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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

PADI scuba diving certifications start at the “Open Water Diver” level, where you will learn the basics of scuba diving. We will explain all PADI Scuba Diving Courses in detail within this section. Now if you are not sure yet if you want to learn how to dive, or if you a bit short on time, you might still have a chance to explore Koh Tao’s underwater world and get an idea of what breathing under water is like, by discovering scuba diving on an Introduction Dive or DSD with Big Bubble Dive Resort.

In case your time frame on Koh Tao allows you just a little bit more after you have already discovered that scuba diving well could become your newest hobby, but you don’t have the full four days it takes to obtain an Open Water Diver Certification; you might want to consider a Scuba Diver Certification instead. The PADI Scuba Diver Certification can later be upgraded to a full OWD certification.
Read more about the PADI Open Water Diving Course here.

If though, your time allows to stay a bit longer on Koh Tao, and you found that scuba diving is such great fun that you would like to improve your diving skills, why not consider going for the Advanced Diving Course right away and take advantage of a 10% discount for continuing education? Since scuba diving opens such a wide field of new possibilities and new hobbies, the PADI advanced open water diver course is especially designed to suit the interests of every individual scuba diver. Learn more about the PADI AOWD Diving Course and the various specialty dives.

In case you are already an advanced diver and you feel you would still like to learn more about diving and about how to become a more responsible scuba diver, the Rescue Diver Course might be the right way to go. The rescue course is also a prerequisite to all PADI professional diving courses like our Divemaster Internship. We will also be happy to explain all further details about a professional diving career with you in person, once you have arrived on Koh Tao.

Scuba Diving Initiation:

Beginner Courses:

Advanced Diving:

Specialty Diving Courses:

GO PRO – PADI Divemaster:

Fun Diving: