Good post El Che, I do agree with you that some people would be better of starting their diving ecucation doing more pool practice. But I think the vast majority will benefit more from the way we teach diving in Koh Tao. It’s much more fun. And funny enough, we can deliver confident and safe divers just as well (and often even better) than in the northern european countries. But it always depends on the instructor of course. We focus straight away on fun and safety at the same time while in Europe often the safety comes (sometimes for a very long time) first and the (real) fun comes later. This approach does not work well for all students 🙂

Hi, all! I ended up doing my specialties in Koh Samui instead, because my good friend who went on a Thailand trip before us suggested Discovery Dive Centre and they were awesome! Check them out! And for the tipping culture, I got my answer straight from a DM who I happen to befriend… He told me, cash, a meal or drinks, anything is appreciated! And since it’s all about passion – dont worry about the price all the time. ^_^

By comparison, my husband frighteningly ran out of air underwater at Sail Rock due to faulty equipment and a negligent divemaster who ignored his signals while diving with Good Times. Choose wisely!

Hello, I’m going to Thailand Jan 14-28th, 2017. I see these comments are a few years old, but did you go? Any tips on what school to go to? Also, do we need to make advance reservations or just sign up when we arrive?

Would you know what the tipping culture is like? Should I give the tips to the instructors only (inclusive of tips for boat captain), or separate tips for instructors and boat captain? And If I’m doing 2 back to back dive courses in the span of 6-7 days, when is the proper time to tip? Should I tip every dive? or before or after the course? And most importantly, how much is acceptable? I don’t want to appear ungrateful and stiff, but I’ve been in many awkward situations where: I gave a tip when it was not considered appropriate, or when I gave too much and the person felt weird, and (worse) too little that I felt mortified.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you so much!