The Open Water Course on Koh Tao is now possible to complete in only 3 days by cutting down classroom time because of access to a new online learning system from SSI. During Covid, when the world turned to online meetings and teaching, we were able to improve our online education system to such an extent that we are now offering this option to you.
Open Water Day 1 – Theory and Swimming Pool
The Open Water Course on Koh Tao consists of a cup of coffee while watching a video about scuba diving. Then we’ll spend a very leisurely and informative chat around one of our tables in our beachfront restaurant talking diving over a fresh coconut or a Full English Breakfast. At some point, we’re going to play a quiz with you called “Who remembered what?” over our frappuccinos.
Then its shirts off and trousers down. Get your togs on and kit up! We’re going to spend a couple of hours frolicking in our swimming pool having a go at a lot of what we were chatting about in the restaurant. Pop your mouthpiece out, blow bubbles, mouthpiece back in. Mask off, mask on, practice buoyancy control and just get used to your scuba diving equipment because tomorrow we’re doing this again but this time it’ll be in the open water!
Open Water Day 2 – Theory, Exam and Dives 1 & 2 around Koh Tao
So after a sleepless night of nervous excitement & tension, and the relentless persistence of the Jaws theme tune raging around your noggin, it’s time to head out on the boat to one of Koh Tao’s legendary dive sites. Here we’re going to get our scuba equipment on, perform a buddy check, then jump in the water and together we will descend a line holding on to the rope to control our descent. Equalize all the way and then take in the beauty of your surroundings. A completely different atmosphere. An alien world with creatures you have never seen before, and the feeling of weightlessness all the while giving your best Darth Vader with an asthma attack in surround sound.
So relax. This is what it’s all about. Get used to your environment. Look around and be in awe. And let your Open Water Dive Instructor lead you through the Koh Tao dive site.
We’re going to do 2 dives this day and we’ll do 2 different dive sites. Maximum depth will be no deeper than 12 meters and we anticipate spending about 30-40 minutes down there depending on how big an air pig you are. Conserve your air by relaxing and swimming slowly and you’ll get more time at the bottom. Rush around or breathe quickly like you’re running a race and the length of time you have air will be severely reduced. So relax. Look around.
It’s on the second dive we’re going to have a go at doing some of the Open Water Dive skills you did in the pool the day before. Have a go at doing them in the sea now and understand why it is we need to know these skills as Open Water Scuba Divers.
Then it’s back to land for a sunset beer and a yarn about your days’ adventures with your new underwater buddies. Not too many beers mind because tomorrow we have 2 more dives to take to a maximum of 18 meters and this time we won’t be bouncing along the ocean floor at 12 meters like we were yesterday. This time we’ll be perfectly neutrally buoyant at 18 meters in mid-water which descends to a depth as much as 30 meters in some places, where some more experienced individuals are enjoying the sensation of nitrogen narcosis on their Advanced Diving Course Deep dive.
Open Water Day 3 – Dives 3 & 4 around Koh Tao
So today are the 2 final dives at more exciting dive sites that are further away, deeper, with bigger marine life and bigger schools of fish. Now, this is scuba diving!
We’re even going to send an Underwater videographer with you to record this experience for you. The same night, we will all get together for a beer and watch the movie the videographer made for you of your morning.
And that’s it! A lifetime of memories in just three days, and an Open Water Scuba Diving certification or a key if you like to open up many incredible future experiences.
Our Open Water Diver Course starts every day and costs just 11,000Bt, making it officially the cheapest place in the world to learn to scuba dive. And that’s just one more reason to learn to dive with Big Blue Diving today.
