Koh Tao Open Water course price: what six dive schools charge in 2026

A PADI or SSI Open Water course on Koh Tao costs 9,900 to 12,950 THB in September 2026, according to the current price pages of six dive schools on the island. The course itself is close to identical everywhere: eLearning, confined water skills, four open water dives and a certification that lets you dive to 18 metres worldwide. What changes between schools is whether accommodation, insurance and the certification fee sit inside that number or get added afterwards. This guide prices six schools side by side, checked on 26 September 2026, and separates the course fee from the island fee, the medical form and the accommodation question. For where diving fits into a wider island budget, read our Koh Tao hub and the diving section of our Koh Tao cost of living guide.

How much does an Open Water course cost on Koh Tao in 2026?

Six schools' own price pages put the Open Water course between 9,900 and 12,950 THB, all quoted in September 2026.

Siam Scuba converts its own 12,000 THB price to about USD 340 or EUR 310 on its price guide dated 9 May 2026. Every school here includes full equipment rental, e-learning or digital materials, the certification fee and boat trips in the headline number, so the spread mostly comes from group size, accommodation and add ons rather than a hidden surcharge. Our answer on what a PADI Open Water course price on Koh Tao includes, and what it leaves out breaks a single school's price down line by line.

How do you choose a beginner diving course on Koh Tao?

Compare five things before you compare prices, because the course itself barely differs between PADI and SSI.

1. Confirm whether the certification is PADI or SSI. Both are recognised worldwide for life, and Koh Tao runs plenty of each: Isla Tortuga, Siam Scuba and Black Turtle Dive teach PADI, while Carabao Diving Resort, DPM Diving and Crystal Dive teach SSI.
2. Ask how many students share one instructor. Siam Scuba and Crystal Dive both cap their Open Water groups at four students per instructor on their own pages.
3. Check whether the certification fee, tax and a dive computer are already inside the quoted number, since Black Turtle Dive and Isla Tortuga state no hidden costs on top of their price.
4. Ask whether you can complete the medical statement on site or need a doctor's signature before you arrive.
5. Compare accommodation and insurance terms, not only the course fee, since two schools quoting a similar price can hand you very different extras.

Should you book a Koh Tao dive course with accommodation, or separately?

Three of the six schools here fold accommodation into the course price, and three do not. Carabao Diving Resort charges 9,900 THB for the course with three nights in a dorm included, or 10,900 THB for the same course with a private air conditioned room, calling it a package where adding the room changes nothing about the course price. DPM Diving adds three nights in a shared room for 1,000 THB on top of its 11,000 THB course, for 12,000 THB all in. Crystal Dive includes a free private air conditioned room for the whole course at its 12,500 THB price, plus 30 days of dive insurance and a 10 percent discount on further courses. Isla Tortuga Divers, Siam Scuba and Black Turtle Dive price the course alone and ask you to contact them separately about a room. If you already have a place to stay, a course only price is the better deal; if you are arriving with nowhere booked, the packages from Carabao, DPM and Crystal Dive save a separate accommodation search entirely.

What medical checks do you need before learning to dive on Koh Tao?

Every student signs a standard medical statement before the course starts, and most people finish it in a few minutes. PADI's own RSTC Medical Statement, the form every school hands new students, asks a list of yes or no health questions; answer no to all of them and you sign it yourself with no doctor involved. Answer yes to any one of them and the form escalates, and PADI's own guidance for instructors states that a physician must then confirm in writing that you are fit to dive, using the Diving Medical Guidance the school gives you to take to your doctor. Crystal Dive links its own copy of the required medical statement directly from its Open Water course page, so you can read the questions before you book. If your answers on Koh Tao point to a doctor's visit, Koh Tao Hospital in Mae Haad (077 456 490) and several private clinics including Ocean Medical Clinic advertise scuba diving check ups, per the Koh Tao Complete Guide. Beyond the form, our answer on the island's hyperbaric chamber and our healthcare and health insurance guide for Thailand cover what happens if a dive goes wrong rather than what happens before one starts.

Is there a Koh Tao municipal fee, or a marine park fee, for diving?

Koh Tao charges every visitor a flat 20 THB municipal fee at the pier, and it has nothing to do with any single dive site. The Koh Tao sub-district municipality has collected it since 4 April 2022 under the Koh Tao Pier Fee Management and Collection Act 2021, and the mayor's own statement, reported by the UNDP funded BIOFIN programme, earmarks the money for environmental management on land and underwater, including dive site mooring buoys. That fee is separate from your course price and is not collected by dive schools. Koh Tao itself sits outside Thailand's national park network, so its main reef sites do not carry a park entrance fee. The exception is a trip to Mu Ko Chumphon National Park, home of the offshore pinnacle dive sites some schools sail to: foreign adults pay a separate national park fee there, on top of any Koh Tao school's boat price, so ask whether a quoted fun dive trip includes it before you book one alongside your course.

Which course is cheapest, and which is the best value?

Isla Tortuga Divers and Carabao Diving Resort are tied for cheapest at 9,900 THB, and Carabao's version already includes three nights of accommodation for that price, which makes it the strongest pure discount on this list. Crystal Dive, at 12,500 THB, is the best value once you count what comes with it: a free private air conditioned room for the whole course and 30 days of dive insurance, which Black Turtle Dive's own dive insurance page prices separately at 1,800 THB a month on the island. Add the room and the insurance to a course only price elsewhere and the gap between Crystal Dive and the cheapest option narrows or disappears. Use the Currency Check to convert any of these prices into your own currency before you book, and confirm the current number on the school's own page, since dive schools revise their price lists during the year.

Updated on 26 September 2026. Rules and prices change: confirm with the official source linked above before you act.