Diving in Thailand - Koh Phi Phi or Koh Tao? And recommend a diving outfit

breadmonkey

We have the vague plan of splitting our month in Thailand between these two islands so we're trying to decide which to go to first and which would be best to do some diving!

I've had Davey Jones' Locker and Crystal, both located on oh Tao, recommended by two different people.

Suggestions?

S.M.B.

Bans on Ko Tao is one of the biggest/most popular on the island. I've never heard anything bad about it. Didn't do any diving myself but a friend did the PADI course with them and was impressed.

Bans Resort

epgriffin

Hey. I just finished a diving course in Koh Tao about 4 days ago. It was a great experience. We went with Sunshine Divers in the south of the island. They were recommended to us by an Irish guy living here for the last 2 years. They use the facilities of Bans resort (mentioned in the last post) for the pool dives etc. They were very patient and we had 3 instructors for 6 people. My girlfriend was very nervous about it but she completed the course with their excellent help and wants to keep up the diving now. We'll probably come back at Christmas to do an advanced course with them (10% discount if you keep going back to them!).

Vorsprung

I did 2 courses and a load of fun dives with Ban's earlier this year, great crew, resort is really nice and the bar there is cool. Thumbs up from here!

Glowing

Buddha View!

mac123

i did my open water and advanced with bans, very good and tbh they got me hooked!! i think sunshine has the same owners.
i did hear that the diving was better on phi phi tho but i think it depends on the season. koh tao is the cheapest as far as i know.

bazery

hey did my open water license on phi phi, did it with the resort at the back of the island called phi phi island village, they have a really proper setup to train people. they have a pier and there own boats an equipment are next to the the boat and ready to go, they also train you in first in their swimming pool, this was really handy as my girlfriend was really anxious about the whole thing, however Joss(the dive intstructor) was really professional and made her feel really comfortable with the experience. after the first dive she was loving it. also the places we went diving were truly amazing, like finding nemo good. I couldn't recommend this place anymore. Also the whole place was really relaxing and run professionally and very reasonable. they also have loadsa trips around the islands so you can tour elsewhere if you need a break from the dives

breadmonkey

Just finished the course this morning - fcuking AMAZING! I wish I had a few hundred to blow on more courses and dives! Ah well, some time in the future for definite. Went with Ban's in the end and was delighted. Instructor was very friendly, funny and encouraging and we both picked up everything really quickly with no problems. If you're going to Thailand make sure you budget for this, unmissable!

youcancallmeal

How much did it cost exactly and how long does it take?

breadmonkey

It costs exactly 9800THB (about 200 euro) which is the same for every resort (some offer it for 9000 etc. but I didn't like the idea of going to a place offering discounts if you know what I mean) and is done over four days but doesn't take all of each day.

Day 1 PM: Couple of hours in the evening watching various DVDs. You get a big book with all the theory in it.

Day 2 AM: Theory and review of stuff from yesterday's vids.
Day 2 PM: Few hours learning all the basic skillz in the pool

Day 3 AM: 2 sea dives!
Day 3 PM: More theory followed by exam

Day 4 AM: 2 more dives!
Day 4 PM: Probably getting sloshed...will report back

bazery

What dive school did you go to? if its Phi Phi island village then tell joss we miss him dearly

breadmonkey

Did it in Ban's on Koh Tao. I woke up this morning still hammered with no shoes. Nice.

S.M.B.

breadmonkey wrote: »

Did it in Ban's on Koh Tao. I woke up this morning still hammered with no shoes. Nice.

There must be record numbers of shoe loss/theft in Bans. However, I'd blame it more on drunkeness than people out to rob a pair of shoes intentionally.

The morale of the story, don't wear expensive shoes/sandals when going drinking in Bans.

crisco10

S.M.B. wrote: »

There must be record numbers of shoe loss/theft in Bans. However, I'd blame it more on drunkeness than people out to rob a pair of shoes intentionally.

The morale of the story, don't wear expensive shoes/sandals when going drinking in Bans.

oh the memories!

Was in Thailand this summer, did diving with Bans in Tao aswell. Agree with all that has been said above. Was glad didnt leave diving til we got to Phi Phi, weather was muck there. But thats really a luck of the draw thing...