one of the very first dive centres to open an ecological branch within our Dive centre. We were one of the founding partners in the Save Koh Tao movement and the Koh Tao Dive Operators Club. We have our own in house Marine Biologist who has been an integral part of many eco projects on Koh Tao including Bio Rock, artificial reefs, mooring lines, beach and dive site clean ups and charity work. Dr Jennifer Matthews Big Blue Conservation’s original founder is also a published author in coral research and wrote the outlines for the BSAC Marine Conservation course.
Big Blue Freediving
Our leading Freediving Instructor, Juan Pablo (JP) from Chile, is one of the most respected freedivers on the circuit. Freediving has become increasingly popular over the years and Big Blue Freediving has been consistently one of the highest certifying Freediving centres in Thailand.
Big Blue Tech
Our Tech Manager, Andy Campbell, has been awarded the TDI award for most certifications in Tech Diving for three years in a row. As a Twin Tank, Sidemount and Rebreather Instructor, he has organized many offshore unexplored dive sites and wrecks in the Gulf of Thailand and the Philippines. He is also often called upon by rescue services when the need calls. Big Blue Tech is also the longest established Tech Diving Center in Thailand having been started over 15 years ago. In those days we were pioneering cave exploration and tech dives in the Khao Sok National Park until the government closed it down for being too dangerous! Which of course it was for those who didn’t know what they were doing, which must be stressed – wasn’t us!
Big Blue Pro
It’s not every dive resort on Koh Tao that can claim to hold the best instructor in the industry on their books. We are very proud to have Simon Garrity heading up Big Blue Pro for us. Simon has been an instructor for 20 years and an instructor trainer for the last 10 years. He has certified more SSI Instructors and Divemasters than anyone else in the world and is responsible for training most of the international team at SSI as well. He has a 100% pass rate among his candidates and knows the rules of scuba training better than anyone in the Industry. Together with his team at Big Blue Pro, Simon is responsible for having certified over 10,000 diving professionals. If you are looking to get yourself a foot in the door in the scuba industry there is no name more credible in the industry than SSImon himself.
Big Blue Movies
Big Blue Movies has been in operation for almost 5 years now and is responsible for training aspiring photographers and cinematographers. Our employed Spielberg’s and James Cameron’s are then tasked with filming the final dives of our Open Water Courses, our full-day trips and our Basic Divers, as well as updating all our social media outlets.
Drift Retail Store
Finally, we are extremely proud of our clothing line and retail outlet at the Drift store on Koh Tao’s busiest high street in Sairee Village. Managed by Robin Holloway, at Drift we design our own t-shirts shorts and bikinis and sell all scuba paraphernalia you can want. We are also Koh Tao’s first point of call for all Go Pro cameras and accessories and the leading dealer in Suunto computers and Feel Free Drybags.
Being the Best Dive Resort on Koh Tao
It is not easy to stay on top of your game for as many years as we have in the scuba diving industry, but our inspiring leadership from all departments has helped! With the right direction, the appropriate guidance, and the right people doing the right jobs, Big Blue Diving has grown from strength to strength. We will continue to be a pioneer and leader in the industry and the benchmark to which most centres aspire. Our job is to continue to be the best and to make your Thailand holiday the best, as stress-free and as enjoyable as possible.
Want to come to check us out while you’re on Koh Tao? Visit the Lomprayah website to check out ferry times to and from Koh Tao. And contact us to get yourself booked in for your scuba diving or freediving adventure!
