Diver underwater near tropical island, clear blue ocean surface, scenic background with boat and lush greenery while scuba diving in Koh Tao Thailand.

Unlock a new level of diving with Sidemount

SSI Recreational Sidemount Specialty

Experience the Ultimate Flexibility of Sidemount Diving in Koh Tao’s Top Dive Sites. Master buoyancy, streamline your movement, and gain unparalleled comfort with sidemount diving, opening up a world of diving possibilities.

Level

Advanced

Course

Duration

2.5

Days

Cost

฿12,000

Thai Baht

The Learning Experience

Designed for certified divers eager to expand their skills, the SSI Recreational Sidemount Specialty Course immerses you in the unique advantages of sidemount diving. Through classroom instruction and hands-on practice, you’ll master buoyancy control, equipment configuration, improved trim, and the art of navigating tighter spaces. The supportive learning environment fosters both skill development and confidence as you explore the vibrant underwater landscapes of Koh Tao.

Ready to start your adventure?

What’s included

What to bring

Prerequisites

Itinerary

09:00-10:00 Sidemount academic session
10:00-12:00 Sidemount equipment set up
12:00-13:00 Break
13:00-17:00 Confined shallow water session
17:00-17:30 Debrief

08:00-12:30 Sidemount dives 1+2
12:30-13:30 Lunch
13:30-14:00 Exam
14:00-15:00 Dive Planning
15:00-15:30 Debrief

08:00-12:30 Sidemount dive 3
12:30-13:00 Debrief and certification

The SSI Advanced Adventurer Course is the perfect follow-up to your Open Water certification. Designed to enhance your confidence and abilities, this course introduces you to five different types of dives, including deep diving and underwater navigation.

In just two days, you’ll gain the skills to dive deeper (up to 30 meters) and explore more advanced dive sites around Koh Tao and beyond. Whether you’re interested in night dives, wreck exploration, or perfecting your buoyancy, this course is your gateway to becoming a more skilled and adventurous diver.

SSI Recreational Sidemount Specialty

Unlock a new level of underwater exploration with the SSI Recreational Sidemount Course! Experience the freedom and flexibility of sidemount diving, enhancing your buoyancy and movement in Koh Tao’s breathtaking dive sites.

All activities start the day after arrival on the island.

฿12,000

Why choose Goodtime for Scuba Diving in Koh Tao?

Smaller Groups

Max 4 students per instructor for a more personalised experience.

Later Starts

Enjoy the freedom to sleep in; we start later than most dive schools on the island.

Uncrowded dive sites

We carefully plan our dive trips to avoid the crowds.

Fully Equipped Classroom

Our beach front classroom equipped with Air-Con and WiFi is the perfect environment to learn to dive on Koh Tao.

Highly experienced instructors

Our professional SSI instructors are passionate divers with extensive local knowledge.

Speed boat

We have our very own speedboat that allows us to travel to further dive sites in the quickest time possible.

Reviews

yehonatan S.
4 February 2026

Had a blast, after a long time not diving booked 3 days of morning diving trips. The staff was very welcoming and professional. A lot of thanks to Peter, Becky, Anna and Lukas.

Ben S.
3 February 2026

If you are looking to dive and have a good time look no further. I recently earned my open water and advanced open water. It was truly an amazing experience! Upon arriving I was welcomed with a great sense of community and as the course went on I could truly see the quality of training you receive from the good time staff. The instructors at Goodtime are fantastic they breakdown the complexities of diving and give both textbook examples and techniques from their own diving experience. They never rush a student and never make you feel dumb for asking silly questions. These instructors have a great sense of leadership and a keen eye for safety. The front desk staff are super helpful and some of the nicest people you may ever meet. I cannot thank them enough for answering any and all questions. After deciding to purchase my own mask they helped me find the right fit and even had it delivered in about 20 minutes so I could have it for my next dive! A huge shoutout to my underwater family Max, Tim, Lydia, Ana, Lucas, Logan, Charlie, and Liv Also Beth for being an amazing underwater photographer!!!

Olivier S.
3 February 2026

I had a wonderful time with Goodtime, we went climbing there with Charlie (real routes! I advise it being a climber) and had our open water dive with Lydia, Livia and Andrea. I was so happy with the course that I went to the Advanced right after! Team is amazing, I feel lucky we had such good instructors, with good vibes and the well-applied pedagogy 🙏

Jan K.
2 February 2026

Thank you Eduardo for the amazing dive. I can only recommend this diving school. Professional, very nice atmosphere and really welcoming staff

Julia F.
2 February 2026

I went fun diving with Goodtime and i highly recommend them! They’re safe, professional and fun. Daan and Ana made the morning a lot of fun

Toby M.
2 February 2026

10/10! Would recommend Goodtime Adventures to anyone looking to learn to dive. Daan and liv took us out in 5 dives and got us our open water certification. Easy to learn from and also fun aswell. 🙏

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently asked questions about Scuba Diving in Koh Tao

Scuba Diving in Koh Tao has been very popular for years, we have some of Thailand’s best dive sites and great diving conditions all year round. Our most popular course is the SSI Open Water Diver course which takes 2.5 days to complete and allows to to dive all over the world once you are certified. This course is ideal for beginners who want to get Scuba certified on Koh Tao.

If you are short on time the SSI Basic Diver is for you! This is a half-day experience where you can dip your toes in and explore the underwater world.

Any of the dive organisations in the world can give you the Open Water license, and with it you can dive in every dive centre in the world for the rest of your life – an SSI diver can of course dive in a PADI centre or the other way round, for example.

However, with SSI you do get benefits:

Online Learning
While most organisations offer online learning, not all of them offer it free of charge and can end up racking up quite the bill. SSI offers your learning materials for free as part of your course registration and is easy to navigate using the MySSI app. The app is regularly updated and also offers additional free courses like the ´Try Diving´ and the ‘Blue Oceans‘ for you to enhance your scuba diving knowledge.

Recognition Ratings
SSI do things a little differently to other diving agencies, they continue to recognise your advancement in diving whether you are enrolled in a course or not. When you reach certain milestones you will be awarded recognition status. This is why we encourage specialities over the SSI Advanced Adventurer or Advanced Open Water courses. With SSI once you complete 4 speciality courses and 24 dives you will automatically be rewarded with Advanced Open Water recognition status. Taking this route allows you to explore your passions underwater without being restricted to one exploration dive per specialty! Don’t forget we offer discounts on bundles too!

Flexibility
SSI allows its professionals to teach with an 80/20 approach meaning that the instructor can adapt 20% of the course to fit the pace of learning, ensuring a student focused training programme worked around the needs of the students – after all everyone learns at different paces.