The Open Water Diver certification is the first real diving licence: it lets you dive down to 18 metres anywhere in the world. At Calypso Diving, in Tanote Bay on Koh Tao, we run it over three to four days, in very small groups.
Never more than four students per instructor
Our course groups never exceed four people. It is not a marketing line: it is what makes all the difference when you start. The instructor has time to correct each move, to reassure you, to repeat a skill as many times as needed. You are never a lost number in a group of ten.
No pool: you learn straight in the sea
Many schools run the first skills in a swimming pool. We do not. The whole course takes place in the sea, in the calm and shallow waters of Tanote Bay. From your very first time in the water, you are in the real setting: sand, reef, fish. It is more motivating, and far closer to what you will actually experience afterwards.
Day by day
The first day mixes a bit of theory with the first skills in shallow water: breathing from the regulator, clearing your mask, managing buoyancy. Over the following days we string together dives in open water, at increasing depths, until you meet the SSI or PADI standards.
Full equipment is provided and insurance is included. Our instructors teach in German, English, French and Spanish. Learning in your mother tongue, when you are discovering such a new environment, makes a real difference to your confidence.
Who the Open Water is for
You need to be able to swim and to be in good general health. No prior experience is required: most of our Open Water students had never breathed underwater before arriving in Koh Tao. If water makes you a little nervous, tell us from the start, we adapt the pace and never push.
Once you hold the licence, you leave with a lifetime certification, and almost always the urge to carry on to the Advanced. Ready to take the plunge? Book a free call and we will answer all your questions before you even book a course.
