If you are a scuba-diving lover, then this guide is for you. Koh Tao in Thailand is a popular destination for scuba divers and also has big training institutes to master the art. The PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructor) Open Water Diver is the most popular scuba diving certification in the world. So, let’s dwell on the details of the course quickly.
The PADI Open Water Diver course is accepted worldwide and takes just 4 days to learn it. The best part is that you don’t need to have any prior experience of scuba diving and still you get a certificate to dive to a maximum depth of 18 meters.
What is the Open Water Diver pre-requisites?
Of course, there are certain conditions to learn scuba-diving. First of all, though it is needless to say, still, you need to be water-friendly. Then, you should be able to swim 200 meters and float in water for a minimum of 10 minutes. Your physical health should be just good enough to help you learn diving. So, technically not much is required as a pre-requisite, just some basics. Last, but very important condition is that you must be 10 years of age.
What does the course offer?
The Open Water Course consists of three sections:
- Knowledge Development (online, independent study or in a classroom)
- Confined Water dives (to learn all the basic scuba diving skills)
- Open Water dives (practical application to gain confidence)
What is the schedule?
The itinerary may vary from school to school but the mentioned hereunder is followed by most of the schools.
Day 1: On the first day of the schedule you get to meet the rest of the Open Water Diver team. Also, you would be shown a video related to scuba diving.
Day 2: Did you study whole-heartedly during your school or college days? If yes, fine then but if no, then become a student again and this time I’m sure every one of you would be reading their lessons happily and attentively. This classroom session will have an instructor who will review your knowledge on the course and then explain elaborately if any lesson is not well understood.
Day 3: You need to give a final exam after the knowledge review session is over. Now don’t make a face on hearing the word exam, after all, life is all about learning and learning involves exams too. After lunch break you spend the afternoon on the boat for Open Water Dives 1 and 2 to a maximum depth of 12 meters under the close supervision of your instructor to master the scuba diving skills that you learned a day before.
Day 4: Finally, Open Water Dives 3 and 4 will take you to a maximum depth of 18 meters so that you can explore deeper dive sites that are 45 minutes away approximately from Koh Tao.
And then, upon successful completion of the course, you are awarded a certificate that reads that you are certified, scuba diver. Whoa! Isn’t it just the best part of the course?
What is the cost involved?
The ultimate question in everyone’s mind that is running right from the beginning of my article for which I think some of you may have even scrolled down hurriedly is this only – what is the cost of the entire course? So, without any further delay, let me reveal the price of the full course. It is 11,000 baht inclusive of all materials, equipment, instructor, PADI certification and online manual. Again, the price mentioned may vary.
Some of the famous PADI diving schools are Good time Adventures, Big Blue Diving Resort, Sairee Cottage Resort, ACE Marine Expeditions
Now that you have all the details with you, just dive in to get a wonderful experience of scuba -diving.
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