Dive Centers - Crystal Dive Resort Koh Tao

LONELY PLANET THAILAND 2009 states "CRYSTAL is the Meryl Streep of diving operaters winning all the awards for best performance. Its one of the largest schools on the island (and around the world) although high quality instructors and intimate classes keep the school feeling quite personal. Multilingual staff members, air conditioned classes and an on site swimming pool sweeten the deal.'

CRYSTAL DIVE RESORT is one of only 5 schools recommended by Lonely Planet on Koh Tao!

Crystal Dive Branch Office in Haadrin, Koh Phangan (next door to Backpackers Information Centre) is also the only Koh Tao dive booking office in Haadrin recommened by Lonely Planet and it's run by the owners of www.backpackersthailand.com so we make it easy to book online here, especially for those coming to the FULL MOON PARTY prior to going Koh Tao to do your dive course!  Take a look at our amazing Moon Party special deals:

**SPECIAL MOON PARTY PACKAGES** - BOOK ONLINE HERE -

Option 1: 

If you pre-book your Open Water PADI course online here  at www.backpackersthailand.com you will receive 4 nights fan room accommodation for two persons absolutely FREE! 

Pre-Book your PADI Advanced Course and you will recieve 2 nights fan room for FREE!

Option 2: 

If you have pre-booked ANY Crystal Dive PADI courses online at www.backpackersthailand.com and visit the Crystal Dive shop in Haadrin Koh Phangan before going to Koh Tao and show your booking voucher, we will give you a free boat to Koh Tao from Koh Phangan plus 1 hour free use of internet in Backpackers Information Centre next door!  

CRYSTAL DIVE BENEFITS:

Crystal Dive Resort is Koh Tao's Award Winning Dive Centre!

Crystal Dive Koh Tao has been awarded the highest CDC (Career Development Center) rating, one of only a handful schools in Thailand to recieve this rating from PADI and don't forget we have SMALL group sizes of no more than 6 persons per group - not many large dive schools can guarantee that! 

At the presentation in Singapore in 2008 at the PADI Gala Presentation Dinner 2008, Matt Bolton, our Course Director, was presented with the award and was also delighted to hear that we are the only PADI dive center in the Asia Pacific region to recieve three nominations at a single PADI members awards! We had two further nominations for the Instructor Development Award and the Project AWARE' Marine Environmental' Award.

This also makes Crystal Dive the first and ONLY Dive Centre on Koh Tao to win a major industry award and the first and only Dive Centre to recieve a nomination for the Marine Environmental Award as Crystal Dive is also Koh Tao's only Reef Check Training Facility.

In the 2009 award ceremony, Crystal won the PADI Diver Retention Award for the number of divers who stayed on to do continuous dive course education with us and we were finalists in the PADI Outstanding Dive Centre Business Award and Marine 'Project Aware' Environmental Award - we truelly are KOH TAO's AWARD WINNING DIVE CENTRE!

So, Crystal Dive is the perfect place for you to both begin and to further your dive education or merely take in a few fun dives. We offer superb packages from snorkeling to full PADI dive courses, through to Instructor, as well as catering for the experienced diver with various options of accommodation in one of our two dive resorts in Mae Head or Sairee Beach. Our resorts have free Wi-Fi and all our rooms have 24hour electric.  We also provide safety boxes and satellite TV in virtually all of our rooms for free.

As one of the most established resorts on the island, Crystal has built up a solid reputation over the years and our dive center has achieved the prestigous 5 Star Gold Palm IDC IInstructor Development Centre) Resort status from PADI.

Despite being a large professional dive school, we are keen to emphasize their policy of small group tutoring, with group sizes no larger than six persons to a group giving a more personal feel to your experience.

As one of the original dive schools in Thailand, Crystal Dive Resort has built a reputation of professionalism and dedication, second to none. With instructors from all over the world, we run courses in over twenty languages and we can offer all students and fun divers first-class adventure in their own language! We have been and always will be a constant feature of the Koh Tao scene and are known all over the world!

Despite the introduction of "supermarket" dive shops in recent years, we pride ourselves on small groups with a focus on personal detail.

Crystal Dive Resort is not only dedicated to introducing beginners to the underwater paradise of "Innerspace".We also offer professional course for those who have a wish to enter the dive industry. Starting with a childrens 'bubblemaker', through open water, advanced courses and if you really want to consider it as a career then we can take you right through to Instructor. We also provide specialist courses such as NITROX and 40meter deep dive cert or combinations of these. Email us for further details here!

With the backdrop of beautiful Koh Tao, Crystal Dive Resort offers all of our guests bungalows on either of our two resorts. As you sit and watch the sunset, is their a better place to just relax and unwind...?? Our restaurant offers superb Thai food plus a good selection of western favourites for those who just need a "taste of home" once in a while! Don't forget to ask us about our legendary beach BBQ's!

We have a swimming pool on resort where all our dive training takes place and this can be used for swimming when there are no divers using it!  There is also a bar on resort where many of the instructors and divemasters will meet you after diving  and you can grab a bean bag to watch the amazing sunsets on our beach decking or grab a quick meal in our resort restaurant.  Those on open water courses will have their last two dives filmed and played on our big movie screen on their last evening where their instructor will organise a finishing party! 

Crystal dive resort has it all - the highest training standards of any school in Asia Pacific along with great facilities and a fun environment!!  What more would you expect from the school who just recieved the 2008 PADI Asia Pacific Training Award!!!

You can book online here. 

The waters around Koh Tao are one of Asia's greatest diving attractions, with easy access to such amazing sites as Chumpon and South West pinnacle - Two of the Gulf's only true deep dive sites. Divers can also explore the famous Japanese Gardens at Koh Nanguan, the small island off Koh Taoi with its beautiful Reef.  Koh Tao is a "diving mecca"  with the second largest number of PADI certifications worldwide - second only to Cairns in Australia! The Gulf Of Thailand and the waters around Koh Tao are unique, offering over 20 dive sites, with the majority close the island. The close proximity of these sites, combined with their depths, allows us to offer divers variety for each trip.

Koh Tao in recent years, has only recently become a popular spot for travellers and holiday makers but its developing fast with great restaurants, beach bars and activities plus ATM's, banks and 7/11's!! Yet just a few years ago, "Turtle Island" was very, very different! In the 1930's, the Thai government realised the strategic advantage of Koh Tao as a penal colony and started to relocate a number of political prisoners from camps on the west coast to a new facility built on the island. From the island , surrounded for miles by ocean, there was little or no chance of escape. In 1944 with a change of government, all prisoners were freed and given an official pardon. The prison camp was closed down. As people started to arrive, three main settlements emerged and to this day, Haad Sairee, Ban Mae Haad and Chalok Ban Kao remain the only three villages on the island.