Koh Tao or Ko Tao? I am not sure because it is written as both. I should have asked a local, but didn’t.
This is the island famed for cheap diving certification. Once you arrive, you are definitely spoilt for choice with dive centres and I found it really difficult to choose a dive shop to take my Open Water with. There are so many, all touting for business, all looking the same to our diving experience-less eyes.
In the end, I chose Golden Divers based on the encouraging staff in the shop but this wasn’t the best decision. I found the company really unprofessional; diving without wetsuits, inexperienced (as in, there was only one qualified dive master in the shop) and old equipment. With hindsight, the company was very budget and so I recommend chatting to other travellers, finding some who have had good experiences and checking out their dive shops before committing to one. Now, with more experience of diving and going out on dive boats, I realise that this shop wasn’t at all cool. They didn’t cover any of the fish that we would expect to see or had seen (I have ‘Open Water 1 / Open Water 2’ etc written in my log book) and they actually let rubbish blow in to the sea.
The positive I would say for this dive centre is that it has a good shop and active encourages you to feel at ease hanging out there for wifi, chats and beers. (Ultimately, this is all they care about!)
When it comes down to it, you get what you pay for with Ko Tao. The bonus is that it really is cheap (£180), but the training is reflected in that. I’ve met people on dive trips since who were trained in Ko Tao who are floating around all over the place and have no clue what they are doing.
I have also seen PADI Open Waters being completed in both the Gili Islands and on Flores in Indonesia. How cool is it to have completed your certificate whilst watching rays?! ‘Next time’, I’d go with Flores without hesitation.
The marine life isn’t much in Ko Tao and the instruction tends to match it. It’s kind of like a mass factory churn out and I wonder what the number of people qualifying from there is each year. You may be lucky and get a good company, so I guess if you are travelling and come across there first you can give it a go and hone your skills afterwards, but if you are travelling in the opposite direction and come across more famed dive sites first don’t miss the opportunity to qualify in a fantastic surrounding, with probably a more caring team.
