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 four dives with Daan, Mike & Lukas. Awesome experience with supernice & helpful guys literally creating good times! It is also a lovely spot to hang around at the beach club with wonderful breakfast, delicious smoothies and great waiters. We came here several times and enjoyed it!
Goodtime offered a nice environment for me to obtain my OWD certification. I enjoyed the course works by SSI. My instructor, Daan Schouwstra, is experienced and detailed. I was lucky to have him. For beginners looking for OWD certification, Goodtime is an excellent choice here at Koh Tao. Please note that the 2.5 days program may not be enough for you to get certified. All trainings were in open water. I had prior OWD certification courses (like Referral Diver) done in cold water, and done 2 discovery dives in Maldives. The 2.5 days certification program is very condensed. I recommend you finished and passed the SSI OWD course works on their App prior to your arrival. Also, be prepare to swim 200 meters and tread 10 minutes in open water. Enjoy your dives! 🤙
First time diving and it was fantastic! Lisa explained everything very well, and afterward, we had a fantastic dive with her! I would recommend it to anyone visiting Koh Tao!
Our Diver Instructor Daan was the best I could have asked for, for my very first diving experience! He was patient and helpful to everyone in our group. Definitely want to dive again after such a positive day!! 🐟🐠🪼
Shai is an excellent diving instructor. He combines deep professional knowledge with a real passion for teaching and sharing his experience. Calm, supportive, motivating and FUN, he makes the learning process feel safe, enjoyable, and inspiring. Highly recommended.
We completed our Open Water certification with Goodtime on Ko Tao — and we already can’t wait to come back for our Advanced Open Water! We were welcomed with open arms, and the vibes were just super cool from start to finish. A huge, huge thank you to our instructor Lydia! She guided us through the two and a half days in such a calm, professional, and supportive way. She explained everything clearly and always stayed patient and composed. Even in situations that were challenging for us as students while learning new skills, she kept her calm and guided us through with confidence and reassurance. At the same time, we could always laugh together — she brought amazing fun energy while still making us feel completely safe. It was always a great time with her, both above and under water! Also a big thank you to Lukas for his constant good vibes and positive energy. And a special thanks to Mike for the incredible photos! He made everything feel so easy, allowing us to fully enjoy the dives while still capturing awesome underwater pictures. Such a perfect balance. Overall, we couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Five stars without a doubt — we would 100% recommend Goodtime to anyone looking for an unforgettable diving experience on Ko Tao. We’ll definitely be back for our Advanced Open Water! 🌊💙
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.
