Ko Tao Travel Forum

I'm staying 4 nights in Koh tao and am thinking about doing a open water diving course... but that means it'll take 3days of my stay (1 day in the class room & 1/2 day in the pool).
I'm just worried that I might not have enough time to enjoy the scenery of Koh tao if I do the diving course.

Would I see as much with snorkelling/ discover scuba diving? I would really love to see the sharks & turtles...

Help~~~ can't make my mind up :(

I'm wrestling with the same question! I want to get certified but my entire trip is only 12 days. I decided to take one of those "Discovery" day courses. I wont get certified but I'll get to dive!

Haha~ that's what I was thinking too... cuz they said the diving there is too great to miss out~ I guess I'll figure everything out when I actually get on the island.

i wouldnt waste my time doing a dive course in koh tao if your time is that short. the reefs are quite shallow and can be accessed just as easily by snorkeling. I dived a lot there this past february and saw neither sharks or turtles while diving but i did see black tip sharks while snorkeling off shark bay and sairee beach. i saw a turtle while snorkeling at ao leuk.

Theres pros and cons of both. Doing the diving course you will see alot of the island from the boat, though obviously you could hire a logntail yourself. If you want to see sharks you can see them snorkelling at shark bay/rocky bay possibly, or guaranteed these days diving at a site called Chumpon. However it is a deep dive site so whilst you coudl dive it once qualified, the majority of open water courses would not take their students there. As for turtles that is down to pot luck and they usually are seen at the shallower sites that you would dive on your open water. It is highly unlikely that you would see them snorkelling. There is decent snorkelling around the bays and beaches if you're money conscious but due to the boats etc theres not that much life, compared to at the actual dive sites, that you would need a boat or a very long swim to get too! Depends how easily pleased you are, and how much you want to do yoru course i guess. With a discover scuba dive you would most probably do a site that you could easily snorkel yourself. However dont forget with diving that yes yo're going to see stuff, but its also the experience of rbeathing underwater etc that you are paying for. Hope that helped a bit

ps Diving on KOh Tao is great is you are a beginner and its a fabulous place to learn at and to visit. However the west coast of thailand has far superior diving.