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.

The PADI Scuba Diver Certification

In case your visit to Koh Tao is too short this time, and you don’t have the full 4 days left to complete an Open Water diving course (OWD), the PADI Scuba Diver Course might just be the right solution for you!
Or maybe you would simply feel safer, and more comfortable, while diving under the supervision and guidance of an experienced diving professional to accompany you at all times. In any case, when circumstances change, the Scuba Diver Certification can be upgraded to a regular PADI Open Water Diver Certification later on in any PADI Diving School worldwide.

What you need to begin with

To obtain the PADI Scuba Diver Certification, one needs to be at least 10 years old. Further on a good physical health is required for scuba diving, which means you should be reasonably fit to learn scuba diving * and you have to be a sufficient swimmer. Other than that you need a swimsuit or shorts some sunscreen and at least 2 1/2 days time. (Don’t worry, it’s not going to take the whole 2 1/2 days off of your holiday calendar, there will still be time to explore Koh Tao, or to spend on one of the islands beautiful beaches)

What you can expect from the PADI Scuba Diver Course

Other than in the previously mentioned Discover Scuba Diving Course, where the goal was to provide an enjoyable afternoon under water without loosing much time on technical instructions, the “PADI Scuba Diver” lessons will take your personal underwater experience and the knowledge about your new hobby, to a completely new dimension.

During these lessons your scuba diving instructor will teach you the fundamentals and the basics of scuba diving. You will learn how to use your diving equipment and you will learn essential skills and important techniques of scuba diving and underwater behavior.
To complete the requirements of your PADI Scuba Diver certification you need to read 3 Knowledge Development Sessions out of the PADI Open Water Diver book, complete three underwater water session in shallow water and two open water dives! Open Water Dives means, we go out in the sea to a maximum depth of 12 meters and see some fish! Here you can explore the reef and watch some colorful tropical fish and some really strange creatures! Hey, and for the first time in your life you won’t have to be worried about breathing under water anymore. Up to this point, breathing under water has already become completely normal for you!

About PADI Scuba Diving Courses

All PADI scuba diving courses are performance based which means that you have to “show mastery of a skill” before you move on to the next skill, saying; that we’re going to take it slowly step by step until you feel comfortable with each new task and skill. This will assure that you will safely learn to dive in a most comfortable and relaxed way.

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* Please Note: To proof that you are in good health for scuba diving, you should be able to answer all 34 questions in the Medical Questionnaire with “NO”. In case you have to answer one of the questions in the medical form with “YES”, you will have to see a physician to make sure that there is no health concern for you while scuba diving. (Please ask him/her for a written statement to bring with) To view the Medical Form, you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your Computer. If you don’t have Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free here.

How to get to Paradise?

Many are the roads that lead to Rome Koh Tao as they used to say. Mainly though, there are three ways to get to our beautiful island and finally get your head under water. You can take the bus, the train or you can fly. In any case, you will end up on a ferry boat for the last part of your journey.

With Bus and Boat to Ko Tao

Lets talk about the Buses first. You can get a ticket for a bus in almost every travel agency in Thailand or even in your hotel. The same goes for any other ticket you would like to purchase in the “Land of Smiles”. Traveling is easy in Thailand. The bus to Chumphon leaves in the evening from Bangkok and arrives in the early morning hours at its destination. The bus stops directly at the pier and you will not have to walk far. On the boat, either the catamaran of Lomprayah or the Seatran Fast Ferry Boat, will bring you to Koh Tao in less than two hours. If you have already booked with Big Bubble Dive Resort, someone of our staff will be waiting for you at the pier on Koh Tao and bring you to your accommodation. – Free of Charge, that is!
With Train and Boat to Koh Tao

With Train and Boat to Koh Tao

If you choose to take the train from the north of Thailand, the scenario is almost the same. Besides that you will most probably sleep better in the train than in the bus. The train leaves Bangkok around 7pm and arrives about at 5 O-Clock in Chumphon where a bus will be waiting to bring you to the pier. The bus transfer is included in the price. First and second class sleepers are most comfortable and only a few Baht more expensive than the bus tickets. Click here for all Train Schedules in Thailand

By Plane and Boat to Koh Tao

A considerable bit more expensive is flying; if you catch a flight in the morning though, you can be on Koh Tao already in the afternoon. In this case you would take a flight to Ko Samui, from where you would get on a bus to the Seatran Ferry Boat pier. The boat leaves Samui at 1:30pm. The airport is only about 10-15 minutes from the pier. For Prices, Online Booking and Schedules of Bangkok Airways check this link.

For the adventurous, there are always more ways to Koh Tao, like mini buses, speed boats and other boat companies. For a List of all Ferry Boat Connections to Koh Tao and a Time Table click here.

Continuing your scuba diving education with the PADI Advanced Open Water Course will sharpen your diving skills and you will learn many new and exciting tricks and techniques about diving.

The PADI Advanced Open Water Diving Course consists of five dives, each of them designed to either improve your scuba diving skills or to teach you more about one of the many facets of the fascinating underwater world. Two of these five dives are so called ‘core’ or ‘mandatory dives’. The two core dives are, Deep Diving and Navigation Diving and you will have to complete these dives, to obtain your Advanced Open Water Certification. The Deep Diving Lesson will extend your allowed diving depth to 30 meters! The navigation Lesson is very helpful in case you loose your way underwater. The remaining three dives, are your personal choice and you can pick them from a list of adventure dives. For these 3 dives you can choose subjects that actually interest you on a personal level, for instance, if you’re interested in photography in general, then maybe you would like to choose the Underwater Photography dive. PADI offers you quite a variety of dives to choose from.

Here are your options:

• Altitude Diving*
• PADI AWARE Fish Identification
• Boat Diving
• Diver Propulsion Vehicles (DPV)
• Drift Diving*
• Dry Suit Diving*
• Multilevel and Computer Diving
• Night Diving
• Peak Performance Buoyancy (PPB)
• Search and Recovery
• Under Water Naturalist
• Underwater Videography
• Wreck Diving.
• Underwater Photography and Digital Photography

*Obviously, some of the adventure dives listed above, are not possible to be completed on Koh Tao. Such as for instance altitude diving (we don’t have a lake on the island over 300 meters in elevation) so we will do our best to make you happy with one of the other dives.

The Advanced Open Water Course takes usually 2-3 days and the price includes the PADI AOWD Book and the use of all standard diving equipment. Our scuba diving equipment is regularly serviced and always in excellent condition!

Big Bubble Dive Resort offers a 10% discount on all continuing diving courses after the PADI Open Water Course!

Book Scuba Diving Courses and Fun Dive Packages here!
Book your PADI Advanced Open Water Course right here!

Nadine and Nico’s Underwater Wedding in Thailand

For those whom marriage alone isn’t exciting enough, there is always a way to top things up a bit. Nadine and Nico did just that when they decided to marry not only in Thailand, but also to get married under water! To get married by itself is something so special that it has to be shown to the world and that had to be done in a special way! Both being qualified PADI Scuba Divers, found the idea of getting an underwater wedding more appealing than another idea they had. On December 24th, because x-mas alone on one day, once again isn’t enough for Nadine and Nico, the two got married under water at Big Bubble Dive Resort in Koh Tao.

In the morning, eyes still small, realizing the importance of the day, everybody gathers at Big Bubble dive Resort in Chalok baan Kao. There’s a lot to be done and to be prepared for Nadine and Nico’s underwater wedding.

Underwater Wedding Pictures Part 1

Finally arriving on the dive boat, the photo and video shooting sessions go on. Our wedding couple have become TV stars. On the short ride to the dive site where the underwater wedding is about to take place, is chill-out time.

Underwater Wedding Pictures Part 2

Heads down under, the action may begin. Nadine and Nico are getting married and Big Bubble Dive Resort is having it’s first underwater wedding; everybody is excited, not only the couple that is about to get married.

Underwater Wedding Pictures Part 3

Like on every wedding, there has to be a big party, and this one was huge! At the Rasta Bar in Chalok baan Kao, just opposite of Big Bubble, the underwater wedding celebration went on until the early morning hours.

Underwater Wedding Pictures Part 4

And at the end we all thought that it was such a great and memorable day, that we just want to do it again! Not with Nadine and Nico though, we hope they stay happily together ever after, but if you want to get married once – and you want to do something really, really special, talk to us and let us arrange the most important day of your life for you.

Big Bubble can also arrange a photographer or even an underwater videographer to produce a really cool marriage video and some great shots for the family album. Have a look at the video short version of Nadine and Nicos underwater wedding.

To see the video in high quality, please click on the YouTube link for the moment. Youtube will open in a separate tab or window. Click on “watch in high quality”, right below the video window.

A Prerequisite of the Rescue Diver Course is training in CPR + First Aid, and to be able to react and help in the right way in case of an accident. If you already have a valid first aid certification (not older than 24 months) from your driving license, your school or the fire department, that will do. Otherwise you need to participate in the one day EFR training.

The EFR (Emergency First Responder) course offers you an innovative way to learn both CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) and First Aid, which could help to save a life, or at least, it will give you the knowledge and the confidence to know how to react and what to do in case of an emergency.

Bit by bit, you will learn accident management methods. This will help you to assess a situation and act in the most competent way to help and assist someone, before professional medical help arrives.

Emergency First Response, Primary Care (CPR) provides participants with the knowledge of how to respond in case of life-threatening emergencies. The EFR course focuses on primary care through a combination of knowledge development, skill development and realistic scenario exercises to make sure participants have the confidence and the ability to provide immediate help when help is needed.

Emergency First Response, Secondary Care (First Aid) includes injuries or illnesses which are not instantly life-threatening but require assistance and personal care. EFR Students focus on first aid and secondary assessment through a step by step knowledge development. Students are given the unique chance, to develop their skills in professionally supervised realistic scenario practices, to make sure they fully understand each subject of the course.

PADI Rescue Diving Course

During the PADI Open Water Diving Course you have learned about the basics of scuba diving and you have mastered dive knowledge and dive skills. You have also learned how to take care of yourself underwater and on the surface. In the Advanced Open Water Course, your focus has broadened to include more of the underwater environment in a variety of situations.

In the PADI Rescue Diver Course, we will take you one step further. You will learn how to prevent problems, and how to manage dangerous situations. In the Rescue Diving Course your focus will be on helping others, either on the dive boat or underwater, without endangering yourself. Your knowledge will be built up on what you have already learned in your previous diving courses. The PADI Rescue Diver Course is both demanding and rewarding. After you have become a certified PADI Rescue Diver, you will dive with far more self-confidence.

To participate on the PADI Rescue Diver Course you need to be at least 15 years of age, you need to have at least 20 logged dives and to be certified as a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver or equivalent. It is also a prerequisite that you are in possession of a valid First Aid Certificate, not older than two years. If you don’t have any such certification, either from a school or fire department, you can easily obtain an Emergency First Response certificate, right here at Big Bubble Dive Resort. It will only take one day! The Emergency First Response (EFR) Course is far more scuba diving specific than any other first aid course could ever be. So you may even want to consider taking part on this course anyway. You will learn about the different types of diving injuries such as jellyfish stings, sea urchin wounds and other marine life injuries.

 

What will you learn in the PADI Rescue Diving Course?

• First of all… Self Rescue!
• Recognizing and managing stress on fellow divers
• Different forms of stress and their symptoms and “signals”
• Handling first-aid materials
• First-aid procedures
• Swimming and non-swimming assists
• Underwater problems
• Rescuing panicked divers
• Rescuing unresponsive divers
• Egress (different types of exits)

Big Bubble Dive Resort offers a 10% discount on all continuing diving courses after the PADI Open Water Course!

Book Scuba Diving Courses and Fun Dive Packages here!
Book your PADI Rescue Diver Course right here!

Taraporn, on the west of Chalok Ban Kao, is a largely quiet spot with a private stretch of sandy beach with palm trees surrounded by boulders. The Babaloo Beach Bar is close by with a chilled and relaxed atmosphere. Taraporn’s bungalows are nothing fancy but they are clean, spacious and in a very nice location. Surrounded by several smaller beaches and away from traffic and noise Taraporn Bungalows offer the perfect place to relax and enjoy your scuba diving vacation.

Plain wooden huts on stilts line the rocks at the top of the beach and feature covered decks with hammocks. Plenty of tree cover around the huts provides a retreat from the sun after a day of excellent dives with Big Bubble or simply after a lovely afternoon on the beach. A boardwalk leads guests from the bungalows to the friendly Taraporn bar and restaurant and then further into the centre of Chalok baan Kao, a short distance away. Several shops and 24/7 shopping as well as ATM machines are in walking distance.

Bungalows with Fan and cold water 500,- Baht

Bungalows with Fan and hot water 600,- Baht

Please contact us to make a reservation at Taraporn Bungalows Koh Tao and/or for more information about scuba diving courses at Big Bubble Dive Resort.

How to become a PADI Divemaster on Koh Tao

The PADI Divemaster is the first level of professional scuba diving. Because there are always choices in life, the DM course won’t make an exception. Option one would be to become a divemaster in a relatively short period of time, but obviously, you would gain much less experience. Option two, known as internship, (which we recommend actually) is for those who have a bit more time at hand and seek to gain a lot of scuba diving experience. The latter is also the far better option if you would like to go on working in the diving industry. Also, if you plan to go right on from PADI Divemaster to PADI Scuba Diving Instructor (OWSI), then it is almost a necessity that you complete this internship as it gives you great preparation for the job by dealing with real life situations.

In the PADI Divemaster course you will learn:

• To become a responsible diver who is able take care of himself and other divers.
• All the important aspects of scuba diving theory.
• How to organize dive tours and dive excursions.
• How to map dive sites
• How to assist diving instructors during their dive training activities.

Once you are a certified PADI Dive Master, you’ll be qualified to:

1. To act as certified instructional diving assistant to PADI instructors.
2. To supervise students in PADI experience programs for uncertified divers.
3. To supervise training and non training related diving activities.
4. To teach and certify PADI skin divers.
5. To conduct the PADI scuba review program for certified divers.
6. To enroll in PADI instructor level training

Prerequisites for the PADI Divemaster training are:

• Be certified as a PADI rescue diver (or equivalent).
• 20 logged open water dives prior to entry into PADI divemaster training.
• Be at least 18 years old.
• A good physical condition for scuba diving
• A medical exam form signed by a physician.

The PADI Divemaster Course consists of many parts, including:

Water Skills and Stamina Tests.

Several swim and floating tests have to be passed in this section of the course. Don’t worry, this part of the dive master training is a lot of fun and you really don’t need to qualify for the Olympics to score high in these swim tests!

Professional Scuba Diving Theory Exams

• Exam 1 – Supervising certified divers
• Exam 2 – Divemaster conducted programs
• Exam 3 – Assisting with student divers in training
• Exam 4 – Dive physics
• Exam 5 – Dive physiology
• Exam 6 – Dive skills and the environment
• Exam 7 – Scuba diving equipment
• Exam 8 – Decompression theory and the recreational dive planner

Practical Application.

During various structured training sessions, simulated scenarios and internship sessions with actual PADI programs, you will bring all the things you have learned so far to practical use. These training sessions enable you to gain experience as an instructional assistant and a supervisor of open water diving activities. You will rapidly gain confidence by actually working as a coordinator and underwater guide.

Dive Master Certification

There are many more different tests and exercises but we won’t name them all here as this might ruin the surprise!! However, if you enjoy a challenge then you will find this course not only a lot of fun, but also it will be a life changing experience!

After you have successfully completed the PADI Divemaster program, you will be certified and recieve your PADI Divemaster Card, as well as a wall certificate denoting your status. You will now also officially be a “PADI Member” and you will receive full benefits. This includes the ability to purchase professional liability insurance (which may be required to conduct some activities in certain countries).

<< Book your Divemaster Course right here.

Koh Tao Diving dot com is the new website and blog of Big Bubble, one of the longest established Dive Centers on Koh Tao, the scuba diving paradise in the Gulf of Thailand. Besides all the information about the Big Bubble Dive Resort, you can find all you need to know about Koh Tao on this blog. You can book scuba diving courses, make a reservation for your Accommodation on Koh Tao, Book a Fun Dive Package, view Pictures of Koh Tao or simply leave a comment on one of our articles or picture galleries, so we know you were here.

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If you would like to contact us, please use our contact form or use the information provided below.

 

Contact Information:
Big Bubble
PADI 5***** Gold Palm Resort
P.O.Box 21
Chalok Baan Kao
84360 Koh Tao / Thailand
Tel. +66 77 456 669

E-mail: contact@kohtao-diving.com