Cheapest diving schools in Thailand?

[Victor Ea]

newbie here. Eager to learn diving.

Gonna plan a bit on holidays and go for the cert.

Anyone has a good suggestion?

[PhuketdashScuba]

Cheapest courses you'll find on Koh Tao.

[impulse]

I'd suggest you recalibrate your question to read:

What's the most cost effective diving school that can get me my ______ (fill in your desired level) certificate, from_____ (certifying agency)

You may save a few bucks on the school and pay out the nose for the local hotels, or you may end up with a certificate worth nothing outside that one island.

[Basil B]

Does depend on what you are looking for.

Good quality diving equipment is not cheap, also most has to be imported with high import duties, maintaining it is not cheap either also affiliation to PADI or another certification organisation is not cheap.

But there are a few dive shops/schools out there that are a little less than the others but then you ask yourself why? normally that by cutting corners normally that means reduced safety.

Or diving from a remote fishing village miles from anywhere, possibly no boat just wading in to the sea from a beach with nothing to see other than sand.

Does not happen often in Thailand but today we hear of a dive boat sinking with a dramatic rescue.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/700628-all-safe-after-dramatic-dive-boat-sinking-near-phuket-video/?p=7369303

Apart from minor injuries no one was hurt or lost their life, and in my experience the standard of SCUBA diving is high in Thailand but there are exceptions.

I think looking for the cheapest is not what any person who dearly values their life should be looking for. better first deciding what you want out of diving and then see if you can afford it.

If you do not know much about diving then go for a discover scuba http://www.padi.com/scuba/padi-courses/diver-level-courses/view-all-padi-courses/discover-scuba-diving/ you can get to do trail dives without spending a lot of time in the class room or dosh, and if you like SCUBA then you will get to see what it is all about and go on and get your certification.

P.S. I am just a qualified amateur scuba diver who has over 300 hours of enjoyable diving and no vested interest in any diving operation in Thailand or anywhere else.

Edited January 30, 2014 by Basil B

[PhuketdashScuba]

<snip>

P.S. I am just a qualified amateur scuba diver who has over 300 hours of enjoyable diving and no vested interest in any diving operation in Thailand or anywhere else.

I do have a vested interest in a diving operation in Thailand. So if the OP is willing to pay a fair price for a good quality course he is very welcome to contact me by PM or via the website [email protected].

[Basil B]

<snip>

P.S. I am just a qualified amateur scuba diver who has over 300 hours of enjoyable diving and no vested interest in any diving operation in Thailand or anywhere else.

I do have a vested interest in a diving operation in Thailand. So if the OP is willing to pay a fair price for a good quality course he is very welcome to contact me by PM or via the website [email protected].

I was not knocking anybody...

As you put it diving in Thailand is normally fairly priced, I would just be weary of any very cheap deals.

Edited February 1, 2014 by Basil B

[fifthcolumn]

I do not know why anyone would go to the trouble and expense given the bleaching 2010.

Read some accounts on Reddit of new divers, they did not even see any hard corals.

Then there are the boats that dive illegally in the national parks routinely, dropping baby divers in snorkeling areas which scare off all the marine life for the snorkelers. They run the gensets all night long making all sorts of noise. Discharge diesel into the water. Divers throw trash overboard (fruit), feed fish. Thanks.

Most dive outfits are just shops, they sell you on to a big dive boat. It's a racket.

If you are not planning trips to Philippines and Indonesia, you might want to rethink investing in a course and equipment. You can see much of what is left in Thailand by snorkeling.

[recycler]

Learning to dive has a lot to do with safety, don't mess with your life, certainly not in Thailand where cheap will mean compromising on everything.

There is no Thai word for maintenance! Only last week a diving boat sank in full sea, what do you think about the state of maintenance of the diving equipment on board?

Get a good accredited school, or safe a bit longer, you can always choose to drown later.

[HerbalEd]

I like to get a bargain as much as anyone, but there's some things where I don't mind paying more money for good quality ... e.g., diving schools, skydiving school, bungee jumping, etc.

[falangadang]

Cheapest diving schools in Thailand?

Satirical answer: The open roads of Thailand,... they are FREE .... and what an education!

[tetleythedog]

I'd suggest you recalibrate your question to read:

What's the most cost effective diving school that can get me my ______ (fill in your desired level) certificate, from_____ (certifying agency)

You may save a few bucks on the school and pay out the nose for the local hotels, or you may end up with a certificate worth nothing outside that one island.

Probably the greatest number of divers in Thaliand are...........MUFF !

[nakhonandy]

As a dive instructor my advice would be the following.

Don't just look for cheap, this usually involves cutting corners/standards. Safety is No 1 in diving!

Go to an accredited school PADI 5 star or similar

Get references, look on the internet, scubaboard etc

Good luck I hope you learn to enjoy diving as much as I do.

[siamjimi]

Koh Tao Sunshine Dive Resort - really great experience and people

rooms at Sunshine not much to stay in with no TV or otherwise any ammenities - basic - best to take a Ban Dive room - they have a partnership

although the smallish restaurant and bar on the beach in front of Sunshine is the greatest

[impulse]

I'd suggest you recalibrate your question to read:

What's the most cost effective diving school that can get me my ______ (fill in your desired level) certificate, from_____ (certifying agency)

You may save a few bucks on the school and pay out the nose for the local hotels, or you may end up with a certificate worth nothing outside that one island.

Probably the greatest number of divers in Thailand are...........MUFF !

But you don't need to be certified for that.

Certifiable, yes. Certified, no.

[ocejanic]

cheapness and sufficient standards (security, teaching, etc.) are opposing concepts.

[h90]

cheapness and sufficient standards (security, teaching, etc.) are opposing concepts.

But expensive doesn't mean that everything is OK. Very common to cut corners on the teaching in Thailand.

[ocejanic]

cheapness and sufficient standards (security, teaching, etc.) are opposing concepts.

But expensive doesn't mean that everything is OK. Very common to cut corners on the teaching in Thailand.

And that is exactly why I don't take the job offers here.

[PhuketdashScuba]

cheapness and sufficient standards (security, teaching, etc.) are opposing concepts.

But expensive doesn't mean that everything is OK. Very common to cut corners on the teaching in Thailand.

And that is exactly why I don't take the job offers here.

So only DC's that are cutting corners are offering you a job? Hmmm.

[ocejanic]

cheapness and sufficient standards (security, teaching, etc.) are opposing concepts.

But expensive doesn't mean that everything is OK. Very common to cut corners on the teaching in Thailand.

And that is exactly why I don't take the job offers here.

So only DC's that are cutting corners are offering you a job? Hmmm.

1:0 for you.

No, of course not. But I found it hard to find out and choose from abroad. And I certainly didn't want to work without a WP - which seemed to be a major problem for those DCs I contacted.

[h90]

cheapness and sufficient standards (security, teaching, etc.) are opposing concepts.

But expensive doesn't mean that everything is OK. Very common to cut corners on the teaching in Thailand.

And that is exactly why I don't take the job offers here.

So only DC's that are cutting corners are offering you a job? Hmmm.

Well in Pattaya all DC either cut corners, or go for the absolute low limit that PADI allows and not 1 minute more.

Of course Pattaya is a bad example and I assume in better places the DC are more careful. But fact is that if you go in other places diving they make a difference if your certification is from Thailand or from say Germany, as the professionals seem to know the situation.

Sad is that PADI isn't doing anything (beside taking money).

If you don't believe it go in random DC and tell them that you don't have much time but want to make the certificate, how fast they can do it. "Rescue Diver" can be done in 1 day I heard the sales guy. If I recall right mine was 2 days (which is also a joke).

[PhuketdashScuba]

But expensive doesn't mean that everything is OK. Very common to cut corners on the teaching in Thailand.

And that is exactly why I don't take the job offers here.

So only DC's that are cutting corners are offering you a job? Hmmm.

1:0 for you.

No, of course not. But I found it hard to find out and choose from abroad. And I certainly didn't want to work without a WP - which seemed to be a major problem for those DCs I contacted.

Yes, fully agree, that is very difficult from abroad.

In certain places workpermits are required to work, in others (nearly) everybody works without one. In all places legally a workpermit is required. And in places where a workpermit is common place it is quite ofteh the instructor who has his own workpermit as a freelancer with own company.

[PhuketdashScuba]

But expensive doesn't mean that everything is OK. Very common to cut corners on the teaching in Thailand.

And that is exactly why I don't take the job offers here.

So only DC's that are cutting corners are offering you a job? Hmmm.

Well in Pattaya all DC either cut corners, or go for the absolute low limit that PADI allows and not 1 minute more.

Of course Pattaya is a bad example and I assume in better places the DC are more careful. But fact is that if you go in other places diving they make a difference if your certification is from Thailand or from say Germany, as the professionals seem to know the situation.

Sad is that PADI isn't doing anything (beside taking money).

If you don't believe it go in random DC and tell them that you don't have much time but want to make the certificate, how fast they can do it. "Rescue Diver" can be done in 1 day I heard the sales guy. If I recall right mine was 2 days (which is also a joke).

Yes, certificates from certain Thai areas are not highly regarded. But only certain areas.

[Shurup]

The OP is almost a year old, not sure why it was brought up again.

But for someone who wants to save money on their training, a few things I can suggest.

1. If the goal is to only get a needed cert. try to find a reputable agency closer to where you live. For example, there's no reason to travel to Pattaya if you live in Phuket. No reason to travel to some remote island from BKK as there are a lot of agencies fairly close to BKK.

2. When talking to the agencies, ask how far the dive sites are from the shore. The farther the boat needs to travel, to more expenses the DC will incur (fuel, etc) therefore all the extra expenses will be passed onto their customers.

3. Hotels, as it was already mentioned. However this is Thailand and there are so many accommodation choices that I don't really think it's an issue.

4. The agency itself. In comparison the SSI generally is cheaper than PADI, they don't force you to buy course materials, but provide them free of charge for study purposes. You can't keep the books. It might be a good idea to have your own books so one can do a review every once in a while, but in the case where a husband and a wife are both taking the same training, they won't need 2 sets of books, etc.