Level
Advanced
Course
Duration
2.5
Days
Cost
฿12,000
Thai Baht
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.
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.
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.
We’ve just spent the last two days of our Thailand Contiki with Goodtime Adventures and it has been the absolute highlight of our trip! The first day we went out snorkelling around the Island of Koh Tao. Liv, Ben & Chris made sure we all had the best time, found the coolest snorkelling sites & kept the party going all day. We came back to do our Basic Diver Training. Fabio was my instructor and he was brilliant. He made me feel so safe, is an excellent teacher and could tell he just loved his job. The rest of the team including Lydia & Chris were also fantastic and made the day run so smoothly. Mike was also awesome and I can’t wait to see the photos. Thank you, thank you, thank you! We’ll be back to complete our certification.
I had the pleasure of spending 4 days with Goodtime Adventure. I did a fun snorkelling day with Chris, Benth and Liv. These three really brought the good vibes while ensuring everyone on the boat was having a good time and a safe time. I then did the one day basic diver course where Chris taught me the basics of scuba. Because of his excellent instructing skills and incredible patience I chose to come back to Koh Tao and Goodtime a few days later to do my Open Water Diver course. Chris once again made the whole experience relaxing and fun, I felt safe for the entire duration of the course thanks to his vast humble experience. I could not recommend the Goodtime family enough! I now leave Thailand with a new skill and passion thanks to Goodtime Adventures. Also, Chris deserves an extra point because he's hot!
11/12 2025 @Lukas Thanks for the great first dive in the sea! @Lydia Thank you for the calm, slow dive at the reef! It was great to see so much! @ Ana Thank you for the great dive at the wreck, it was beautiful! @restaurant team Very friendly and fun staff, thank you for the hospitality! @Zach Thanks for the great photos! @T2 Tanks for the Great dive! Thanks Michi for being my buddy, great dives! 04/05 2026 Thanks again to the Goodtimes team! The dives with Livia, Benthe, Lydia and Christopher were fantastic!
I did my 3-day Open Water course and had an amazing experience. The dives were unreal, especially sites like White Rock. I felt like I got so much out of it in just a few days. Fabio was a brilliant instructor as well, really clear, calm, and easy to learn from, which made the whole course feel much more relaxed and enjoyable. Couldn’t recommend it enough!
A huggeee thank you to Liv and Ben!! As a pretty new diver still getting comfortable underwater and making some rookie mistakes along the way, I always felt very looked after with them. They were incredibly patient, encouraging, and reassuring through all of it, and never once made anything feel stressful or intimidating. Left with a lot more confidence and some very very lovely memories. Can’t wait to come back and dive with you guys again!
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.
