Dive Review of Discovery Divers in
Thailand/Koh Tao

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Discovery Divers: "Excellent warm water diving", Oct, 2018, by Tim Wood, BoP, NZ ( 1 report with 1 Helpful vote). Report 10581 has 1 Helpful vote.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	I have dived with Discoverydivers before some 3.5 years or so ago. Then I was a much less experienced diver with perhaps only 20 dives under my belt and qualified to OW standard only. This time I've got a bit more experience and have taken my advanced OW ticket (It was an experience at this dive site that persuaded me to take the more advanced qualification: on a day of the previous dives the group had some very in-experienced members who guzzled their air thus limiting the 2 dives to sub 30 minutes each). I had never previously experienced diving with a commercial operator taking a cross-section of abilities. I was much more organized this trip and planned ahead to book my dive trips as far in advance as possible…once I had my flights and accommodation confirmed. Advance booking (10 days or more) by internet enabled a 10% reduction in cost for the trips. I planned to arrive Monday, dive Tuesday and Wednesday and fly out Thursday (this was a flying visit breaking up my journey home to NZ from the UK) I checked the approximate surface time of the second dive for Wednesday and this allowed a full 24hrs before my flight left on Thursday. I had hoped to visit Ang Thong Marine Park for one of the two days I planned to dive and booked this trip. Unfortunately the Ang Thong trip was cancelled due to continued poor visibility at the site, so my second days dives were at Sail Rock. The dive shop in town confirmed the cancellation of the Ang Thong trip and offered me an alternative to Sail Rock. At the time I said I’d decide tomorrow after the first two dives and they were OK with that decision. I was picked up from my hotel Tuesday morning at 7pm and after a few other pickups taken to the centre at the top of the island where we went through certification verification, meet the DM and talk through the dives. I hired all equipment save my mask/snorkel, but in fairness all equipment hire is included in the upfront price; only a dive computer was extra. The trip out to Koh Tao took about 90 minutes and the two dives were at White Rock and the drop off Aow Mao. There were others on the boat doing different dives or a course or try-a-dive, but the boat wasn’t chock-a-block full. I thought it very well organized. Boat was a three-engine speed cruiser with a toilet and dry store available. All but the front section was covered for protection from the sun. I enjoyed both dives immensely and both were limited to 60 minutes. Water entry from the boat and boat retrieval. My dive ‘group’ was the DM and myself and both dives I surfaced with 90 or 95 bar remaining – we didn’t exceed 18m but there was no need; plenty of life down there to keep me interested. I’m not a collector of names and things particularly so apologies for no great lists of marine life (have a look at their website for potential wildlife). We took a food break between the first and second dive; on a white sand beach; food was Thai style and very tasty. Water bottles freely available all throughout the trip. The second day’s dive took place after lunch – again just the DM and I. We were last out and once gear was off and we washed down the captain took the boat off back to port. The DMs took care of all the gear and we were left to enjoy a beer or two from the chilly-bin. Back at the port dive shop we were able to access the Dropbox link to where the days photos would be uploaded later that day. I decided to take the second day’s alternative trip out to Sail Rock and with that was whisked back to my hotel for about 15:00 leaving some afternoon time to relax by the pool/beach. Day two followed a similar theme – but even less people on the boat. I dived with one other and a DM this time. I should say that all of the DMs on both trips were fantastic and very friendly and helpful. Nothing seemed too much for them; Happy to talk about marine life or life in general. I gathered that most of them had been there for a few years at least and I think that says something about the level of satisfaction they got from their employer and the first rate service they were asked to provide. Sail Rock was two great dives – we started off with a school of large barracuda as we entered. We were hoping for a whale shark that had been sighted 4 days previous but sadly it remained elusive that day. This time we did both dives before lunch first dive was 23m max and 50 minutes duration – I exited with 60bar. 2nd dive was to 28.9m max and 61 minutes and I exited with 65bar. Lunch was very similar (but I could eat Thai food forever so that didn’t bother me) and again on a deserted beach; as we had finished diving, beer was a pleasant lunchtime accompaniment. Again I was back at my hotel before 3. All-in-all the 4 dives suited me down to the ground (or ocean floor) were well organized, with decent equipment, attentative DMs and full of marine life and I would highly recommend and I would return for a third trip should I ever find myself in Koh Samui again. I should say that the water was 30 degrees C which always makes me wonder why I dive in NZ waters.
Websites	Discovery Divers
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	51-100 dives
Where else diving	NZ, Thailand, Solomon Islands, Niue
Closest Airport	Samui	Getting There	Direct flights in to Samui from major Asia centres, BKK, KUL SIN etc. Dive boats leave Samui or other islands
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	choppy
Water Temp	30-30°C / 86-86°F	Wetsuit Thickness	2
Water Visibility	8-25 M / 26-82 Ft
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	?
Enforced diving restrictions	Dive times limited to 60 minutes (ish)
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	I take a GoPro with me - I don't expect to capture anything fantastic but use it as an aide memoir when I get round to downloading and editing. I could get distracted by anemone fish all day!

Report currently has 1 Helpful vote

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Dive Review of Discovery Divers in Thailand/Koh Tao

Discovery Divers: "Excellent warm water diving", Oct, 2018,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Discovery Divers in
Thailand/Koh Tao