Diving on Koh Tao with Davy Jones Locker

Diving on Koh Tao with Davy Jones Locker

Posted on 30. Jan, 2012 by in Blog, Thailand

I’ve been planning to go diving ever since we left home, in fact I even started an open water course before we left in preparation.  Unfortunately after the first pool session a woman knocked me off my bike (bitch) and I couldn’t continue, who wants to dive in England when we were about to set off to the tropics anyway?

Since setting off we’ve been doing so much that I never really got round to it, I know excuses, excuses! That is until that lovely girl I hang around with, Kirsty, decided my Christmas present would be a chance to ditch all my duties, boyfriend, blog guy, cleaner and general ‘looker afterer’ and finally get in the water.

Anyone in Thailand knows Koh Tao is the place to be for diving and despite having a few dive school recommendations; Davy Jones Locker just kept coming up.  Including, a friend on twitter the other side and a random bloke I met on a tuk tuk in Laos both suggesting them… What better way to choose your dive school?

After a pretty horrendous journey between Bangkok and Koh Tao my friend and I arrived on the island about 6 hours later than expected.  Luckily the first session of the PADI open water course was only a couple of videos and we were soon in bed recovering – yes together.

Diving on Koh Tao

The Love Shack

The next day we spent the morning going through some theory before jumping in the Davy Jones pool to go through some basic skills.  We had one instructor teaching four of us and everyone breezed through the afternoon without any problems. I’m sure Kirsty would have done something about that had she been there…

Day 3 began with another theory session before taking the multiple-choice final exam just before lunch.  After a short break it was time for what we had all been looking forward to, getting on the boat and in the salt water.

Diving on Koh Tao, Thailand

SCUBA-POI

Dives 1 & 2 took us down to a max depth of just 10 meters.  Both started with practicing some basic skills in the shallow water before swimming off to explore the dive site.  My main highlight  was probably the large jellyfish we passed and seeing my friend take a rather wide birth while gesturing “fuck that” or more accurately ‘out of air’ but I knew what he meant.  Remind me not to just assume like that in the future…

The 7am start on day four took us to Hin Pee Wee dive site, home to a ship wreck but it was not for me to touch. 18m was as deep as we would be going on our open water course and unfortunately that was a few meters off what was needed to take a seat on the gun at the front of the ship.  Still, not a bad sight at all for my third dive ever.

Dive four at White Rock was to be our last dive and despite the ‘good chance’ of seeing a turtle it was not to be.  However even going that little bit deeper enabled us to see a lot more underwater life compared to the shallower dives of the day before.

And that was that, our open water course was complete.  Dives done, exams passed and we were open water certified.

I enjoyed diving just as much as I had expected to and maybe even more.  Koh Tao is a gorgeous island and I’m sure that helped a lot.

Diving in Thailand

Koh Tao - Not bad eh?

Everyone we dealt with at Davy Jones Locker was incredibly friendly and a very good laugh, from the shop staff to the instructors and even the guy who took us in the side car of his moped to our bungalow on the first day, apologising after every speed bump.

Now I just need to get back there and get the advanced open water course under my belt.  But which dives to choose?

An open water course with Davy Jones Locker costs 9,500 baht ($300) booked online which includes all course materials, equipment, 4 nights accommodation and certification. A big thanks to the Davy Jones Locker for inviting us.  As always all opinions are our own. 

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24 Responses to “Diving on Koh Tao with Davy Jones Locker”

  1. Gemma

    31. Jan, 2012

    Sounds brilliant- have always wanted to dive but for some reason have never got around to it… where better to do it than Davy Jones Locker too? Great name!

    Reply to this comment

    • Poi

      01. Feb, 2012

      This is the way I was going, glad o have finally started byt now I want to do more more more!

      Reply to this comment

  2. Monica

    31. Jan, 2012

    Loving the love shack Poi. Koh Tao is brill for diving, I loved it there. Ive been told that it’s the cheapest place in Thailand to learn too. I learnt and did my open water in Oz and it cost me an absolute fortune.

    Reply to this comment

    • Poi

      01. Feb, 2012

      It was a very romantic few days haha.

      Koh Tao is very cheap, I’ve been looking at some other Thai islands today and they seem far more expensive :(

      Reply to this comment

  3. Andi of My Beautiful Adventures

    31. Jan, 2012

    That beach looks GORGEOUS!

    Reply to this comment

  4. Toni

    01. Feb, 2012

    I miss Koh Tao like crazy – spent many nights partying away with the guys and girls of DJL…will definitely have to get back there one day!

    Reply to this comment

  5. Anthony

    02. Feb, 2012

    I’m guessing this sea was a lot more clear then the ones we visited in Malaysia. I could hardly see anything while snorkeling!

    May even check this place out myself, could do with a beach visit right now!

    Reply to this comment

    • Poi

      02. Feb, 2012

      Just a little bit, haha.

      Well when you come down here for Songkran (Which you are doing) I’ll go with you afterwards! How about that?

      Reply to this comment

  6. Ronan

    02. Feb, 2012

    I dived with Davey Jone’s Locker when I stayed in Koh Tao. It was Awesome. I was staying in the apartments just opposite. My cousin was working as a trapeze intructor at the time. Awesome island!

    Reply to this comment

    • Poi

      02. Feb, 2012

      Seems everyone enjoys Koh Tao! Trapeze instructor? Does everyone on that island have an awesome job???

      Thanks for commenting Ronan!

      Reply to this comment

  7. Dan Collins | Adventures With Dan

    04. Feb, 2012

    Amazing, Poi! I LOVE Koh Tao too… pretty sure I walked past those ‘love shacks’ when I was there :-D

    Reply to this comment

  8. Jo

    05. Feb, 2012

    I dived with them in Koh Tao too. We did a Discovery course. The team at DJL were so brilliant that we had a great time, and I’d recommend them to anyone! They were such a laugh, really knew their stuff, and were so nice to me and my friend even though we freaked out and sat on the boat most of the time!

    Reply to this comment

    • Poi

      06. Feb, 2012

      haha seems like they get raving reviews from everyone then! Have you got any plans to go back?

      Reply to this comment

  9. Ben

    09. Feb, 2012

    So I was in Koh Tao a few months ago with no intention of diving. I was meant to be there about 4-5 days. I ended up being there 3 weeks, stayed in the hostel across the street and up from the DJL pool, and did my Openwater and then Advanced Openwater there. The place is amazing, everything about Koh Tao is mind blowing. And I made friends with a couple in the “Love Shacks,” but no love for him due to his food poisoning. Haha

    Reply to this comment

    • Poi

      09. Feb, 2012

      haha unlucky for the poor lad!

      I was waiting for someone to comment like this, I can’t imagine anyone being there and not wanting to dive!

      How was your advanced open water? I’m hoping to do mine sometime soon – great you had the freedom to stay and do that as well.

      Thanks for visiting and commenting Ben.

      Reply to this comment

  10. Jeremy

    09. Feb, 2012

    I already told you before, but I dove with DJL as well, but I stayed in their hostel and not the nice bungalow you had. Ko Tao is my little paradise I’d like to move to one day.

    Reply to this comment

    • Poi

      09. Feb, 2012

      I know we’re planning these meet ups all over the place now but how about we add Koh Tao to the list as well then?

      Reply to this comment

      • Jeremy

        11. Feb, 2012

        I wouldn’t be adverse to that. It is my favorite place. May move there one day if I can convince Angie.

        Reply to this comment

        • Poi

          11. Feb, 2012

          Well we’re thinking once Kirstys two years are done in London, we might go there for a couple of months on the was to OZ. Get loads of diving and courses in then. See you there!?!

          Reply to this comment

  11. Peggy McPartland

    07. Mar, 2012

    I loved Koh Tao! I saw all kinds of people taking dive courses and contemplated it. Unfortunately, the lure of lazing on the beach won. Can’t think of a better place to do it though and definitely will on my next trip.

    Reply to this comment

  12. Vicky

    18. May, 2012

    Sounds amazing. I have never gone scuba diving but would love to get my padi certification in Koh tao!

    Reply to this comment

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