Well, you did try scuba diving in Koh Tao, in the most beautiful place for diving and snorkeling in Thailand, and decided to become a PADI certified diver.

You’ll be doing your course on the dive sites of the Gulf of Thailand and here are few tips from our instructors to help you get the most out of your Open Water Diver course:
— Listen to and watch your instructor. Briefing and skills' demonstration are doing for your benefits.
— Ask questions, do not be afraid to look stupid. There are no stupid questions when you are learning new things.
— Everything in your PADI diving course has a purpose (yes, the snorkel also), even if at the beginning you don’t understand what the reason is. Your instructor should explain why you are required to do this or that. He (she) is not asking you to do something for no reason.

— Relax. It is easy to say, not always easy to do. Almost everyone has problems when they start off. You can master your skills, we know this for sure.
— Don’t worry if you think you learn the skill not so quickly as another student in your group. All people are different. It doesn’t matter how quickly you complete a skill. Much more important you complete your diving course competently.
— Don’t confuse the Open Water course with «normal» diving. Some people get halfway through the course and decide diving is too complicated for them. On most «normal» dives in Koh Tao or Samui we don’t remove our regulators underwater, swim without masks and so on. The main reason for the skills we do on the course is to make you more confident diver, who can manage any situation.
— Enjoy your course. Remember: you decided to do it because diving is fun.

Stay within the limits of your training and experience
Divers must adhere to certain limits based on their certification. Sometimes you don’t understand why not to descend those few extra meters, but these limits were established for good reason. Exceeding your certification level can put you in a stressful environment that you’re not trained to handle. PADI also calculated these limits based on gas, depth, and physiological considerations. If you want to go deeper, think about advanced training. 

Stay in good physical condition
You do not need to visit the gym every day, but it would be nice if you could take 30 steps with all your scuba gear and tank on without having to sit down and catch your breath. Although diving may not be as physical as some other sports activity, maintaining good physical condition is nonetheless important both on land and underwater, when situations like unexpected current can put your cardiovascular skills to the test.

Keep your equipment in good working order
Your scuba equipment is a highly technical gear that is responsible for keeping you alive, so take the extra time and spend the extra money to make sure it is functioning properly: service your equipment in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations, check it before every dive and clean (freshen) thoroughly after.

Master neutral buoyancy
Mastering neutral buoyancy not only makes you look professional, it also provides for longer bottom times. It saves your air, saves your energy, putting less stress on your body. And these can help to do your dive safer.

Have sufficient rest before a dive
Getting a good night’s sleep results in a healthy rested body. This, in turn, will help you resist the effects of harsh conditions, such as cold water. Being tired also slows your mind and body down, and makes you work harder than you normally would.

Stay hydrated and well nourished
Have a good breakfast, but leave a couple of hours after a meal before entering the water. Also, drink a lot of water before, between and after your dives. Just remember to use the restroom before you get in your wetsuit!

And finally: have fun and stay positive!

Single or Dual Lens?
When it comes to choosing your dive mask you have 2 options: single or dual lens.
Single lens masks don’t have any frame across the bridge of the nose so they normally seem more open.
Dual lens masks (also called «twin») have 2 separate lenses, which is great if you need to install prescription glasses as the lenses can be easily replaced on these models.

Mask Skirt
The skirt of a mask provides a good seal to keep air in and water out. Something simple but very important. Most of the best brands use high grade silicone to make their skirts and it’s been proven to be the best material for comfort and sealing.
You may notice that the majority of dive professionals have black skirted masks, this is because regular use of clear skirted masks can discolour slightly over time and show up dirt more easily.

Strap and Buckles
Diving masks come with a silicone strap and a buckle system that keeps the skirt close to the skin.
There are different types of buckles out there but the best models have moved the buckle attachment point into the skirt, instead of having it on the frame as the older models. This way, the skirt seals better as the stress transferred to the side of the mask is reduced.

Good Fit
It is most important to get a model that fits your face correct.
To find a good fit, do the following:
Put the mask over your face without straps. Inhale through your nose and shake your head a bit. If the mask stays in place, then it should create a seal for you. Adjust the strap and evaluate how the mask feels on your face — it should be comfortable. Try pinching your nose. Look around to see if there are any annoying blind spots. Try on several models.

mask too lens
Take Care of Your Mask

Most new masks’ lenses need a scrub before use because the glass gets stuff on it during manufacturing. Ask your instructor for recommendations and help.
Before every dive apply a defog solution to your mask lens.
After every use always rinse it with fresh water. Store your mask in a dry place and out of direct sunlight.

Butterflyfishes are thin, tall, and plate-like. They are opposite shape of a shark’s mouth, which illustrates how important a role predation has played in their evolution. To further avoid predation, the tail of most butterflyfish looks just like the head, and often they have a line over their eye for disguise. Together this confuses predators, who don’t know which way the fish is going to swim away.

Butterflyfish are the easiest fish to spot on our dive sites and usually occur in pairs but sometimes can be found in schools.

Lined butterfly fish

The most common for Koh Tao is the Lined Butterflyfish, which is one of the biggest butterflyfishes and can reach 30 cm in length,
Copperband Butterflyfish (also known as Beaked Coralfish) with a long narrow nose and beautiful copper and orange bands on white body,

Weibels butterfly fish

Weibels Butterflyfish with bright yellow-orange body, they can be seen in large groups at Shark Island and is favorite amongst photographers.
Longfin Bannerfish which is often mistaken for a Moorish Idol (which belongs to the family of Zanclidae). The fish colored in black and white, with an elongated dorsal fin, sometimes reaching a length of 20 cm. The caudal, anal and pectoral fins are often bright yellow.

Weibels butterfly fish, Shark island, Koh Tao

Butterflyfish feed on coral polyps, macro-invertebrates, and algae, so live only in healthy reef areas. In many areas they are a prized fish for the aquarium trade due to their bright colors, but on Koh Tao are mostly threatened by fishing activities or habitat destruction.

Ask dive guide for assistance

When you are on a dive boat, let your dive guide know you would like to do a weight check before to go underwater. In most cases, any dive professional will be glad to help you get in the water before the dive, and give or take extra weights if you ask for. 

Do a weight check
Gear up and enter the water wearing your usual amount of weight, with your BCD inflated. Float upright on the surface with your head above the water, and release the air from your BC as you take a deep breath from your regulator. If you sink quickly below the surface, you took too much weights. If your head stays above water, you took not enough weights. If you float at eye level, you are just right.

Adjust weight
Inflate your BCD, add or remove weight, then complete the weight check again. Continue these steps until you float at eye level with an empty BC and a full breath of air in your lungs. Pay attention to your breath: you should sink slowly when you exhale.

Go down
When perfectly weighted, it is normal for divers to need a little extra help descending through the first 2–3 meters of water. You can use buoy line to push yourself down those first 2–3 meters or take one extra weight from your dive guide, then give it back when don’t need it anymore.

Control buoyancy by breathing
On the bottom, you should need very little air in your BC to stay neutrally buoyant. In fact, trained divers can control their buoyancy almost entirely through their breathing — inhaling slowly to hover in the water column, and exhaling slowly to descend easily down.

To master your buoyancy control we recommend to take PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty Course.