If you are like me and many other people who are going to Thailand and interested in trying out scuba diving, doing the PADI Open Water certification is a great way to learn to dive and immediately also try out new skills in the sea. PADI requires a minimum of 4 open water dives for the certification, so you can be sure to see some fishes and corals.
I was planning to do the PADI Open Water certification before arriving in Thailand. I was not sure which location would be the best suitable for the certification. With Koh Tao being the most famous diving spot for beginners and considerably the cheapest, I thought I might postpone it for a next trip. Since, we were traveling on the West side of Thailand in the Andaman Sea, Koh Tao was not in the plan for this time round. But seeing all the diving clubs everywhere, I could not wait for a “maybe next time”. So I started looking around in Koh Lanta. There are several PADI 5 star Scuba Diving schools, all of them offering more or less the same package. PADI Open Water certification with 4 dives (2 dives in Koh Ha and 2 dives in Koh Phi Phi). The prices were ranging between 15,000 – 16,000 Thai Baht, including all meals, national park fees, and materials. This is a reasonable and normal price for PADI Open Water in Thailand. Because were have already snorkelled in Koh Ha and our next stop was Koh Phi Phi, I decided to skip the course in Koh Lanta, and try it at a next stop.
Our next stop was Koh Phi Phi. Koh Phi Phi can easily be summarized by 3 words: diving, tattoo-shops, and party. Walking down the streets of Phi Phi you are approached from all directions about diving. There are so many schools that the instructors are sitting outside their shops and trying to sell diving packages to people. Koh Phi Phi is ideally located near many good diving sites, so it makes sense. However, we felt overwhelmed by the island’s party vibe, with little space to escape as it’s so small. Koh Phi Phi was not gonna be my certification spot.
Existing the water after first dive in Phuket
Next, we arrived in Phuket. First day in Phuket town, no sign of a diving school. After googling a bit, I found that most schools were in the Patong beach area. We were advised by some locals that Patong is too crowded and we should rather go to Kata beach where diving is also very popular. The two beaches are not so far from each other, but there is no direct connection between the beaches by public bus and taxis are quite pricy. So once we arrived in Kata, we did not want to move again. Schools in Patong seemed to have better prices and some nice perks (computer included in dives, free t-shirts, etc). I emailed with some schools, but without seeing the actual school and talking to the dive instructors, I did not want to sign up. Eventually I settled for a school down the road from our hotel. The price was a bit higher, and they did not offer all the perks. The school being advertised as oldest and best school in Phuket (including reviews on TripAdvisor), I decided to go for it nevertheless.
Strangely, they offered both, a 4 days Open Water course with 4 boat dives or a 3 days course with 2 beach dives and 2 boat dives. Beach dives are in general less recommended as you won’t see much coral but mostly sand instead. The beach option was the cheaper version though. The school presented the course as a tough course that needs at least 4 days, however by choosing beach over open water dives it could be done in 3 days (I still don’t understand why…). In the interest of time and money, I settled for the beach/boat option. The price for the 3 days with beach was 13,400 Thai Baht. This is relatively cheaper because there are less boat dives, no meals included every day, and no national park fees. Other schools in Phuket do go to Koh Phi Phi where you have to pay 600 baht to the national park authorities for diving there.
Setting up the weight belt before 2nd dive
I expected a tough course with long days (as this is what I was sold). In order to complete the course in 3 days, I had to read and watch the theory movies by myself before the course. The theory book is equivalent to the movie, and the text is almost 1 on 1. So if you can learn by listening and watching, the movie will do just fine. 5 hours of video with 5 modules and you area ready to do all the required tests. I came to the school on the first day, did the knowledge reviews of the theory of the first 3 modules in the morning, and then jumped into the pool to do all the practical tests there. I had to prove that I can swim, float, and do many of the diving expertises that are later required to do at sea. I was done at 15.30h, finished all pool exercises. Next day I did a first dive at the beach, headed back to the school, did the knowledge review of chapters 4 and 5, and the final exams on all topics. In the afternoon I did my second beach dive, and almost completed all the exercises needed for the PADI Open Water. We were done around 16.30h, and I was ready to go on the boat the next day. The boat tour was of course much more fun than the beach dive. Going in the open water and traveling to the nearby islands for Raya Yai and Raya Noi and meeting other divers made the experience already much more special. I had 3 dives planned for the day, in which the first 2 would still be part of the PADI certification and exercises. After finally getting my buoyancy under control in the first 2 dives, I was ready for the fun dive to explore some corals.
Buddy check before second dive
The coral life in Raya Yai and Raya Noi is not amazing, to be honest. You can see some colors, however in previous dives and snorkelling trips, the colors and fishes were much more spectacular. Nevertheless, I did see some barracudas, lion fish, and some other marine life I don’t know the names of 🙂
All in all, my advice would be to choose another location than Phuket for your PADI Open Water certification for the following reasons:
- The prices are higher than in Koh Lanta and Koh Phi Phi
- The marine life is not amazing
- Phuket is not such a nice location to stay in for a longer time
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