Gap Year Thailand

Programmes in Thailand

Thailand - Bio Reef and Eco Projects

By increasing awareness and involvement, this project hopes to decrease our impacts on coral reefs and provide solutions to protecting and restoring the reefs around Koh Tao. A number of different eco projects are currently underway including: building and maintaining a coral nursery (bio-rock); beach clean ups; land development (tree planting, land cleaning etc); an educational programme with the local school as well as newsletter and website development. The projects vary by season and depending on the needs and resources at the time.

Thailand - Videography Workshop

Discover a different side to diving, working alongside professional videographers. Learn how to film dive students and marine life, and then edit the film into short 'dive movies'.

The videographer course is completed over 3 weeks and includes shadowing a professional videographer, coaching on dive skills such as buoyancy, making underwater videos (alongside an experienced videographer) and editing videos

 

Destination Guide

Location

About an hour by boat heading North from Koh Phangan, Koh Tao is a dramatic mix of dense jungle
and hilly terrain in its interior and granite outcrops and beaches along its coast. However, it has
become best known for the abundance of excellent dive sites within a short distance of the island. It
is a simple, friendly and fun island with an atmosphere that means people usually stay a lot longer than intended!

Diving in the area

The dive sites vary in depth from just a few metres down to 40 metres. There is no tidal influence and there is little current at most of the sites. The water temperature is always warm, ranging from about 27°C to 31°C. Visibility varies, but on average is around 15 metres. On a good day it can be up to 25 metres.

Common marine life you will encounter includes: large schools of fish – Barracuda, Bat Fish, Trevally; Groupers; Angel Fish; Butterfly Fish; Parrot Fish; Anenome and Clown Fish; Wrasse; Trigger Fish; Moray Eels; Hawksbill Turtles; Blue Spotted Stingrays.

You may also be lucky enough to encounter pelagics (the big open ocean stuff!) like the Whale Shark, the world’s biggest fish, growing up to 8 metres in length. Grey Reef sharks are also regularly spotted (but don’t worry, none of these sharks like humans!).

April to October is the dive season in the Gulf of Thailand

Social Scene

There is a big dive community on the island and diving is very social so you will usually find yourself rounding off the day with everyone heading to a local beach bar before going for some food.

There are plenty of bars and restaurants on the island, giving you a good choice for eating and going out. There are also a few beachside night clubs. An evening’s entertainment might consist of eating on the beach and having a beer, watching an English-speaking movie being shown in one of the bars, or going out with all the project staff and other divers.

There are also the notorious Full Moon Parties on the next island over, Koh Phangan. Every month around full moon, several thousand people arrive to party all night on the beach at Hat Rin.

Accommodation

You will have your own room in a very attractive and friendly resort just a few minutes walk from the dive school. The rooms have a fan and also have electricity sockets if you want to charge phones etc. The rooms are simple but very comfortable.

Good reasons to go here...

1. The Gulf of Thailand is one of seventeen seas that produce the highest volume of marine resources in the world.
2. Twenty percent of the world's coral reef fish and over 800 species can be observed here
3. Whale sharks and Manta Rays can often be seen here
4. Travel and diving is possible year-round
5. It's a cheap destination for day-to-day living
6. Easily accessible and on the backpacker route - meet other travellers for onward journey
7. It'sa very social place - lots of entertainment and parties
8. Warm, clear waters throughout the year
9. Marine conservation creating bio-reefs and much more
10. Underwater videography course

Country Fact File