Efka76
Contributor
Me and my wife just returned from our diving trip in Koh Tao, Thailand, and wanted to share our impressions. Both of us are beginner divers (received PADI OWD certifications in November 2017). We planned a trip to Thailand in order to get much more experience in diving as well as some certifications, which would increase our experience level as well as expand our diving limits.
After making thorough research we choose Koh Tao, which is a paradise for diver trainees. In Koh Tao, prices are much lower compared to other places around the world (including Thailand). We are coming from Lithuania where Baltic sea is pretty cold (appr. 18 C degrees). Accordingly, we especially liked sea temperature in Thailand which was amazingly warm for us (28 C degrees). Our chosen diving center was 5 star PADI center and offered free accommodation in bungalow near the sea. Also, they offered 10% discount for all subsequent courses. We liked that diving center due to following reasons:
1) Very experienced diving instructors;
2) Free accomodatrion
3) Everything is very near: diving center, living place, restaurant, pier.
4) Diving center uses relatively good and well maintained equipment; all regulators are balanced.
Initially we opted for PADI Advanced OWD + Nitrox course and after 2 days we became proud certified Advanced OWD and received Nitrox specialty (2 out of 5 dives were with Nitrox).
Then we enrolled into Deep, Wreck, Underwater Naturalist, Night specialties' courses. My impression about them:
Deep: very interesting and useful course. Deep dive certification expanded our diving limits to 40 m, which is recreational diving maximum limit. I was surprised a bit that at 40 m. depth I did not feel any gas narcosis effect and solved mathematical questions even faster than on surface. Other course members felt gas narcosis effect.
Wreck dive: it was a very interesting experience (especially a last dive when we penetrated a wreck. However, during all dives visibility in wreck dive site was quite limited (appr. 3-4 m) and I understood that diving in good visibility sites which are rich of fishes is a more interesting to me comparing to wreck site This certification helped us to expand our horizon about potential risks and hazards related to wreck diving.
Night diving: it was pretty interesting experience as we saw squid and other fishes that we could not see during day dives. Also, night diving was initially a bit scary to me, however, after 3 night dives we got some experience in this area and lost this initial fear.
Underwater Naturalist: these dives were the most interesting to me as we saw a very big variety of sea creatures, found a lot of interesting information about classification of fauna & flora.
After one very busy diving week we got Advanced OWD certification and 5 above mentioned PADI specialties each. We were very happy with our diving vacation in Koh Tao and definitely recommend it to other beginner divers. Now we have a plan to go to liveabord in Red sea (Egypt) somewhere at the end of summer and get more diving experience as well as reach our dive number to magical number 50 Plan for the next year is to get PADI Rescue diver certifications as well as Master Scuba Diver Certifications. Then fully enjoy diving in different parts of the world.
After making thorough research we choose Koh Tao, which is a paradise for diver trainees. In Koh Tao, prices are much lower compared to other places around the world (including Thailand). We are coming from Lithuania where Baltic sea is pretty cold (appr. 18 C degrees). Accordingly, we especially liked sea temperature in Thailand which was amazingly warm for us (28 C degrees). Our chosen diving center was 5 star PADI center and offered free accommodation in bungalow near the sea. Also, they offered 10% discount for all subsequent courses. We liked that diving center due to following reasons:
1) Very experienced diving instructors;
2) Free accomodatrion
3) Everything is very near: diving center, living place, restaurant, pier.
4) Diving center uses relatively good and well maintained equipment; all regulators are balanced.
Initially we opted for PADI Advanced OWD + Nitrox course and after 2 days we became proud certified Advanced OWD and received Nitrox specialty (2 out of 5 dives were with Nitrox).
Then we enrolled into Deep, Wreck, Underwater Naturalist, Night specialties' courses. My impression about them:
Deep: very interesting and useful course. Deep dive certification expanded our diving limits to 40 m, which is recreational diving maximum limit. I was surprised a bit that at 40 m. depth I did not feel any gas narcosis effect and solved mathematical questions even faster than on surface. Other course members felt gas narcosis effect.
Wreck dive: it was a very interesting experience (especially a last dive when we penetrated a wreck. However, during all dives visibility in wreck dive site was quite limited (appr. 3-4 m) and I understood that diving in good visibility sites which are rich of fishes is a more interesting to me comparing to wreck site This certification helped us to expand our horizon about potential risks and hazards related to wreck diving.
Night diving: it was pretty interesting experience as we saw squid and other fishes that we could not see during day dives. Also, night diving was initially a bit scary to me, however, after 3 night dives we got some experience in this area and lost this initial fear.
Underwater Naturalist: these dives were the most interesting to me as we saw a very big variety of sea creatures, found a lot of interesting information about classification of fauna & flora.
After one very busy diving week we got Advanced OWD certification and 5 above mentioned PADI specialties each. We were very happy with our diving vacation in Koh Tao and definitely recommend it to other beginner divers. Now we have a plan to go to liveabord in Red sea (Egypt) somewhere at the end of summer and get more diving experience as well as reach our dive number to magical number 50 Plan for the next year is to get PADI Rescue diver certifications as well as Master Scuba Diver Certifications. Then fully enjoy diving in different parts of the world.
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