Advanced Diving Course

The Advanced Diving Course is the next step after you’ve completed your Open Water Diver Course. You’ll expand on the scuba skills you’ve already learned and increase your confidence so you’re more comfortable in the water. 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.

The Advanced Course includes 5 dives at a variety of Koh Tao dive sites.

Two of the dives are the mandatory navigation and deep dive.

Navigation Dive: This dive focuses on improving your underwater navigation skills. You’ll learn how to use a compass and natural navigation techniques to navigate your way around the dive site and find your way back to the starting point. The dive instructor will teach you how to maintain a sense of direction, distance, and how to overcome common navigational challenges.

Deep Dive: In the deep dive, you’ll venture to greater depths beyond the limits of your initial Open Water certification (usually between 18-30 meters or 60-100 feet). The dive instructor will teach you about the considerations and potential risks of deep diving, including nitrogen narcosis and air consumption. You’ll also learn how to plan and execute safe deep dives.

Your choices for your 3 adventure dives include:

Buoyancy Control Dive: Buoyancy control is one of the most critical skills in diving. This dive aims to refine your ability to maintain proper buoyancy and trim underwater. You’ll practice hovering, controlling your ascent and descent, and avoiding contact with the seabed or delicate marine life. Buoyancy control is not only important for the safety of the diver but also to protect the environment.

Wreck Dive: During the wreck dive, you’ll explore a sunken shipwreck or other artificial reef structures. You’ll learn how to navigate around the wreck safely, respecting the boundaries set by the dive center and preserving the marine life that may have made the wreck their home. Wreck diving can be a fascinating experience, as it allows you to witness history underwater while being mindful of the marine ecosystem

Fish ID Dive: On this dive, you’ll learn how to identify various fish species and marine life. Your instructor will teach you about the distinctive characteristics of different fish and how to use fish identification guides to enhance your underwater experience.

Nitrox Dive: Nitrox is a gas mixture with a higher percentage of oxygen than regular air. Using nitrox allows for extended bottom times and shorter surface intervals due to reduced nitrogen absorption. During this dive, you’ll learn about the benefits, risks, and procedures for diving with enriched air nitrox.

Night Dive: Night diving offers a unique opportunity to witness nocturnal marine life and observe how the underwater world transforms after the sun sets. You’ll learn about specialized equipment and safety procedures for night diving, as well as techniques for communicating and navigating in low-light conditions.

The Advanced Diving Course is a skills-based course. There is no exam for this course and the majority of the course work is completed while out scuba diving.

To enroll in the Advanced Diving Course you must be a certified Open Water Diver from any recognized scuba diving agency.

Did you do your Open Water Diver course with PADI but now want to switch to SSI? No problem. You can easily switch between certification agencies at this level of your scuba diving education.

Big Blue Diving Koh Tao offers Advanced Diving Courses through SSI (Advanced Adventurer). All SSI course materials are digital and free of charge.

Don’t know the difference between SSI and PADI – read this

Big Blue Diving Koh Tao will provide all equipment and dive boat trips for the duration of your Advanced Diving Course.

Here is your Advanced Course schedule:

Day 1

10:00-11:30

We’ll meet in our dive center where your Instructor will offer you details on all the available adventure dives that you may select for your Advanced course. Once you and your group have chosen your 5 options, you’ll start talking about each area individually. Your instructor will go into each specialty in-depth so that you understand the type of scuba diving you are about to embark on.

12:30-17:30

After lunch you’ll meet your instructor and your group in preparation for an afternoon out scuba diving around Koh Tao. After a short longtail ride out to one of our large dive boats, you’ll chug towards your first two adventure dives for the course.

Day 2

06.40 – 12.00

You’ll head out to a deeper dive site a bit further from Koh Tao so that you can scuba dive down to 30 meters to complete your mandatory deep dive. After that’s done, you’ll have one more scuba dive that morning to complete another adventure dive. The wreck dive is a very popular option and many Advanced Diving Course students choose to combine the morning deep dive with a morning visit out to the HTMS Sattakut wreck just off Sairee Beach.

18:00-20:00

The last dive on the course is usually the night dive (this could be on the first day if necessary too – just ask!). We’ll head out to a dive site close to Sairee Beach, usually White Rock or Twins, and try to witness the reef predators in full hunting mode. Keep an eye out for giant barracudas using your torchlight as a hunting aid, giant groupers inhaling small fish, and reef octopus out prowling around the sand. Don’t forget to cover your torch to see some awesome underwater bio-luminescence. After your night dive, you’ll head back to shore to log your scuba dive and officially be issued your Advanced Diving Course certification.

What comes next?

Once you receive your Advanced certification, you have several options for continuing your scuba diving training with Big Blue Diving Koh Tao.

• Take the React Right and Rescue Diver Courses so that you can enrol in the Divemaster Program.
• Get started in Technical Diving with our Intro to Tech course.
• Pick up your Nitrox Specialty and Deep Specialty to expand your scuba diving options.

Don’t forget! Because of the extra nitrogen your body builds up while scuba diving, you cannot fly within 24hrs of your last dive.

Are you fit to dive?

Scuba diving is an activity that requires a certain level of physical health. Read this medical questionnaire. If you can answer yes to any of the questions, you may require medical clearance to enroll in a scuba diving course. Contact us for more information.