Scuba Diving in Thailand

Thailand is a great place for a holiday, and if you have a week to spare then learning to scuba dive is well worth the effort and expense. Koh Tao (Turtle Island) is a small island of about 13 square miles with over 50 dive schools in the south of Thailand on the right hand side. Most go by overnight bus from Bangkok and get dropped off early morning to wait for the boat crossing. It takes a few hours to travel to the island by boat and when the sun comes up it can burn even though you will feel cool in the breeze, so do put on cream to stop the sun burning your skin.
There are many schools to choose from so a bit of study before hand will pay benefits as to your enjoyment level and excellence of tuition. Koh Tao is a beautiful island with lots to see and do and the surrounding smaller islands are amazing. There really are some wonderful dive sites not far from this island.
There are two main types of instruction; Padi and SSI. Padi is around 9000 baht and SSI is a bit cheaper than that, but they are both about the same level of tuition. The price includes accommodation with most of the schools being on or very near to the beach.

It usually takes three days to get your certificate to dive up to 18 meters.
Day one is about learning the basics, a written test after reading the book, and some basic skills test in the shallows.
Day two is finishing up tests and then out to do underwater skills. This usually means being underwater for an hour or so sitting in a circle doing hand signals and taking off masks and putting them back on again, general easy tests.
Day three is finishing the harder tests and the final exam. Then off for a good dive in deeper waters.

If you keep well hydrated then it should all go smoothly and be done in three days. You do need to be fairly fit for diving. Some of the bottled water is not that good and it won't do any harm to take a glass of re-hydration salts to make sure you stay hydrated.
Evenings are spent relaxing on the beach watching the sun go down.

When you have your certificate you will be able to dive anywhere in the world.
Thailand is one of the cheapest places to learn to dive, and you could even stay on and teach others; not a bad place to live and work.