Try Scuba Diving • PADI Scuba Diver • PADI Open Water Diver • PADI Advanced Open Water Diver • PADI Rescue Diver • Emergency First Responder Course • PADI Divemaster • Speciality Courses

If you are looking for fun, excitement, and discovery of a new world, then you have come to the right place. PADI stands, above all others, for training, experience and expertise. We teach in various languages and our courses are conducted mainly in the Similan National Marine Park, Surin National Marine Park and the waters and in the south of Burma.

PADI DISCOVER SCUBA DIVING

(Day Boat, 1 Day, 2 Dives)

You’re in Thailand and seek to learn something new, but have limited time? No problem. Why not spend a relaxing day on a boat in the Similan Islands while experiencing for the first time what lies under the water as well as above? Perfect for someone who enjoys snorkelling.

After a thorough briefing and a few questions you will find yourself getting familiar with the equipment and trying a few skills under water. Once you have mastered these skills, your PADI instructor will give you a short briefing on the dive and off you go. You will be amazed at what you will find down there, to a maximum depth of 12m.

The PADI Discover Scuba Diving experience is part of the PADI Open Water Course and is credited toward your OW certification if you decide to continue, either right away, or within up to 12 months. Just ask your instructor.

PADI SCUBA DIVER

(Day Boat or Live-aboard, 2 Days, 2 Dives)

If you have more than one day free (or you’d like to take the DSD further) then why not have a go at a little more? The PADI Scuba Diver Certification is perfect for someone that loves the water, but doesn’t have the time to complete the PADI Open Water Course.

There are five chapters in the Open Water Manual (yours to keep) and you need to read and complete a review at the end of chapters 1 – 3, don’t worry about 4 and 5 just yet. There are also quick quizzes for you to see how you are getting on, and no final exam. There are three Confined Water Training sessions, where you learn the skills that you will use whenever you dive, and there are two Open Water training dives, where you have a chance to practice the skills you have mastered in confined water.

Day 1

Spend the first morning in the classroom, where you will receive your Open Water Manual (yours to keep) and watch a short DVD. Your PADI Instructor will cover Knowledge Development sections 1 – 3 and give you a quick quiz, progressing at your own pace. In the afternoon, we take you to one of our Confined Water training pools, or in a sheltered area in the sea, where you'll have a Confined Water Briefing and Confined Water Training 1- 3. In order to do this course, you need to be able tread water for 10 minutes (prior to Open Water Dive 2).

Day 2

Today you’re in the water for Open Water Dives 1 & 2, to a maximum depth of 12 m. On Dive 1, you just dive, getting used to the feeling of weightlessness, and trying not to laugh into your regulator when you see what’s down there. We have a surface interval (time between dives) at one of the beautiful beaches where you will have lunch and a chance to explore, relax or snorkel.

On Dive 2, you will be asked to do a few of the skills that you learned the previous day, it’s easy and fun! During your course you receive a logbook, to log your dives.

You are now certified to a depth of 12m, as long as you always dive with a PADI Professional.

The PADI Scuba Diver certification is part of the PADI Open Water Course and may be credited toward OW certification if you decide, like so many others, that this is something for you.

If you are already a PADI Scuba Diver, then ask about upgrading to PADI Open Water Diver.

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PADI OPEN WATER DIVER

(Day Boat or Live-aboard, 3 _ Days, 4 Dives)

If you enjoy the water and seek new challenges, and you have a few days to spare, then our PADI Open Water Diver course is just for you.

There are five chapters in the Open Water Manual (yours to keep) and you need to complete a review at the end of each chapter. There are also quick quizzes for you to see how you are getting on. There is a Final Exam, which covers all of the theory that you have learned.

The course includes five Confined Water sessions, where you learn the skills that you will use whenever you dive. Thereafter, four Open Water training dives will take place, where you have a chance to practice the skills you have mastered in Confined Water, and experience the diverse marine life of the Similan Islands.

In order to do this course, you need to be able to swim (of course!) a distance of 200m (prior to certification) and tread water for 10min (prior to dive 2).

During your course you receive a logbook, to log your dives. Your instructor will issue you a temporary PADI Open Water Certification upon successful completion of the course. The official card will be forwarded to your home address by PADI.

Day 1

Spend the afternoon in the classroom, where you will receive your Open Water Manual (yours to keep), watch a short DVD and your PADI Instructor will cover Knowledge Development sessions 1 – 3 and give you a quick quiz. After completing Knowledge Development sessions 1 – 3, you will have time to read chapters 4 & 5 in the evening in preparation for Day 2.

Day 2

The morning is spent in the classroom, where your Instructor will review your Knowledge Reviews for chapters 1 – 3 and you watch another short DVD. Your PADI Instructor will cover Knowledge Development sessions 4 – 5 with another quick quiz.

After lunch, your PADI Instructor will talk you through all of the skills that you will be doing in your Confined Water Training sessions, answer all questions, and then take you to the pool for Confined Water Training sessions 1 – 5. During these sessions, you will receive expert demonstrations that break the skills down into their key parts, making it easier for you to master.

Day 3

Today you’re off to the sea for Open Water Dives 1 & 2, to a maximum depth of 12m. On Dive 1, you just dive, getting used to the feeling of weightlessness and trying to orientate yourself. We have a surface interval (time between dives) on the boat or at one of the beautiful beaches, where you will have lunch and a chance to explore, relax or snorkel.

On Dive 2, you will be asked to do a few of the skills that you learned on the previous day.

Once you return to the Dive Centre, your PADI Instructor will review any remaining areas of Knowledge Development about which you may have questions, where after you will take the Open Water Final Exam.

Day 4

Your fourth course day is spent in the sea for Open Water Dives 3 & 4, this time to a maximum depth of 18m! There are a few skills again, but by now this is no problem, as you have already practiced them in the pool.

Upon return to the Dive Centre, you will be certified as a PADI Open Water Diver (18m max).

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PADI ADVANCED OPEN WATER DIVER

(Day Boat or Liveaboard, 2 Days, 5 Dives)

This course concentrates on giving you more experience in diving in different conditions, depths and using new equipment. This certification allows you to dive to a maximum depth of 30m, opening up more of the dive sites for you to explore!

For both days 1 & 2, 2 or 3 dives will be completed (depending on what choices you have made).

Upon return to the Dive Center, you will certified as a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (30m max).

If you are short on time, then you may complete one Adventure Dive at a time. Thereafter, you may complete any 3 Adventure Dives and become eligible for the PADI Adventure Diver certification.

For the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course, you receive an Adventures in Diving Manual (yours to keep), complete the Knowledge Review at the end of each chapter and complete five Adventure Dives, two specifically compulsory: Deep Diving and Underwater Navigation. You have a choice for the other three. We recommend for beginners Peak Performance Buoyancy, Multilevel & Computer Diving.

We offer 10 Adventure Dives to choose from:

1. Deep
2. Drift
3. Multilevel & Computer
4. Night
5. Peak Performance Buoyancy
6. Search & Recovery
7. Underwater Naturalist
8. Underwater Navigation
9. Underwater Digital Photography
10. Wreck diving

After completing your Open Water course it is normal that divers want to dive longer, deeper and in different conditions. However, all of the different kinds of specialized diving that come after entry level training have unique procedures, techniques, equipment, problems and hazards that require training to master. The best way of getting this experience is to take PADI Adventure Dives, with an experienced PADI Instructor.

If you want to take the Adventure Diver / Advanced Open Water course, and you want to spread the dives out, while still fun diving, why not allow yourself this opportunity? By taking these courses on a live-aboard, you allow time for training dives, fun dives, study time and socialising, while seeing things that you could never see as an Open Water Diver. This Advanced option is also available if you have just completed your Open Water certification elsewhere, or on the live-aboard, and you can start at any time after you are certified as an Open Water Diver.

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PADI RESCUE DIVER

(Day Boat or Liveaboard, 3 Days, 5 Dives)

For those of you who want to take things even further, see if you can handle the PADI Rescue course, a prerequisite for the PADI Divemaster course. In order to do this, you need to be a PADI Advanced diver (or equivalent). We teach you to be more aware in the water, how to recognise stress and how best to deal with problem situations.

This is the course that is the most fun for divers! And the most challenging!

You need to be trained in CPR and First Aid, either with Emergency First Response (EFR) or other organisation, and this needs to be current (within the past 18 months).

If you need to do the EFR course, you will be taught to the highest standards, adding to your confidence and ability to respond.

There are both knowledge development and practical training sessions that will take place in the classroom, swimming pool and open water over a period of three days.

The theory topics covered are:

The Psychology of Rescue

Preparation for a Diving Emergency

Accident Management

Responding to Diving Emergencies

The practical training covers basic procedures such as cramp removal, tired diver tow and the use of an alternate air source. In addition, we teach you how to respond to problems such as irrational and panicked divers, both at the surface and under water, how to correctly respond from the boat or shore, surface a victim, perform rescue breathing and egress with an unconscious diver, etc. Finally, you will perform a few rescue scenarios to practice your skills.

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Emergency First Responder Course

(Land or Liveaboard, 1 Day) Emergency First Response Primary Care (CPR) Course

Emergency First Response Primary Care (CPR) teaches you how to respond to life-threatening emergencies, both in and out of the water. This course focuses on primary care through a combination of knowledge development, skill development and realistic scenario practice to make sure participants have the confidence to act when needed.

The EFR certification (or equivalent) is required for the PADI Rescue Diver rating and must be completed prior to Knowledge Development 2.

Primary Care (CPR) skills taught in this course:

• Scene Safety Assessment Universal Precautions
• Communicable Disease Protection (barrier use)
• Primary Assessment Rescue Breathing/Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
• Conscious and Unconscious Obstructed Airway Management
• Serious Bleeding Management, Shock Management
• Spinal Injury Management

Recommended Skills included in the course:

• Automated External Defibrillator (AED) training
• Emergency Oxygen Use Orientation.

Emergency First Response Secondary Care (First Aid) Course

Emergency First Response Secondary Care (first aid) covers injuries or illnesses that are not immediately life-threatening. Participants focus on secondary assessment (top to toe) and first aid through knowledge development, skill development and realistic scenario practice.

Secondary Skills taught in this course:

• Injury Assessment
• Illness Assessment
• Bandaging
• Splinting for Dislocations and Fractures

Emergency First Response Care for Children Course

The Emergency First Response Care for Children course is an innovative CPR, AED and First Aid training course that teaches you how to provide emergency care for injured or ill children (ages one to eight) and infants less than one year old. You learn about the types of medical emergencies that children face, and how they differ from adult conditions. There is a focus on the importance of attending to basic emergency situations with children, the emotional aspects of caring for children, secondary care for children, and preventing common injuries and illnesses in children.

The course includes both primary care (CPR) and secondary care (first aid) skills. The primary care portion of the course prepares the rescuer to render aid to an infant or child with a life-threatening emergency such as choking or cardiac arrest. Secondary care focuses on developing secondary patient care skills and building the rescuer’s confidence to render first aid to an infant or child in need when emergency medical services are either delayed or unavailable. The Care for Children course content is based on guidelines from the Paediatric Working Group of ILCOR.

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PADI DIVEMASTER

(Liveaboard and Day Boat, 4 – 6 Weeks) The PADI Divemaster program is intended to provide you with ‘real life’ experience if you intend to pursue a career in the diving industry.

For the Divemaster Course, there are no set start-dates, so feel free to contact us with your preferred time to begin. Below is a sample schedule based on 5 weeks including two trips, so that you have an idea of how the course is structured. We also conduct part of your training on day boats, giving you even more experience.

From day one you will be treated as part of the staff, and you will be expected to assist in the running of the Dive Center, doing everything that we do on a day-to-day basis.

Prerequisites

18 Years of age or above, Rescue Diver (or equivalent), 20 logged dives (60 prior to certification), current in CPR and First Aid (prior to certification).

Knowledge Reviews

There are 9 Knowledge Reviews for each chapter in the Divemaster Manual that must be completed.

Exams

There are theory and exams in the following areas: Physics, Physiology, Equipment, Decompression Theory and RDP, Dive Skills and Environment, Divemaster Conducted Programs, Supervising Certified Divers and Supervising Students.

Each of these topics corresponds to a chapter in the Divemaster manual, and you will find sample questions in the Knowledge Review Workbook for you to practice. The pass mark is 75% with 100% mastery of each subject. In other words, we explain what you have wrong until you understand the theory. The idea is for you to understand the theory and apply it in real life situations, not to just get a passing score.

Emergency Assistance Plan

You also need to produce an Emergency Assistance Plan (EAP). If you have recently completed the PADI Rescue Course, then you will find the EAP from that course useful, so bring it along.

Waterskills and Stamina

You will need to be able to swim well, with a 400m swim, 15 min float/tread, 800m snorkel swim, 100m diver tow. All of these exercises are timed, the faster the time, the higher the score!

Rescue Exercise 7 (Unconscious Diver at the Surface) is repeated many times. Your performance will be assessed.

You have a skill circuit where you will need to perform demonstration- quality skills and achieve a minimum passing score. You will need to do this a few times to develop your skills to appear fluid and easy. We teach you to PADI Instructor standard, so if you are going straight for your IDC, you will be ready.

>Practical Application

You are assessed on your ability to produce a dive map, as well as conduct one of the programs you are trained for as a PADI Divemaster. There is also an underwater equipment exchange, in which you exchange all equipment (except weight belt and wet suit) with a buddy, while buddy-breathing from a single air source.

You will practically live in the water when, while assisting with courses from Open Water and above, as well as learning how to guide groups of divers safely.

Comments:

“Doing the Divemaster course with Thailand Dive & Sail was a great experience. They gave me lots of tips and advice that only come from years of experience. I always had the feeling they were genuinely interested in my progress. After completing the course I felt I had taken my diving to a much higher, more professional level. Thank you Thailand Dive & Sail. See you at the IDC !” Mark Steventon, PADI Divemaster

“December 2007 I did my Divemaster course with Matt. The Similan islands are the best dive sites so far as I have seen. It was one great learning experience. In this period of 3 trips I made a lot of dives under different conditions and I have seen a lot. I met a lot of diving customers of different levels and situations. This gave me the opportunity to learn how to handle in different situations. The course gave me the experience I was looking for. I want to thank the crew and Matt (my mentor), I have learned a lot from you. Sometimes it was hard but good.” Jan Ruigrok, PADI Divemaster

“I just wanted to say a huge and big thank you for all your help, support and guidance, not only over the past 6 weeks, but prior to that whilst I was in England and throughout the start of my travels. I did really enjoy the courses and if we have had more time I would have liked to complete the Nitrox course. It was brilliant to assist on an allsortment of courses with a variety of instructors. I admire your organisational skills and your ability to juggle so many courses/students at different stages all at once. You’re a fantastic teacher, I would be honoured if you would consider conducting my OWSI. As I know your high standards, expectations and thoroughness will ensure I will become the very best instructor I can be.”Charlotte Gault, PADI Divemaster

PADI Materials (not included in the price)

The materials you need for the Divemaster course is as follows:

• PADI Divemaster Manual
• RDP (Wheel, table and eRDP including associated Instructions for Use booklets)
• The Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving
• Diving Knowledge Workbook
• Divemaster Slates
• Instructor Guides for: Discover Scuba Diving, Discover Snorkelling/Skin Diver Course, Scuba Review / Discover Local Diving

If you need any, or all of these items, they may be ordered for you and will be waiting at the Dive Center when you arrive.

All other training materials for the Divemaster course can be provided (BCD, reg, mask, snorkel, fins, booties and wetsuit), although you may find that you will want your own by the end of the course. You will also need your own dive tool and compass (part of the required equipment). We offer discounts and advice on equipment for the dive professional, and our prices are very competitive.

If you have your Divemaster Manual it would be a great benefit to you to complete all 9 knowledge reviews from the PADI Divemaster Manual prior to arrival and read and complete the Knowledge Development Workbook questions, but you can also do it doing course time.

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SPECIALITY COURSES

Want to try something new? How about pursuing your interests while still diving? Sounds great, right? Then what are you waiting for, PADI Specialties are available for you, whatever your interests.

Well why do I need to take a course in something that I can do by just doing it? Hmmm… that’s a good question to ask. Lets take an example, Underwater Digital Photography..

In this first example if you are on your travels and like taking photos for when you return home, then it makes sense to take a few under water, whilst you are here.

Ok, it is fair to say that sometimes when we take pictures we are not always 100% aware of what is happening around us, as we just want that perfect picture. Now you could get underwater pictures by buying a cheap disposable camera, the pictures will be on film and from experience, maybe one out of your 24 pictures is decent, and you can do this on any fun dive.

You could make things better and hire a digital camera, then you can take as many pictures as the memory stick and battery can handle, and you must be able to get a few more decent shots, at least we are not throwing away the plastic camera. So now you have your camera, but what to take a picture of… before you know it you are snapping away at everything that moves, you feel rushed and you finish your air quickly because you are not concentrating, not good news for your buddy.

If you are not paying attention to your buoyancy, then you may endanger the reef and gorgonian fans that are popular with photographers, creating damage that will not be repaired in your lifetime.

So now you and your buddy decide that you are better off on your own, because you don’t want to be rushed etc…. but do you know where you are going?

Solution: Take a PADI Digital Underwater Photography Specialty Diver course.

There are two parts to this course, and it is designed so that you get good results easily and gain confidence. If you have never taken photographs underwater, we teach you what equipment you need in order to make those photos of a lifetime.

We show you techniques and tips on how to care for your equipment, prepare your equipment, resolution, file formats, getting good colour, composition, adjustments, entry techniques, etc. You will be with an Instructor that can offer tips and suggestions about the camera, but provides advice on buoyancy as well.

You can combine this specialty with others to maximize your time and enjoyment. Why not combine the DUP with Peak Performance Buoyancy or Enriched Air?

PADI Specialty Courses include:

• Deep
• Drift
• Multilevel & Computer
• Night
• Peak Performance Buoyancy
• Search & Recovery
• Underwater Naturalist
• Underwater Navigation
• Digital Underwater Photography
• Underwater Videographer
• Wreck diving
• Emergency Oxygen Provider
• Equipment
• Project AWARE

Please contact us for details on prices, number if dives and a course structure.

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