Thailand Diving Instruction

Diving overview | Diving instruction | Dive sites in Thailand
The Andaman Sea overview | The Similan Islands | Krabi & Phi Phi Island
Trang | The Mergui Archipelago | Shark point and Anemone reef
The Wreck | Playing safe

Professional and dedicated towards excellence

Thailand is a perfect place to learn to dive or to upgrade your current certification. Many people will be surprised to learn that safety standards for diving here in Thailand often exceed safety standards of other areas. Since many feel that safety does not have the same importance in Asia as it does in other parts of the world, dive centers and instructors have worked twice as hard to meet and exceed safety standards.

Learning to dive here is just as safe as anywhere in the world and because Thailand is Thailand, it's a lot more fun. Most dive centers are affiliated with PADI. because with our international clientele, having teaching materials in multiple languages is essential. NAUI. CMAS. and BSAC certified instructors are all working here as well, but PADI certifications predominate.

Discover Scuba Diving courses are available through all dive centers, and most of the better hotels are working with dive centers either offering free, or very inexpensive, introductions in their pools. The introductions can last anywhere from a few minutes to all day and will put you on a beautiful shallow coral reef supervised by an instructor who speaks your language, almost instantly.

Basic Open Water Diving Courses are generally conducted in four to five days, and including classroom theory, pool skill development, and ocean training dives. Many dive centers offer the option of completing your course on onboard dive boats. Class sizes are usually small, from 2-6 students assuring personal attention and high standards of learning.

Dive centers also offer advanced diving courses and specialty courses, including drift diving, underwater naturalism, multi-level and computer diving, wreck diving, and cavern diving-to name a few. Certain onboard dive boats specialize in underwater photography and training, with full-time professional photographers and videographers on board.

The newest craze to hit the diving industry. Nitrox and technical diving, has exploded over the past couple of years in Thailand. Many dive centers now offer training in Nitrox. deep air-and even rebreathers-either from shore, from day boats, or from onboard dive boats.

Diving Instruction

Instructor level training is conducted throughout Thailand by PADI 5-Star Instructor Development Centers and Career Development Centers. These shops are able to teach you everything you need to know about working in the diving industry in Southeast Asia or other areas of the world. Our warm waters, balmy tropical weather, and beautiful islands attract instructors, and instructors-to-be, from all over the world.

Thailand has had the highest percentage of certification growth in the world for several years now. Safety and sanuk, a unique Thai concept of fun. are what you'll find learning to dive in Thailand. With first-class equipment, highly trained and qualified instructors speaking many different languages, and some of the best dive sites in the world, you'll have no problem getting all the help you need to explore Thailand's underwater Kingdom.

Conservation Guidelines

A diver may unintentionally cause damage to coral, so here are a few guidelines set forth by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to help protect the Kingdom's reefs:

• Control your buoyancy: Use the least amount of weights possible when diving and get proper training or advice on how to achieve neutral buoyancy underwater using breath control and your BCD.
  
  

• Stay off the bottom: Always swim horizontally underwater and keep away from coral formations. Do not "rest" on the bottom and avoid getting too close to the reef in case of unpredictable currents which could push you into it. This helps you to also avoid damaging yourself.
  
  

• Don't walk on the reef: When snorkeling or swimming at the surface, please swim; walking on the reef, or any contact at all with the delicate coral polyps can kill them.
  
  

• Leave the life there: Do not take corals, rocks, or shells, living or dead. Coral reefs and their inhabitants are a unique and very delicate ecosystem. Any disturbances can cause long-lasting damage. Don't spear fish, especially in tourist areas and national parks. In most places in Thailand, taking anything from the sea is against the law.
  
  

• Don't touch the fish: Touching, picking-up or riding on fish, turtles or larger animals such as whale sharks or manta rays, certainly cannot benefit them and more often than not will cause infection, disease, or emotional stress in the animal.
  
  

• Moorings: Use dive companies that support environmental policies such as using boat moorings rather than anchors.