koh tao!

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I dove Koh Tao in 2001 and enjoyed it. Missed seeing a whale shark at Chumphon because we were on a deep dive, but the divers closer to the surface saw it. I'm not sure I'd recommend getting certified there though as some western shops look down on certs from there. Must admit that the rental gear was rather poor (couldn't find the arm hole in one of the BCDs I was offered [and refused] and my first stage blew on the Chumphon dive so we had to return to the boat and swap out the reg). Of course that is dependent on the shop you choose.
 
I'm not sure I'd recommend getting certified there though as some western shops look down on certs from there.

I've also heard this... I have no idea if it's BS or not, but my LDS have warned me against doing IDC over there, and to a lesser extent DM.

they are adamant that if i did IDC there I'd need to take a few classes with the training manager supervising (unpaid) before i would be let loose with students (and be paid)

also some other instructors I've talked to say that the level of SE asian certified instructors are quite poor.

while i take what the dive store says with a small grain of salt as they're not getting my $$ if i go to Thailand to get certified i would suspect things are a little more lax over there.
 
I'll be there with my wife in late July. Any suggestions for dive ops or accomodation?

I just arrived in Koh Tao this morning after an overnight bus/ boat ride from bangkok.

Its real nice here, very quiet as its the low season. Its damn hot, but less than bangkok. My non air conditioned room is very basic, but I don't need much. I'm staying at the Coral Grand, nice staff, decent facility, and a great beach. Ill probably dive tomorrow, so I'll post an update on how they run things tomorrow evening.

Its certainly cheap here, roughly a third as much for a day of diving versus Pattaya (not great diving, btw). That being said, the entire economy here is fueled by diving, and competition drives the prices down. I have high hopes, though :)
 
I've also heard this... I have no idea if it's BS or not, but my LDS have warned me against doing IDC over there, and to a lesser extent DM. .

It's quite common for LDS in temperate (home) locations to spread tales of woe about conducting training in tropical locations. How else can they compete?

Find me an LDS that openly differentiates against a qualification, because of the country where that qualification was gained, and I'll show you how unequivocally the relevant certifying agency would put the matter right.

When you dive in cold water, sh1te viz and have 50% dive trips cancelled due to the weather - OF COURSE you are going to criticise your competition in flat calm, glorious tropical waters.....


they are adamant that if i did IDC there I'd need to take a few classes with the training manager supervising (unpaid) before i would be let loose with students (and be paid).

Dive schools in Koh Tao certify an extraordinary number of students per year. More students certified = more experienced instructors.

When I worked in Tao (and Borneo and Philippines) I certified more students in a month than I did in a year in Europe. I learnt more, quicker as an instructor.


also some other instructors I've talked to say that the level of SE asian certified instructors are quite poor. .

I initially became an instructor (BSAC) while serving in the British Military. That was an exceptionally robust and high-standard training course. I did my Divemaster course at Stoney Cove - weekends over 18 month...very intense and very in-depth training. Hard work!

Some years later I went to Koh Tao to undertake the IDC and gain teaching status with PADI. Despite all my experiences with UK and military club diving/instructing, I was EXCEPTIONALLY IMPRESSED with the instructor training I recieved in Koh Tao. My Course Director was infinitely knowledgable and applied very high standards to the training.

Again....it seems par for the course for some instructors in temperate/cold water climates to 'bad mouth' instructors in tropical/asian locations. I've seen a simular thing from Oz trained/employed instructors.

It's nonsense. Not sure if it comes from jealousy, ignorance, stupidity or commercial pressure. Ignore it.....

while i take what the dive store says with a small grain of salt as they're not getting my $$ if i go to Thailand to get certified i would suspect things are a little more lax over there.

Any location/industry/activity has good and bad elements.

Koh Tao is an amazing place to study for DM and/or instructor. Do your research well and pick a good IDC center and Course Director. Most importantly - work hard in your training and stay focused on maintaining your own personal standards and integrity as an instructor once you have qualified...

No matter where you do your training, it counts for nothing unless you maintain a strong moral balance and adherance to standards and self-improvement after you qualify. :D
 
Elitism, snobbery, the board is full of it, mine's bigger than yours. Racist, biggoted you name it's here. So unless you stick in your comfort zone and train with the self professed better than everyone else instructor in your home town, your training is going to be inferior???? Get real, and don't generalise, and don't equate foreign with inferior, there is soo much wrong with so many of the posts it's scary/embarrassing.
If you train with one "style" of diving and always dive with like minded individuals, in similar environments, you will become elitist, bigotted, and belittle everyone else. For my money become wordly wise dive/train in different environments with different instructors and take the best of each to formulate your own style. Ultimately it is your intelligence, humanity, sensitivity and experience that will shape whether you are an OK or great instructor. The wider your experience the better. Becomming the clone of some opinionated instructor does not make you good, and should not be an aspiration, becomming the best you can be should be your goal.
thanks for letting me rant.
 
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I've also heard this... I have no idea if it's BS or not, but my LDS have warned me against doing IDC over there, and to a lesser extent DM.

they are adamant that if i did IDC there I'd need to take a few classes with the training manager supervising (unpaid) before i would be let loose with students (and be paid)

also some other instructors I've talked to say that the level of SE asian certified instructors are quite poor.

while i take what the dive store says with a small grain of salt as they're not getting my $$ if i go to Thailand to get certified i would suspect things are a little more lax over there.

Yeah. Your LDS contact is misinformed. If anything, I'd distrust DM training more than I'd distrust IDC preparation. Assuming you are referring to PADI instructor courses, the IDC is no more "lax" over here in SE Asia than anywhere else on the planet. The Instructor Examinations are all externally assessed, the examiners are all from other places (IDC staff cannot participate in administering the IE at all), so the course itself has to prepare the candidates to the prevailing worldwide standard or they will fail the exams--both written and practical. My examiner was from PADI HQ in California. (SSI follows an external assessment scheme much like PADI's, but NAUI has a different system; however, NAUI isn't a major player here.)

DM certifications with most agencies depend entirely on the instructor conducting the course, given that the instructor is the same person who does the assessments. I've seen DMs from the Americas and Australia and Europe and Asia and from all agencies (PADI, SSI, CMAS, BSAC, etc.) who were poorly prepared and I've seen ones from all of those regions/agencies who were well-prepared. My own DM students are more than ready to go into the IDC and often end up tutoring their classmates if they decide to go on to the IDC relatively soon after their DM training. (When there's a significant time between their DM training and their IDC, they may forget some information or get rusty in some of their demonstration-quality skills if they don't work in diving or don't regularly use the information they learned for their DM qualification.)

Having said that, it seems reasonable to me that any employer would want a demonstration of a potential instructor's capabilities before hiring him/her permanently. But I don't think any "classes" are in order at all.

As for Koh Tao, well, it's cheap. That much can be said for it. And it's definitely a fun island for 20-somethings. They do have a reputation for hustling Open Water students through their courses in large groups as quickly as they can manage, so if you are doing an internship there as an OWSI, you may find you are part of a "factory" approach to scuba instruction. Not all schools do this, but it's hard not to when the prices are so low that in order to compete at the same price point you have to pack as many students as possible into the courses and to cut costs in whatever way possible (for example by limiting the confined water training to three hours total so that the whole course can be completed in three days).

This doesn't appeal to me personally as an instructor, but for those new instructors wanting to rack up certification numbers fast, that's one way to do it (an instructor can become a Master Scuba Diver Trainer having taught as few as two Open Water courses along with only a few Discover Scuba Diving experiences). Personally, I prefer quality over quantity in my own teaching, which is why I focus on private instruction or very small groups (usually only two students who will be actual dive buddies on completion of the course--couples or family members or close friends). Naturally that kind of individualized training costs more than the mass production-style of instruction so common on Tao.

The diving from Koh Tao is without a doubt inferior to what is available on the other side of the country, in the Andaman Sea. It all depends on what your primary parameters are. Generally better diving and smaller groups = West (Phuket) side; Generally cheaper courses and huge numbers of student divers = East (Tao) side.
 
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