Discovery Dive Centre is a professional, friendly and welcoming place to dive in Koh Samui.
My 18 year old son and I signed up for the Open Water PADI course which allows you to dive to 18 metres. We were sent the information online and were able to complete the course before we pulled on our wetsuits. It took about 7 hours and was a good mix of videos and reading, quizzes and tests.
Before we left the UK we also needed to complete the PADI health questionnaire and had to see a doctor to sign off our forms as we had prior medical conditions (asthma etc). The communication from Discovery Dive centre was excellent - they responded really quickly to emails etc.
Day one we were picked up at our hotel and taken to the dive centre where we tried on wetsuits, fins, BCDs etc. I don’t see brilliantly and took a prescription mask with me but they did have some available too. We met our instructor Pierre who was a great mix of patience, fun and professionalism and we always felt completely safe with him.
We were then taken by taxi to a nearby hotel where we learned how to assemble and dissemble our equipment - it seemed like a lot to remember but under Pierre’s careful supervision we were soon kitting up with confidence.
We then got in the pool and practised a variety of skills such as mask clearance, inflating and deflating our jackets, towing each other, and communicating underwater. Pierre was always very clear about what we were doing both on the surface and underwater. Day one was finished by 1:30 and after prepping our kit for the morning we were driven back to our hotels.
Day 2 we went to Mango Bay Koh Tao. The taxi collected us at 8am again, we signed in at the centre, had a briefing for the day and got on the dive boat. It was 90 minutes to Koh Tao and on the boat were the 4 leaners from our course and some other groups. Probably about 16 of us in total. It was a windy morning and i would recommend sea sickness meds if you are that way inclined. The dive team ran in a professional way on the boat. Registers were taken every time we left somewhere, Pierre had all our kit lined up beautifully and we all had a boat briefing about what was happening timetable wise and the rules of the boat. There’s a clean toilet on the boat, a fresh water hose and a dry cupboard for belongings to keep them safe. They carry emergency oxygen and all staff are fully trained to deal with any emergencies.The briefing was in English but some of the instructors spoke fluent French, Spanish, Chinese, Thai etc. the boat crew were helpful aiding us with our fins and hauling us out of water with our kit when we’d finished diving.
After we’d set up out kit on the boat, we spent our first dive getting used to equalising our ears and practising a number of pool skills from day 1 in the open water. We then went back to the boat for lunch - crispy chicken drumsticks, rice, veggie or chicken curry. There were cokes and sprites chilling in a cool box and a water cooler with plastic bottles on loan for those who had forgotten a water bottle. There was an option to eat lunch on the beach of Mango Bay.
After lunch we went on a second dive to 12m. Pierre was extremely patient and reassuring with our group …I was struggling with my ears and another person with mask clearance but even without a word,he was super calm and kept us feeling relaxed. We saw some lovely coral gardens and reef fish which was most enjoyable. We were then back to the pier, filled in our dive log books with all the details of our dives and then taxied home.
Day 3 (last day) we were off for a double dive at Sail Rock. We went through the same processes as the day before and then set off for the 50 minute journey to Sail Rock. The different diving groups on the boat all worked together very smoothly and Pierre always was very clear about what was happening, both before we left and on the boat. We did 2 dives to 18 metres with a lunch break in between. Sail Rock was a beautiful site to dive with shoals of fish everywhere we looked. As a group of 4 we paid 1000 Baht (about £24 so £6 each) to borrow a camera and Pierre got some great pics and video clips which we enjoyed looking at and sharing later on. We were much better divers on day 3 than day 2 and really took pleasure in all the marine life around us as we were all so much more confident in the water. The dive team were very helpful - a few divers felt queasy on deck during lunch and got in the water with life jackets on to relax instead on being on board. After our final dive we were back on boat, register taken and headed back to Koh Samui. Pierre helped us fill out our dive log books and then as we travelled home he completed our PADI e cards for us straightaway.
Bit of long review but I hope it gives an insight into the pleasurable and safe experience that Discovery Dive Centre offers to divers of different levels. They are so good at what they do that as a customer you almost don’t realise how good they are! Everything just seems to happen super smoothly by itself (which of course it doesn’t!)
Thanks to all the great dive staff and especially Pierre for making our intro to diving such a memorable experience and keeping us safe!