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 had 2 amazing dives today with our dive guide Luke 🏝️🤿
We had the opportunity to dive with Goodtime during our stay in Koh Tao. The center has a pleasant atmosphere, and the dives are well-prepared. Our instructor, Mira, made us feel very well taken care of and, during her free time on the boat, she talked about what we could see underwater.
Just completed my open water with Good time adventure. Edu was an excellent teacher, both in the classroom and getting familiar with the equipment in the pool. Went diving with Lydia who was a delight and very engaging. Anna, Becca, Lisa, and Mira joined us on the boat for our final dive and each of them were just as friendly and helpful as eachother. Can’t forget about the lovely food chef Eimear cooks up in the kitchen. Was a great overall experience and I would highly recommend!
I had a wonderful stay in the guesthouse and an amazing open water diving course with Lydia. Wonderful moments under the see 😁😁😁
I was at Goodtime for the last week of march 2026, as I know Lukas already from my time on Koh Phangan. First day he was busy, so I was diving with Edu, who was a nice guy guided me nice and slow as I like it. The next day´s I was diving with Lukas and it was as expected. He´s a really good instructor and guide, I really can reccomend him, his professionalism is absolutly great. We had some very nice cavern and wreck dives.
A fantastic dive center with excellent organization. Our group of five did the Basic Dive and were accompanied by two very friendly and competent instructors, Lydia and Ana.
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.
