Koh Tao Diving

Diving with Big Bubble

Welcome to Big Bubble Dive Resort! On your endless quest to find the perfect destination for your next diving vacation, you have found one of the longest established dive centers on Koh Tao, in Thailand. Even though we have modernized our facilities and streamlined our services over the many years, we do our best to keep the spirit of the “good old days” of Turtle Island up and running. This is only a part of what makes us different to the other dive centers on Koh Tao.
We still offer our guests a relaxed and laid back atmosphere and super chilled out diving for both, scuba diving lessons and fun dives. You can, for example, start your diving adventures by simply discovering scuba diving on a sunny afternoon. This is really cool and anybody can do it! A PADI professional will be at your side during the whole scuba diving introduction. Once you found out how great it feels, to breathe under water, to behave like a fish and to float weightless like an astronaut in space, you can easily go on to the next step and get a real PADI scuba diving certification in only a few days. The PADI Open Water Diving Course is worldwide recognized, so that once you have been certified, you can go diving with a dive buddy, anywhere in the world!

Why learn to dive with Big Bubble?

• Our highly trained staff sets great value upon safety for all divers and snorkelers.
• We teach and set standards on marine biology and environmental awareness.
• We offer all PADI Scuba Diving Courses in many languages.
• We guarantee that you will dive in a small group and enjoy a great service!
• Our dive schedule allows smaller groups and longer dive times for our fun divers.
• We ride on a big dive boat with lots of space to gear up. We call it “Big Boat”
• We offer all our students the best individual dive education possible.
• We provide high class dive equipment and comfortable air cooled classrooms.
• We start later in the morning to avoid crowded dive sites and give you some rest.
• Big Bubble is an international PADI 5 Star Dive Resort with a spotless reputation.
• We have successfully conducted scuba diving courses for more than 15 years.
• Big Bubbles’ scuba diving packages are amongst the best on Koh Tao.
• We additionally offer all services like – accommodation and tickets for bus, train or plane!
• But most of all; diving with Big Bubble is relaxed, free of worries and a lot more FUN than anywhere else!

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For more information about Big Bubble Dive Resort, scuba diving courses and the island Koh Tao itself, visit also: www.bigbubble.info To stay informed about new events on Koh Tao and new developments on this website, subscribe to our RSS Newsletter here.

PADI Open Water Diving Course

Once you have decided to visit Koh Tao, or you are already on the island and you are by now familiar with the sound of dangling scuba tanks early in the morning, you might get the itch to try scuba diving yourself. If you are short on time, you can safely enjoy scuba diving in Koh Tao even without a proper diving certification! For more information about Discovering Scuba Diving follow this link.
If you have three to four days time though, we strongly recommend to obtain your scuba diving certification while you are on Koh Tao. Not only is Koh Tao still one of the cheapest diving destinations in the world, but we also offer a great service for scuba divers and many years of experience in professional and recreational scuba diving on Koh Tao.

About the PADI Open Water Diving Course

First to say; it won’t take you a full four days out of your holiday plans if you decide to follow an Open Water Diving Course on Koh Tao! You will still have plenty of time to enjoy the beaches and go snorkeling or do all kinds of things on the island during the time.

– Day one: The first day is for many guests also the day of arrival, or the second day on Koh Tao, so we will make it short. After an introduction from your personal scuba diving instructor and some necessary paperwork you get to enjoy a 90 minute video about the PADI Open Water Diving Course. This instructive and entertaining picture will show you in detail how your diving course is built and how easy you will learn to dive with the PADI System. Our classrooms are air conditioned and very comfortable.

– Day Two: In the morning, after you had a relaxed breakfast, you will learn about scuba diving in theory first. Your diving instructor will teach you everything there is to know about your new hobby in one of our comfortable classrooms! The PADI diving System is built upon repetition and you will recognize many of the subjects from the video you have already watched the day before. After the lunch break, you will learn how to handle your scuba diving equipment, how to put it on and what all the hoses are for. Then you will get wet! First in shallow water, where you still be able to poke your head out of the water at any time while standing on the ground, you will learn to breathe under water by simply sticking your face in the water and breathing through your regulator. After you mastered your first skill, you will submerge by getting on your knees and your diving instructor will exercise several more skills with you under water. Your first underwater impressions will be in the sea and not in a swimming pool and we promise, that is a lot more exciting than blue walls!

– Day Three: The morning will be filled with some more scuba diving theory to make sure you know all you need to know scuba diving before you get certified. To make sure that this is the case you will have to take a test with 50 questions at the end of your diving lessons. In the afternoon Open Water Diving is on the program! Together with your scuba diving instructor you will make your first Open Water Dives. On your first two dives you will repeat some of the skills you learned on the previous day and also learn some new things. PADI Open Water Dives 1 and 2 are conducted on a maximal depth of 12 meters so you are already scuba diving an we are sure, that by now, you are already having the time of your life!

– Day Four: Is almost pure fun! This time you go out in the morning, together with the already certified scuba divers, to a slightly deeper dive site. Dive 3 and 4 will bring you down to a maximum depth of 18 meters. While most of these two dives are already so-called “fun dives”, there are still some important exercises in between and even some new skills to be learned. At the end of dive four you will be congratulated and warmly welcomed into the ever growing scuba diver community. From now on your whole life has changed, your world has grown by 70 percent and we can almost guarantee that your next holiday destination will be near by the sea!

Book your PADI Open Water Course right here.

Klaus – The Staff Instructor of Big Bubble

As the Dinosaur in the shop, Klaus has worked for 10 years in Big Bubble and taught a bunch of people how to breathe under water.
His diving career started in 1996 right here on the Rock (Koh Tao) where he was so hooked after his Open Water course that he decided to make this job to his new profession.
Coming from a water polo team it wasn’t so easy to keep him out of the water and as a Divemaster and later instructor he could be sure that his gills didn’t dry out.
After 9 years intense training of all levels of recreational diving, he started to manage Big Bubble and he turned into the whitey of the gang as he is now mostly in the air conditioned office. Mostly he is playing on the computer to assure that everybody is up to date on what is going on and what will happen.
Every now and then you have the chance to see his exceptional diving skills in his rotten wetsuit.

Lorena – The friendly Divemaster of Big Bubble

Lorena comes from Switzerland and she is living her dream. As a Divemaster at Big Bubble, and meanwhile also as a diving instructor, Lorena will take you on a super cool underwater adventure. Lorena speaks Italian, German and English, so no matter who you are or what you are doing, she is going to have fun with you on the boat and in the water. She is passionate about fish species and is always trying to find something new. In the morning Lorena is like speedy Gonzales you can really see here Italians roots. She worked before as nurse and she brings this professionalism from nursing to diving. Come and join Lorena at Big Bubble and you will see that she is a happy bubbly person and then you will be on a super cool underwater adventure too.

Chill The Chilled Out Diving Instructor

Coming from Grimsby, in England, Chill “knows” fish! (Albeit fried in batter and served with chips and mushy peas!) He is a real Grimbarian! After traveling the world for 12 years and working in any job that would pay for the next part of the journey, Chill settled here over 4 years ago, when he came to Big Bubble and realized a career in diving would be far better than working for a living!
After 3 years as chief Divemaster, when he spent so much time under water that his toes were becoming webbed and he was on first name terms with all the fish, he decided he needed to spend a little time in the classroom to dry out.
Now concentrating on teaching Open Water courses, he gets great job satisfaction teaching his students to dive and sharing his vast knowledge of the underwater world and his rather twisted sense of humor with anyone who’ll listen!

Diving Instructor Jesse – The Clown

Jessie is our resident Dutchy and company clown. He was born in Holland and spent several years in Spain, accounting for his year-round tan. Jess has lived and worked in Koh Tao on and off for around 4 years. He started his diving career in Koh Phangan where he studied to become a Divemaster, then moved to work in Koh Tao. He has also worked as an underwater videographer.
After spending 2 years in Australia, he realised Thailand was home and returned to Koh Tao to join the team at Big Bubble as head Divemaster, and finally faced the inevitable and became an Instructor in September 2008.
Jessie is a complete natural in the water, and really does make diving more fun! He has over 2,000 dives on Koh Tao, knows every rock, coral and fish in its waters and has a wonderful understanding of the ocean. You won’t meet anyone with a better eye for weird fish and tiny sea creatures.
As an Instructor, he has great patience, and an ability to make you a relaxed and confident diver. Jessie delivers a professional and fun Open Water Course, and makes it an experience you won’t easily forget!

Scuba Instructor Kat – The Catfish

Kat did her Divemaster training in Koh Tao in 2001 and after becoming an Instructor she started a world-working- tour, teaching scuba diving in Thailand, the Philippines, in Mexico, Honduras, Egypt and in Indonesia.
Running out of options and missing a hammock on the porch, she returned to the Golf of Thailand. So there’ s no question… if you need to know anything about scuba diving here on Koh Tao or anywhere around the world, Catfish is the Girl to interview. Since almost 3 Months now, she’ s taking good care of our Advanced Diving Courses, teaching you how to dive deeper navigate or leading you through a thrilling night dive. Water is her life and she’s very skilled in any diving topic. When she’ s drunk, she’s apologizing for being German.

Tom – Former Bavarian Hill-Billy and Dive Fear Specialist

Afraid of Sharks ? HE WAS TOO!!! Tom, our Bavarian Hill-Billy came to Koh Tao the first time 1993 and stuck here since then. The first 6 years we had a hard time to get him in the water. He was very scared to get eaten by the numerous Great Whites around here Koh Tao. In 2000 we tossed him in the water and forced him to do his Open Water Diver Diving Course. And suddenly he changed, and his life changed too! – Sharks became his friends and his diving skills became exceptional and in 2002 he did his Diving Instructor Course. Since that time he taught more then 850 students scuba diving on different levels. Also his German improved a lot, but you can still hear his Bavarian roots. In Thai they say – Chai Yen – what means ‘cool heart’; he is calm understanding and very skilled. Twisting words is one of his favored hobbies. Today he says: “If you don’t want to see sharks.. just close your eyes”.

Mio – The Longtail Boat Driver

Mio is our Longtail Driver, he is the one who will bring you with our Longtail to the Big Boat. Sometimes he is a bit grumpy but he has a good heart and is one of the most experienced Longtail Captains on the Island. Mio works with Big Bubble since … nobody can really remember…! Since more than 15 years has he been driving scuba divers and snorkelers around Koh Tao.
If you are up for an extra bit of excitement and want to go snorkeling with Blacktip Reef Sharks, Mio is the one who can bring you to the exact right spot in Shark Bay!

Kwan – The Head of Office

Kwan is the good soul in our dive shop and travel office. She will arange all boat, bus, train or flight tickets to any destination to make sure you have no problems and can enjoy your holiday without any booking hassel. Kwan is also responsible for all administrative tasks in our dive resort. So if you want to pay your fun dives or diving courses she is the one who will take care of that too.

Deang – The Dive Boat Captain

Pi Deng is the captain of our Big Boat and he is the one who will make sure that you arrive safely on all dive sites we go to. He lives on the boat, cooks his food there and has his family is visiting him occasionally.
Please respect the privacy of his cabin because it is actually his living room, sleeping room and his little Temple is in there as well.
He is a very friendly man and has allways a smile on his face. Since he is a father as well he is good with kids and happy to show them around on the boat while their parents are diving.

Chip – The Dive Boat Helper

Chip is our boat technician, he is the one who is filling the tanks for your dives with clean fresh sea air. If you need help to get in or out of the water he is happy to be there for you. Since he is always smiling, Chip takes also a stunt part on almost every dive video.
Besides his entertainment skills, Chip is also our handyman on the dive boat; so if you need an o-ring or any other help on technical stuff he’s the one to look out for.

Koh Tao Diving – The Big Bubble Dive Boat

A little collection of pictures about our dive boat. We call it “The Big Boat” because it really is very spacey.  The upper deck of the boat is one huge sun deck covered with a semi shade. It’s cool and you won’t get a sunburn. The sun deck is where we hold the briefings before and after the dives and where we relax and enjoy a quite time to recall what we have seen on our dives. Water, coffee, tea, cookies and fresh fruits are served by our friendly staff between and after the dives.

The lower deck is for scuba diving and gearing up. The large diving platform on the rear of the boat allows easy entry and exits for our divers. There is always a helping hand watching out for you!