Experience the Gulf of Thailand and all of its beauty from underwater and join a day-trip to either Sail Rock or Koh Tao. The variety of dive sites around the island allow divers of all levels as well as non-diving customers that want to come along with their diving partners. Our dive groups are limited to a maximum of 4 divers with similar experience and our equipment is well maintained and regularly serviced. If you have your own with you we will take care of it all the while you are diving with us, taking it back to the dive centre after each dive, cleaning, drying and packing it ready for your next dive. We carry 100% oxygen, first aid equipment and life jackets on board and all of our instructors are certified emergency first responders.
Posted By : Kwittman
This dive trip was one for the books! We have dove all over the Caribbean and this was a new and different experience. The Coral was FANTASTIC. The fish were like fish tank and our boat master Dan was awesome and our dive master Valeria was great! Our Go Pro died and she let us use hers AND she sent us the videos that didn’t download on the boat drive back after!! Talk about service!!! Great experience!!
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Posted On : 2024-06-08 08:39:35 
Posted By : Roam37832961180
We booked a diving tour with the Dive Academy and I have to say it was a huge disappointment. Booking in their shop was questionable because no certifications were checked and hardly any data was recorded. We were told we would get more information about when we would be picked up but of course that didn't happen.
On the morning of the trip we went to the pier and the paperwork was done there, which of course was all unnecessary and took a long time. The trip to Sail Rock was good but then the tragedy began. In the shop we were told we would be put in a group with similarly experienced divers but that was obviously a joke. The two divers who were still in our group gave a very different picture and our guide did not give the impression that he could handle the situation. From wild hand signals to zero consideration during the descent to the problems with pressure equalization, everything was there. When he then signaled the safety stop after 20 minutes because one diver only had 50 bar left, I almost lost my faith. We still had 130 bar and could have done a decent dive and that should have been it for the price. I'm used to people being brought up in cases like this and the dive being continued as we weren't deep anyway and it would have been possible at that spot without any problem, but our guide didn't think about giving us a nice experience and just did his own thing and ended the dive for everyone. Even on the surface when we spoke to him about it and asked him to continue the dive there was no way in. Back on the boat he asked the other guides what he should do now, as if it was his first time being guided or on the boat, and in the end we did what I would have expected on the first dive, which was to send people back up after 20 minutes and then carry on with the dive. So we at least made it to 56 minutes on the second one with plenty of air still in the tank, but that doesn't even begin to make up for the disappointment of the first dive. All in all, I would say never again "The Dive Academy" because it was more than questionable from start to finish and it's all about the money and not at all about the guests.
The only praise goes to the Thai boat crew who were really helpful and friendly
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Posted On : 2024-04-12 02:14:26
Posted By : Noor B
Win was our dive leader and he did such a good job of making me feel safe and pointing out cool fish I would have missed.
Sail rock was really busy with lots of boats there (understandably given its reputation) but he still accommodated us doing the “chimney” and was really reassuring through out
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Posted On : 2024-04-10 06:29:05
Posted By : samanthalbird
From the moment we engaged with the team over email they couldn’t have been more help.
We had a complicated family of needs! I’m partway through getting certified, my daughter is & my husband & youngest we’re snorkelling! The team managed to get us all on the same boat & created such a an amazing bunch of memories for us!
All of the team are patient and so helpful they made the trip for us! On my discover diving Gustavo was calm and collected,Win was brilliant with my daughter Poppy.
There was lots of humour & the team were so kind.
mango bay & the following dive sites were amazing, really good visibility
The boat was clean and organised
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Dive Academy to any diver trying out or recreational divers
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Posted On : 2024-04-01 06:43:36
Posted By : A2999PHjackief
Avoid this dive centre at all cost. (Dive Academy, Silent Divers they’re all the same)
If I could give it a zero I would. Dan, the ship leader lost 2 of his divers and were quick to blame them even while still swimming back towards the boat. Later on, the boat boy dropped my friend’s camera into the ocean and Dan pushed the responsibility back to us by stating we should have held on to our belongings instead of passing it to the boat boy while getting out of the water.
The boat they use is tiny, on both days there’s 24+ divers so spaces are more cramped than London tube.
Oh I’m not finished, our dive master Andrey criticised us for putting on gear too slowly despite them only letting divers try out fin sizes moments before jumping into the water. Terrible dive shop organisation and culture, we were asked to make payment twice despite having already paid off our full balance. If you want a nice relaxing excursion I would NOT recommend this place.
Date: 01-03 March 2024
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Posted On : 2024-03-02 04:19:05
Posted By : michaelm898
Very well run dive operation. Quality guides and first class boats. Safe practices by staff. Dive sites good but not world class. Unusual Whale Shark sighting the day before still fresh in the mind of those who had been out with the Academy crew the prior day
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Posted On : 2023-04-21 01:11:04
Posted By : jacksT3786RV
I am writing this response to the response I got from The Dive Academy about how the smoking of the divers and especially their staff ruined my dive trip (see below for a few days ago. The Dive Academy answer essentially said you try to accommodate everyone and the is all dive tours in Thailand.
Today I went to same Marine Park on an Island hopping tour, the same amount of time on the same type of boat. Not a single staff member or patron smoked.
The trip was awesome (run by KS Ruang Sri).
To the Dive Academy: You totally missed the point. Your staff sets the example. Most of your staff on the boat were chain smokers. I went on your tour to enjoy diving and enjoy fresh CLEAN salty air. I did not pay for to breath secondhand smoke from your staff. You are the employer and set the rules. Your staff's cigarette addiction is just that, their addiction. If your staff cannot handle not smoking than you need new staff. Simply saying that is the way it is Thailand, is not good enough.
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Posted On : 2023-02-08 05:49:29
Posted By : pamandyoz
I've dived with these guys on numerous occasions in the past. I've used them to certify my son and I've sent my sister here to do refresher courses and diving. In the past they were always great. Very organized and very buttoned up.
Unfortunately all of that now seems to be a thing of the past. I've just spent 10 day in Samui and planned to do numerous dives. My sister was visiting with me and she planned to do a refresher and numerous dives. We did no diving at all!
The shop continued to change schedules at the very last minute with no consultation or any flexibility. It was basically you suit us, or piss off. Unfortunately we were with a bigger family group and our schedules couldn't accommodate the last minute shifts. The first time they blamed maintainable which I call BS on and the second time they didn't even try to make an excuse. Needless to say, there wasn't a third.
When I'm looking for a dive shop, I want them to be organized and buttoned up. This breeds confidence for me. These guys are far from where they need to be and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone.
I'd payed a deposit which in fairness they did fully refund, however, not until three attempts and a negotiation.
Give them a miss and find someone that values your custom and gives you confidence.
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Posted On : 2022-08-30 15:33:32
Posted By : Passenger761861
We went to Koh Tao for diving. It was my boyfriends first time diving. I booked with the Dive Academy but when we showed up it seemed like all the dive shops in the area were operating trips together. It seemed like our guide was from Silent Divers (he was wearing a SD shirt), not the Dive Academy so I’m not sure how it works.
The dive was good. Very good, safe, clean equipment. It personally wasn’t my favorite dive spot (Cozumel, Mexico is! ) but still pretty good. The boat ride was fine. They gave us sea sickness meds so we were fine but 2 people got sick. Sit near the back of the boat. We went to Koh Tao Japanese gardens and near Koh Nuan. Sadly a lot of the corals seemed faded and not colorful and we didn’t see any large fish or sea animals but we were in shallower water. Hope the corals come back, it’s truly a beautiful area and islands still. Definitely worth a snorkeling or scuba trip! We saw many sea cucumbers, parrot fish, and Angel fish.
We paid for a private divemaster and our guide was Alex. He was okay but I feel like he could have been more friendly and engaging. He didn’t talk to us much at all besides what was necessary and seemed a bit closed off.
I think he could have explained more for beginners and been a little more personable and talkative.
He was a great guide underwater though and constantly looked out for us and helped control our buoyancy. I felt super safe the whole time in the water with him. He also helped us use our camera underwater and pointed out some cool underwater flower things.
The food was okay. It’s scuba, not gourmet lol. My boyfriend liked it. I wish there were more options.
We talked to another scuba guy after the tour about how to get a taxi and he was super helpful so I’d like to mention him! I don’t know his name but he had big earrings and dark hair. He was super friendly and gave us a lot of tips about going around the island, getting taxis, and paying for things.
Decent experience overall
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Posted On : 2022-08-29 01:36:23
Posted By : Jennytravelswithkids
Im happy I choose Dive Academy Samui since I was a bit nervous. My 16 year old achieved his Advanced OW with Clive, he was excellent, very experienced and supportive. My son felt very confident with him! Had a few beautiful dives (sail Rock being his favorite).
I myself (almost 50!) and my 2 other kids did my scuba discovery with Mati. Also excellent, very supportive and careful, very calm, took his time with a tad scared momma… and instilled love for diving in my kids. Thanks so much! Sorry I couldn’t thank you in person but I got seasick on the boat in the way back 😂. Thanks to Khun Dao for organizing everything perfectly! Can highly recommend!
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Posted On : 2022-08-16 05:11:40
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