Diving in Koh Tao: courses in Spanish and prices

Updated: February 14, 2024

Guide with information about diving courses in Koh Tao, areas of the island, advice and the best diving schools in Spanish.

Koh Tao is a small 21 km island that boasts the Annual world record for most PADI certifications diving and it is not surprising given its great variety of marine life.

In addition, this beautiful island has 25 diving points, of which Chumphon Pinnacle is considered the best in the Gulf of Thailand, where depending on the season you can see whale sharks.

Turtle Island is the meaning of Koh Tao in Thai, it belongs to the province of Surat Thani in southern Thailand and is located in the Gulf of Thailand along with its two older sisters Koh Phangan and Koh Samui.

In this guide you will find all the information so you know how to choose the best diving course in Koh Tao, I also tell you about some of the best diving schools in Spanish, all this is based on my experience of living on the island.

If you don't have time to read the entire article, here I leave you my recommendations with the best diving baptism, he open water course on Koh Tao or else two spot dives.

They are all in Spanish and with the best prices! 👌

How to choose a diving school in Koh Tao?

1.- How much does it cost to dive in Koh Tao?

On Koh Tao the diving schools have agreements and prices are the same or vary very little, especially for basic courses.

Diving course prices in Koh Tao:

• Sea baptism: 2,500 bahts (69.80 euros) for 1 dive and 3,500 bahts (97.72 euros) for 2 dives;
• Open Water: 11,000 bahts (307.13 euros);
• Advanced diving: 10,000 bahts (279.21 euros);
• Rescue (rescue diver): 10,000 bahts (279.21 euros);
• First Aid (react right): 4,000 bahts (111.68 euros).

In the case of professional diving courses, such as Diving Master and the course of Diving instructor, There may be a little more difference in price between schools.

So, to evaluate that price variation, I recommend you take the following into account:

• The duration of the course;
• if they include equipment and insurance;
• the specialization courses it includes;
• the number of dives.

2.- Type of diving certification in Koh Tao

There are 2 internationally recognized certifications in the world of diving, PADI and SSI, both with a long history.

The certifications are the same, although with a slight difference in the name.

If you choose to do the Open Water with PADI and then want to go to another school that offers the SSI Advanced Diving or vice versa, you will not have any problem, they are compatible.

If you are only interested in recreational diving, it will not make a difference to you, getting your scuba diving certification with one or the other.

On the contrary, if what you are looking for is to do it professionally, I recommend that you investigate in depth the advantages of each one.

3.- Where to go diving in Koh Tao? (by areas of the island)

In Koh Tao you can find schools almost all over the island, but there are 3 places where almost all of them are concentrated, including the best ones, below I will tell you which ones they are.

1. Sairee Beach

This is the most popular beach in Koh Tao where it is located all the nightlife with bars on the beach where you can have a few drinks accompanied by the rhythm of the trendy DJ.

You will also find a varied offer of tattoo shops, massages with views of the spectacular sunsets on the sea of Koh Tao and restaurants with a varied local and international cuisine.

2. Mae Haad

The small town of Mae Haad is the main one on the island, where all the banks, main supermarkets, tourist offices and a wide variety of restaurants are located.

Furthermore, it is the arrival point to the island through its main pier.

3. Chalok Beach

This beach is located in the south of the island and has a more relaxed atmosphere.

Here you will also find a wide variety of restaurants and nightlife, but much more relaxed than in the popular Sairee.

The island is very small and can be traveled in a short time by motorcycle and you can even reach almost the entire island on foot, although with some steep climbs.

I recommend staying somewhere near the diving school, especially if you plan to do early morning dives.

Some diving schools offer accommodation for an additional fee to the diving course at very competitive prices.

4.- Confined waters

If you have never tried scuba diving, either with a baptism or a previous diving qualification, Confined waters can be a good starting point.

Some diving schools do some of the initial Open Water diving classes in a pool so you can familiarize yourself with the equipment and learn to breathe without stress of being in the middle of the ocean.

5.- Language of the diving course

In Koh Tao there are about 90 diving schools spread across the island, due to lack of options it will not be. 😅

The main advantage of there being so many diving schools is that it has allowed many specialize in offering different languages.

In general, in any country you travel to, if the local language is not Spanish, you will have to take the course in English. But on Koh Tao There are a few schools with courses in Spanish so you can do it in your native language.

Some diving schools that offer diving courses in Spanish They do it only in high season or when they have teachers available.

On the other hand, the 5 diving schools that I recommend below do it all year round.

6.- Be careful with irrelevant extras

It is important when diving that the instructors are professional enough to respond if something happens and that they can also teach you what you need.

Safety comes first when diving.

Therefore, I recommend that you choose a school that inspires confidence more than in the extras you can offer that have nothing to do with diving.

Also be careful with positive comments from “other divers” in Facebook groups, many are teachers hunting for students.

5 Best Diving Schools in Koh Tao

All these diving schools have their courses in Spanish.

Because even if you have an excellent level of English in a diving course, you won't want to miss anything they say, what better way to do it than in your native language.

These are the 5 best Schools for do in Koh Tao diving, the order has nothing to do with punctuation or anything like that, each one has something remarkable, I'll tell you about it below:

1.- La Bombona diving

• Location: 40 Ko Tao, Koh Tao Surat Thani 84360
• Island area: Mae Haad
• Facebook
• Certification: SSI

– Reasons to choose it

• The groups are smallThere will be a maximum of 4 students for each instructor;
• in Open Water they have a confined water session;
• have specialization courses such as Sidemount and Nitrox (enriched air);
• They have 2 very interesting funds: one is fluorescent diving and UV immersion, the other is an underwater escape challenge of the escape room type but with diving.

Here you can reserve the diving baptism in Koh Tao with them, if you want to have a first diving experience or this open water course (Open Water), both have a discount.

2.- DPM diving

• Location: 1/9 Moo 2 Soi Road Tambon Village / building dpm diving, Koh Tao Surat Thani 84360
• Island area: Sairee
• Facebook
• Certification: SSI

– Reasons to choose it

• The courses are with small groupsDepending on the course, there will be a maximum of 2 or 4 people for each instructor;
• in the Advanced Diving they have 3 basic mandatory specialties (buoyancy, depth and navigation) but you can choose the other 2 depending on what interests you most (night, sunken ship, naturalistic, fish identification, etc.);
• have available accommodation included in Bangkok;
• They have several diving centers in Indonesia and Egypt.

3.- Isla Tortuga divers

• Location: 1/78, Koh Tao, Koh Pha-ngan, Surat Thani 84360
• Island area: Mae Haad
• Facebook
• Certification: PADI

– Reasons to choose it

• The groups are super small for baptism and open water of maximum 2 people per instructor;
• in the Open Water includes confined waters;
• in the Advanced Diving they have 2 basic mandatory specialties (deep and navigation) but you can choose the other 3 depending on what interests you most (buoyancy, night, sunken ship, fish identification, photography, etc.);
• have various specialization courses such as: deep, sunken ship, nitrox, sidemount, night;
• count on deep dive technical courses of more than 40, 45 and 50 meters.

4.- Alvaro diving

• Location: Chalok Baan Kao, Koh Tao, Surat Thani 84360
• Island area: Chalok
• Certification: PADI

– Reasons to choose it

• In the Open Water includes confined waters, in addition to a initiation to apnea;
• in the Advanced Diving they have 2 basic mandatory specialties and the other 3 you can choose from 7 specialties they have available;
• a school committed to the environment, have 11 coral conservation courses;
• have accommodation available for different budgets in resort and bungalows;
• In addition to diving they also teach Apnea.

5. Ihasia Diving Koh Tao

• Location: Ko Tao, Ko Pha-ngan District, Surat Thani Province 84280
• Island area: Chalok
• Facebook
• Certification: SSI

– Reasons to choose it

• The courses are in very small groupsDepending on the course, there will be a maximum of 2 or 3 people for each instructor;
• they have available 7 specialization courses such as Nitrox, sidemount, independent diver, deep diving, etc.;
• They have a extensive fundive calendar in the morning and afternoon;
• have accommodation available for different budgets in shared rooms, resorts and bungalows;
• They have 2 more diving centers in Indonesia and Spain.

Spot Dive in Koh Tao

In case you already have open water and want to do some spot dive (fun dive), I recommend This is the link at a good price, with diving guide in Spanish.

They have departures both in the morning and in the afternoon and they take you to the Most impressive dive spots in Koh Tao and surrounding areas such as Chumphon Pinnacle, Sail Rock, Southwest, White Rock and the HTMS Sattakut wreck.

Good Practices as a Diver and Responsible Tourism

As tourists we have to be aware of the great impact that tourism has worldwide, which is why it is important to try minimize it with some good practices.

1. Don't leave trash, what goes with you to the beach or the sea may come back with you.
2. If you find trash, picking it up is a way to help keep the sea clean.
3. Avoid using sunscreens that damage corals, you can use a “reef friendly” biodegradable sunscreen like this one.
4. Do not take “souvenirs” from the beach or the sea, shells and other things belong to the sea.
5. Don't buy souvenirs that are made of shells, corals or marine fauna.
6. Do not touch anything when you are in the water for your safety and for marine life.
7. Avoid giving food to fish, doing so has a great negative impact on the entire marine ecosystem.

What is the best time to dive in Koh Tao?

The good news is that the water temperature on Koh Tao is quite constant, with an annual average of 29ºC and never drops below 26ºC.

These are ideal temperatures for diving and other water activities.

But you must take into account the following 3 factors:

1.- Climate

The climate on Koh Tao is divided into 3 seasons:

• Hot and dry: from February to May
• Hot and windy: From May to October
• Wet: from October to February

In Koh Tao you can dive all year round, however, the least favorable months are October and especially in November, which is when the most rain is recorded, below you can see a table with the annual rainfall.

Additionally, in the months of October and November there may be cancellation of boat departures due to bad weather conditions.

In the rest of the rainy season it is normal for days to be sunny, with a few hours of rain and the rain is rarely persistent all day.

2.- Water Visibility

Of July to September is when the water visibility on Koh Tao She's in her best moment, reaching up to 30 meters.

But sometimes poor visibility is not as bad as it may seem and depending on what you want to see.

They are precisely the months of low visibility, they are the months that you have a chance of seeing a whale shark because that's when they have food.

3.- Whale Shark Time

There are two periods of the year when the Sightings of the magnificent whale sharks:

• March to June: March and April being the months with the least visibility, but the best to see whale sharks
• October to December: Although November is the rainiest month, it has its good side to see whale sharks. There have been years in which simultaneous sightings have occurred in different parts of the island during this period.

What can you see in Koh Tao when diving?

The variety of marine life that can be seen in Koh Tao is very wide, these are some of the most notable:

• barrel sponge
• Great variety of corals
• Blacktip reef shark
• Tortoise
• Brunette
• Stingray
• stone fish
• dragon fish
• Fringe sea krait (sea snake)
• Blowfish
• Stripe blue dots
• Titan triggerfish
• Whale shark
• Hammerhead shark

How to get to Koh Tao?

The only way to get to Koh Tao is by ferry from the other 2 islands, Surat Thani or Chumphon.

There are several ferry companies that travel between the islands and the peninsula.

The closest airport is Ko Samui, there are also airports in Surat Thani and Chumphon.

These last two cities are well connected to Bangkok and southern Thailand with buses and trains.

A very practical way to see all the transportation options is on this website that has all the prices and schedules.

In addition, you can book tickets directly with them without complications and if you have questions or any inconvenience, their customer service department is very efficient and they respond quite quickly.

⭐ You may also be interested in this guide on How to get around Thailand: all transportation options and this one How to get to Koh Tao: all the alternatives.

Final Thoughts

If you come to Thailand on vacation and want take advantage of getting the diving qualification, Koh Tao is the best place, there is a reason why it is the diving mecca in Thailand.

And if you already have open water or advanced diving, take advantage of doing some immersion (fundive), the diversity you will find is incomparable.

Below I leave you a playlist with some videos in Koh Tao, on the channel Youtube you will find many more videos.

If you have any questions, leave me a comment below and if you found the article useful, share it with other fellow travelers. 😘

More about Koh Tao and Southeast Asia

• What to do in Koh Tao: 11 Epic Plans
• What is Thai Massage and the Best one in Bangkok
• Tips for Moving to Thailand: pros and cons
• Surfing in Da Nang: everything you need to know