How much for PADI open water in Thailand

[Kev82]

Hi guys,

I have searched this topic and couldn't find anything, but sorry if it is repeated. I am going to be spending a long holiday in Thailand, doing all the South islands. I've noticed that the price to do PADI Open Water varies a lot for the same dive sites/areas depending on where you book it from (i.e phuket, phi phi, ao nang all very different prices but same sites). I will be going to all of those places and also to Koh Phangan and Koh Samui, but I've heard the diving is not as good there (but it is cheaper and some people say it's brilliant, any opinions?) so I don't mind where I do it as long as it is going to be with a good company at a decent price! I've done some fun dives before and really want to get certified and it's a big part of my budget so any help would be great!

 

[shortdivemedic]

Kev82
Welcome to the board , and I am sure Quero will be around to answer some of your questions shes from the Phukhet area. I know on the Island of Kho PI Pi all the prices are locked in and you pay the same no matter which Dive Shop you go with . We did some of our stuff there with Emma and Caroline at Blue Veiw Divers and they were great instructors.



Cheers
Michael

 

[limbo]

Hi Kev82,

The prices in general depend on how far of a travel the boats have to make before they get to the dives sites. The same site visited from different starting points may therefor have different prices since the overhead costs may be higher.

Whether the east or west coast are better is a matter of opinion, at the end of the day you get wet and sometime the time of the year that you visit certain areas may be of influence as well, although both east and west dc's in general dive all year around.

Koh Tao offers some of the cheapest diving and courses in Thailand (which is near Koh Samui) but in my opinion, get certified as soon as possible upon arriving in Thailand so you can get the most of fun dives out of it for the remainder of your stay.
Quero would be a good option for Phuket based diving, Blue View for Phi Phi and for Koh Phangan and Samui I can help out with some advice.

Hope you enjoy your dives!

 

[Quero]

Greetings, Kev82. It is definitely confusing to see a lot of different prices for what may seem to you to be the same 'product', but as Limbo points out, each course/trip on offer is actually somewhat different. So you need to decide for yourself what makes one offer 'good value for money' and another 'overpriced'.

There are far too many factors to explain it all well, but to expand on what Limbo was saying, one thing that makes diving and costs of courses from Phuket more expensive than from Koh Tao is that our dive sites are further away and the cost of the boat trip for the open water dives costs us more, so we need to include that expense in the cost of the course. On Phuket, we also usually do the confined water dives in rented pool facilities rather than from shore, our groups tend to be small (usually no more than 4 students), and the usual course length is four days. Shorter courses, larger groups, shore diving, nearby dive sites all reduce overhead on a per-student basis and allow a school to charge less. Each school sets up its courses in a way it thinks will provide the best results for them (whatever the specific results they are looking for are--and this varies, too).

I believe you're looking for something like a menu with prices on it that you can pick out a school and say, "I want that one." But such a menu or a list doesn't exist, as far as I know, so your best option is to decide what kind of course you want and where you want to do it, and then choose a school/instructor in that location. If unrushed training in small groups is what you're looking for, expect to pay a little more. If the cheapest possible course is what you're looking for, expect the school to find ways to reduce the per-student cost.

 

[chrisinthailand]

As mentioned previously there are different factors which affect the prices of PADI Courses and diving in general, mainly distance to dive site and type of boat - (longtail, day boat or speedboat), but also the type of course. PADI is generally a little more than SSI - you might need to do a bit of research on the pros and cons of each.

Generally though you get what you pay for, in Ao Nang with the same dive center you can do the Open Water Course for 17'900 Baht for a private course one-on-one with a personal instructor and in house at a 5-Star Hotel, 14'900 baht if you're happy to join a group course (maximum 3 students) and want to dive at nicer diver sites, 12'900 Baht including 3 nights accommodation in a deluxe suite with all diving by longtail boat to the local islands only, or 10'900 Baht for local diving but without accommodation... So a lot of options and something to suit pretty much all expectations and budgets...

Best thing to do is send a mail out to a few dive centers and see what they can offer.

Have fun and enjoy...

 

[ayeshacantrell]

HI there !

On Koh Tao you can expect to pay 9800B for your course.

But as Quero says its important for you not to choose based on price alone.

Think about what you want from both the course and your destination first - Its more important that you get whats right for you and if you have to pay a little more to get it - then that's not so bad - you will only learn to dive once !

Think about group size ...[FONT=&quot]Are you happy in a large group or would you prefer smaller groups? On the whole the biggest dive centres teach in the biggest groups, great if you are traveling on your own and want to meet new people. However if you are a little nervous and want some more personal attention then check out the smaller dive centres, these often guarantee a maximum of four and are happy to teach in classes of 1 or 2 also[/FONT].

Do you want a lively resort who will offer a busy after dive atmosphere or do you want to chill, then choose your location carefully.

What kind of accommodation do you want? Most places offer rooms within the resort and are happy to recommend somewhere else too if you would like something a bit different.

Think about the facilities and their equipment and boat and team too.

Check what is and whats not included....

Let me know if you have other questions ...

Ayesha

Find out what happens if you cant complete your course - do you get a refund?

If you are having problems with something - can you take an extra day and repeat or will you have to pay more?

Have a look around for reviews and feedback from passed divers and students and then get intouch with a few centre and see how your questions are answered.

If you have narrowed it down to just a few you can also check them out personally when you get there too.

 

[lord khram]

Worth checking if course materials are included, many of the cheaper options may not include for them.
Personally I would get here first go around a few shops and find an instructor that you feel comfortable with. Face to face contact is far better than e mail, then try and arrange your course in as small a group as possible, prefarably 1-1 with your chosen instructor. This option will certainly not be the cheapest, but all too often I have seen courses being conducted in large groups that in my mind are not being done to a sufficient standard. Of course that is not saying that all group courses are substandard, and all done 1-1 are perfect, but you will not find out untill it is too late to change.

 

[Kev82]

That has got to be the best and quickest response on a forum! Thanks everyone for the help, I am not concerned with the cheapest but certainly don't want to feel ripped off by paying too much. The thing that is the most baffling for me is where to do it, I'm thinking either Koh Phangan (some places I've found seem cheaper than Koh Tao, and have really good reviews on Trip Advisor) or Koh Phi Phi because my mate said he can get 20% off the 'fixed prices' at Island Divers, which seems quite reputable, with a discount card that I'm buying anyway. Has anyone got any places to avoid on Koh Phangan, I'll be there in March as well if that makes a difference? Or anyone dived with Island Divers? I guess as well that buying the course books from the dive centre is cheaper than buying them separately (if thats even possible). Sorry for all the questions, but you seem like a helpful bunch.

 

[limbo]

In general in Thailand the manual and certification fee is included in all non professional PADI courses, but worthwhile double checking. I would be very wary about course prices on Phangan than the course prices on Koh Tao.
On Koh Phangan I can recommend Haad Yao Divers.

 

[lord khram]

Also on Koh Tao beware of crowded boats, and large group courses.
Also although not your main concern when training, but the diving on the West coast of thailand is far superior to the Gulf (east coast) of Thailand.