- Ray
- Taeniura lymmaScientific Name
- Near ThreatenedIUCN Threatened Status
Digital learning materials and academic sessions
Open Water Diver
Learn to scuba dive in Koh Tao with the SSI Open Water Diver Course. In just 2.5 days, you’ll train with expert instructors, complete four ocean dives, and earn your certification to dive worldwide up to 18m.
fromBase Price
฿12000
fromThai Baht
฿12000
Overview
The Open Water course is where most divers start, and Koh Tao is one of the best places on the planet to do it. Warm water, good visibility, calm beginner-friendly dive sites, and an island that has been training divers seriously since the 1990s. The conditions here genuinely make learning easier.
At Goodtime, we run a maximum of four students per instructor. That’s a deliberate choice, not a marketing line. More than four and the dynamic changes — you spend more time waiting and less time actually diving.
The course runs over 2.5 days. Day one is theory and confined water. Days two and three are your four open water dives, starting at 12 metres and progressing to 18 metres as your confidence builds.
Koh Tao’s beginner dive sites are genuinely good diving, not just training grounds. Japanese Gardens has soft corals, resident turtles, and enough marine life to keep you distracted between skills. White Rock regularly has reef sharks cruising the shallower sections.
Course Highlights
Max 4 per instructor
More time in the water with your instructor, less time waiting around.
Shallow water sessions to start
Your first skills happen in the pool or a sheltered bay — calm, controlled, and at your own pace. There's no pressure to progress until you're ready.
Real diving from day one
Our beginner sites have coral, marine life, and visibility that reminds you why diving is worth doing.
Later departures, quieter sites
We time our trips to avoid the morning rush at popular dive sites.
Schedule
8:00-12:00 Orientation & Academic session
12:00-12:30 Break
12:30-17:00 2 Open Water Dives
17:00-17:30 Debrief
09:00-10:30 Academic session 4-6
10:30-11:00 Dive planning
11:00-11:30 Exam and mask fitting workshop
11:30-12:15 Break
12:30-17:00 2 Open water dives
17:00-17:30 Debrief
07:30-12:00 2 Open water dives
12:00-12:30 Certification and celebration :)
What's Included
Requirements
Swim 200m
Tread water for 10 min
Minimum age 10
Medical questionnaire required
Marine Life We May See
Marine life sightings depend on season, conditions, and a bit of luck. These are species commonly spotted at the sites we use for this course, but nothing in the ocean is guaranteed. That's part of what makes it interesting.
- Other
- Heteractis magnificaScientific Name
- Least ConcernIUCN Threatened Status
- Turtle
- Chelonia mydasScientific Name
- EndangeredIUCN Threatened Status
Dive Sites We May visit
We select sites based on conditions, your group's progression, and how busy the reef is that day. These are the sites we typically use for Open Water training.
Reviews
5.0 1,598 Google reviews
5 stars 98%
4 stars 1%
3 stars 1%
2 stars 0%
1 star 0%
The review score reflects all Goodtime Adventures reviews. The ones listed below are for Scuba Diving.
5 star rating
Amazing scuba diving experience! Great place for an absolute beginner. Instructors were amazing- specifically Carmen and Conor. I feel super confident to go out into the world and …
Read on Google 5 star rating
I upgraded my scuba diving license here to an open water license with the instructor Shai, and he was amazing!! Could not recommend more, I was feeling really anxious beforehand an…
Read on Google 5 star rating
Scuba diving is such an amazing spot, and in Koh Tao it does not disappoint. My girlfriend and I are still fairly new at diving but our guide Shai helped us so much without making …
Read on Google 5 star rating
Had the best time diving with this company! This was my first time ever scuba diving and I absolutely loved it. Special thank you to my dive instructors Shai and Ana - you made my …
Read on Google