It is well documented in almost every travel guide, article, blog, and forum that Koh Tao diving prices are among the cheapest in the world. That applies to courses as well as scheduled dives for certified divers.
Dive site proximity.
One reason for this is the proximity of the dive sites. Most Koh Tao Divesites take less than a 20-minute boat journey. These dive sites include the most popular training sites surrounding Koh Nang Yuan like Japanese Gardens, Red Rock, White Rock, Green Rock, & Twins, all of which offer excellent conditions for novice divers. Then add a further 10 minutes to your travel time if you’re diving Koh Tao’s East Coast, sites like Hin Wong, Laem Thien, Shark Island, & Aow Leuk. Then it’s less than 40 minutes from Koh Tao to our further deeper sites like Chumphon Pinnacle & Southwest Pinnacle & if you have time there is a dive site called Sail Rock. Alone desolate Pinnacle that starts from 40 meters below the surface and rises to 15 meters above making this a spectacular dive site with regular encounters of traveling pelagic. Getting to Sail Rock takes the same time as it would from Koh Samui, about an hour, and being the best Dive site in the Gulf of Thailand, it is well worth the trip.
A Backpacker Market.
Another reason for Koh Tao diving prices being so cheap is due to the birth of tourism here. Koh Tao is a predominantly backpacker market. A long, long time ago… a bunch of adventurous travelers who having ‘discovered“ Koh Samui, & established a regular monthly beach party on the night of the Full Moon on Koh Phangan, they headed further north to the next island. Meanwhile, Divers from Koh Samui were also recanting tales of a beautiful undiscovered (by tourists) pearl in the Gulf of Thailand. Heading out on a Coconut boat- a cargo boat that would go to Koh Tao once in a while to pick up a lovely bunch of coconuts & fresh fish to sell back on the mainland, Koh Tao began to welcome the first onset of overnight tourists by setting up very cheap beach side bungalow resorts along Sairee Beach. The island was still very basic. No power, no cars, donkeys and horses were the method of transport & the local economy was based on the exportation of coconuts and fish. Until the tourists arrived & then the ferries started operating from the mainland & suddenly a whole new industry opened up, Scuba Diving. The island needed places for the divers to stay. & eat. & drink. & party! Dive shops appeared. So did Bungalows, restaurants, bars, resorts. And meanwhile, tourism on the neighboring islands was also growing. Overnight Koh Tao diving prices from Koh Samui helped booster the reputation of just how special Koh Tao was. Then in 1999, they opened an airport on Koh Samui & that was it. The islands were officially opened up to the world of tourism. Samui became known as the posh island with the plush resorts, elephant rides, all-inclusive holidays & heaps of families. Koh Phangan became a global sensation with its ‘hippies’ & Full Moon Party reputation & Koh Tao fast became a must-see destination on the backpacker trail. Scuba Diving Koh Tao almost became like a rite of passage for the ‘year off & see the world’ travelers. And being the laid back place Koh Tao is or was we forgot to up our prices & then realized just as we were about to that because we were the cheapest place in the world to dive people were traveling from all over the world to grab that bargain! So the price for diving Koh Tao stayed the same as it had been when it was introduced which was half the price you could buy the course for in Koh Samui. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
Free Accommodation.
And then what was also incredibly appealing was the lodgings. All inclusive diving course & accommodation were sold as a Koh Tao diving package from Bangkok While you did your Open Water Course you were offered FREE accommodation for the duration. SO the cheapest place in the world to dive AND free accommodation while you’re there. Admittedly the FREE accommodation was pretty pokey but it was a huge draw & with the help of these diving packages, Koh Tao became the largest area for Scuba Diving certifications in the world, even exceeding the certifications completed from Cairns on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia.
The Koh Tao Dive Operators Club.
Koh Tao was enjoying a boom in the tourism industry, but the rate of growth was completely unsustainable & when businesses started operating without the correct credentials or new developments began encroaching on nature and disturbing the natural beauty of the island the local government, the Department of Marine & Coastal Resources & the people and businesses on Koh Tao got together and formed a club which would try & ensure sense & sensibility & regulate the growth of industry & expansion as well as conserve the beauty of the area for future generations.
The first step this Koh Tao Dive Operators Club took was increasing the price of the diving for the first time in 20 years. FREE accommodation was stopped & a fund was set up from which the contributions made to it would be reinvested back into ensuring a healthy future for Koh Tao.
Fixed Pricing.
So that’s where we are now. As members of the Koh Tao Dive Operators Club, we are obliged to sell our products for no less than the fixed price on Koh Tao which is 11000 Bt for the Open Water course, 10000 For Advanced, 1000 Bt for 1 dive or as little as 800Bt if you are doing as many as 10 dives & no dormitory bed prices to be any cheaper than 300 Bt per person regardless of Fan or AC, or any bungalow to be sold for less than 500 Bt. By implementing a minimum price.
The agreement has been welcomed with open arms by the community & almost all of the businesses on Koh Tao as it ensures a positive future both for the Tourism industry in Koh Tao as well as ensuring that the ecological monitoring we have enforced upon ourselves in the way we operate our businesses complies positively with our environment both on land & in the sea. By being a member of the Koh Tao Dive Operators Cub we, Big Blue Diving are acknowledging responsibility for our actions both as a service in the tourism industry and equally important as a conservationist for the planet.
We hope that whoever you choose to dive with on Koh Tao is as worthy of your hard earnt money as we are, (probably not but it’s your choice) but most importantly is also a member of the Koh Tao Dive Operators Club.
So now you know- Koh Tao diving prices are fixed. You can haggle but you won’t get it any cheaper so don’t even ask. Instead, ask whether your Dive Center is a Member of the Koh Tao Dive Operators Club. And where’s the beach bar?
