Welcome To Chaloklum Diving. After more than 13 years of enjoyable diving from Koh Phangan our policy has remained unchanged and simple. Although Chaloklum Diving has grown over the years, we still truly believe that dive safety, consistent high standards and customer satisfaction must always come first.

Nick & Michael opened Chaloklum Diving in 1995 after falling in love with Koh Phangan & the beautiful seas around it. We started off as a 2 man operation, diving off a peaceful island from the beach or by longtail boat, & have grown steadily since then.

Both of us have been PADI instructors for 15+ years and our motivation is still a passion for diving & teaching it to others. The Chaloklum Diving team is mainly made up of professionals trained by us, but everyone shares our belief in quality diving.

Although we do have an unbroken safety record, it is good to know that we are a fully insured & licensed TAT (Tourist Authority of Thailand) operation. We are affiliated to the SSS Recompression Network (with excellent hyperbaric facilities on nearby Koh Samui), our team are all first aid/O2 trained & we are sponsors of DAN (Divers Alert Network) Asia Pacific.

Small diver groups (maximum 4 people), genuine personal care, long dives (1 hr+; dive tables & air supply permitting) & consistent safety standards means that our divers leave us happy & tell their friends.

Large groups of divers & quick dives may mean more profits for us (in the short term) but are no fun for either customers or staff.

The Dive School in the centre of Chaloklum Village is our headquarters & teaching facility. We offer retail sales of most major brands of dive gear, there is a fully equipped diving workshop where we personally maintain all our SCUBA gear (strictly from new!) & we have (Bauer compressor) tank filling facilities.

We now also have 2 dive bases at Wang Sai Resort on Mae Haad beach, and at Long Bay Resort on Haad Yao beach on the West coast of the island.

How to get here is not so diificult. From Bangkok you can take a plane, a train, or a coach to Suratthani town on the mainland, or Koh Samui next door to us. From there you can take one of a variety of ferry services across to Koh Phangan. If you want more detailed travel information, please contact us.

If you have booked accommodation already, your resort will usually meet you from the ferry. If not, just ask for a taxi to wherever you want to go. If you want to come straight to us, tell your driver "Chaloklum Village", specifying our school (ie. Chaloklum Diving) as there are other schools in the village!

If you are having any problems on arrival here, phone us on 077 374025 & we can usually help.

PADI Courses
We follow the PADI system of diver education (Dive Centre # R36328) as they are the largest SCUBA diving training agency in the world, and the certification is Internationally recognized.

The most important thing for us, however, is thorough training. This we do by taking only small groups (we won't usually refuse just one student), truly personal, understanding teaching and enough time to do it properly.

Courses are available in English and German (plus French & more in the high season), with educational materials available in most other languages.

PADI Discover SCUBA Diving
If you don't have the time for a full course or you want to check it out first, we can give you a real taste of diving in a safe, controlled style.

After a careful briefing on safety rules, techniques and equipment, you start in water "deep enough to stand up" and then progress to do a shallow water dive (or 2) with your instructor. We usually specify a maximum of 2 divers per PADI professional.

Please note that your first dive can then be credited towards an Open Water Diver course with us....

PADI Open Water Diver
The full beginners diving course, taking about 4 days and involving theory presentations (DVD & personal teaching) & assessments, shallow water training sessions (off the beach or in a pool) and then 4 actual dives (at least 2 on a day trip with our big boat).

On successful completion of the programme you should understand all the basics of safe SCUBA diving. You receive from us your diver's log book and PADI Open Water Diver certification; valid for life.

PADI Scuba Review
PADI recommend this "divers tune-up" after more than 6 months of no diving; it certainly is necessary after much longer periods or if you're feeling a little out of touch.

We will refresh your basic dive theory, check & refine your SCUBA skills, and then do some fun diving with you too.

PADI Advanced Open Water Diver
The next level is more of an experience course, introducing you to new and diverse areas of diving that were not covered at Open Water level.

You will complete an u/w navigation dive and a deep dive, plus 3 other specialized dive activities such as night diving, peak performance buoyancy, underwater naturalist (no, not naturist!), photography, fish identification, multilevel diving or search & recovery. You do 5 dives in total, usually over 2 to 3 days.

Please note that any of the advanced course dives can be credited toward it's particular speciality programme, if it takes your fancy.

PADI Emergency First Response
A one-day, classroom based course on basic first aid techniques, including cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.

It is a pre-requirement for the Rescue Diver course but equally relevant for non-divers also.

PADI Rescue Diver
A more serious (but definitely still fun) level of diving education, available for Advanced O/W Divers. Self-rescue techniques, surface and underwater problems, emergency management, actual rescue scenarios and more are covered in theory lessons and a minimum of 5 in-water training sessions over at least 3 days.

This certification will help you to care for a dive buddy with a variety of possible problems, in addition to becoming a more able, self-sufficient & confident diver yourself.

PADI Speciality Training
We've been diving here for 15+ years & have set up a full on-line reference guide to our local marine life, so join us for the Speciality U/W Naturalist course or the new U/W Digital Photography course; we are genuine experts.

Have you ever dived with the extra bottom time that Enriched Air (Nitrox) allows you, or do you want to start doing some deeper diving, but with correct training first? Then you're looking at our Enriched Air or Deep Diver speciality programmes.

We offer many more speciality courses, including Photography, Search & Recovery, Night Diver, U/W Navigation, Fish Idenification and Multilevel/Computer Diving; send us a line and tell us where your special interests lie.

PADI Divemaster
The first level in the PADI professional programme will teach you how to care for certified divers and assist in teaching situations. This should take a minimum of 4 weeks (including as many dives as it takes) as there's lots to do!

In-depth theory (which we still teach personally), lots of in-water work with our instructors & DM's, but also learning how to help in the running of a dive centre; from filling tanks and maintaining equipment, to caring for divers & students, handling potential customers and dealing with paperwork.

Group bookings/Diving packages
If you intend doing multiple dive courses or trips with us, or you are a group of divers planning to come out here, we are happy to offer special rates. Please contact us for a prompt reply.

Diving Trips
Koh Phangan is the perfect base for dive trips to all the top sites on this side of the Gulf of Thailand. The great Sail Rock is only an hour from us & lovely Marine Park is too far away for most of those Koh Tao boats...
And there's so much more to do here when you're not diving; from retreats & yoga courses, to countless on land activities, to full-on partying (for those who so desire!).

Sail Rock ("Hin Bai")
One of the most famous sites in the Gulf of Thailand & still great for better visibility, big & schooling fish, plus spectacular scenery. Max. depth 40+m.

Take an 1 hour trip from Chaloklum pier & you've an exciting pinnacle dive. The main structure actually sticks out of the water & the rest are submerged. Its exposed situation makes it a focal point for all the marine life around, stopping for a break or visiting a cleaning station. Sail Rock is a deeper dive site & there can be some currents, but by diving in small groups with personal care & attention it's generally safe for all.

Colourful cup corals, giant black coral, golden morays & raggy scorpionfish are just some of the highlights of the non-pelagic life on the pinnacle. Outside, look out for big schools of fish, particularly of jack, barracuda, rabbit & batfish, plus hunting king & queenfish & more. The awesome scenery as the visibility increases is something to be experienced, & there's even a small vertical chimney for those who so desire. Whalesharks we do also see there sometimes, but don't guarantee.!

Marine Park ("Koh Angthong")
Featuring a really wide range of underwater life, plus interesting scenery, on a good variety of quiet dive sites in the Marine National Park. Nice for snorkellers too. Maximum depth to 30m.

A 2+ hour trip takes you to the northern tip of this chain of islands, & there are a number of different spots to dive. This area remains our personal favourite, with the best range of fish & most other interesting stuff we've experienced in our years of diving in the Gulf of Thailand . The dive sites are much quieter than those around Koh Tao, being just a bit too far away for most operators! You've also more chance to find the rarer creatures such as turtles or sea snakes; there's usually something special to see on most dives.

The sites are not so deep as some of the dives that we offer, but are also really scenic, with giant hydroids, extensive black & whip corals, plus some nice hard coral formations in the shallows. They are not so steep, with some more gradually shelving bottoms, with lots of special features such as swim-throughs, outcroppings, minor drop-offs & some shallow caves/caverns.

3 Pinnacle Dive Special
Due to popular demand we now offer this great selection of pinnacle dives; usually Southwest, then Chumphon, & finishing with an afternoon dive at Sail Rock. They are the best sites in this area for spotting those wonderful whale sharks. Unfortunately their appearances are not guaranteed; never as often as we would like!!

First stop Southwest Pinnacles; a range of massive underwater rocks running from SSW to NNE. The largest pinnacle comes to within 7 metres of the surface, the rest lie deeper & run down to a max. depth of 25 to 30 m. Black & soft corals at depth, with magnificent anemone fields encrusting the pinnacles in more shallow water. Great scenery & views plus big schools of fusilier, snapper, trevally & batfish. Some of the biggest saddleback grouper in our area lurk around the bases of the pinnacles.

Then we head up North of Koh Tao to Chumphon Pinnacles. This is the largest of the 3 sites; the main structure comes to within ~14 m. of the surface, with small plateaus & walls down to 35+m. The visibility can be truly excellent here & the scenery is (once again) awesome. The site is best known for its big pelagics; it's the only site where we also regularly spot grey reef sharks. Always worth the trip!

To finish the day we cruise back to Sail Rock. We arrive after the other dive boats have left & it's a great dive, even if you've been there before. The late afternoon lighting, lack of other divers & wealth of fish life make it an unforgettable end to the day.

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