Welcome ! TO DISCOVERY DIVE CENTRE

Recognised Centre of Excellence: Dec 2005, July 2006

Located within the exotic Amari Palm Reef Hotel :

• Magnificent onsite training pools and air conditioned teaching facilities.
• Private onsite dive-boat.
• Retail Dive-shop.
• Full PADI insurance for our customers
• All dive equipment renewed annually
• Small dive ratios (max 4:1)
• Equipment hire for snorkeling
• We have a complete "in-house " dive operation at the hotel

Specialty dive courses & equipment rental, including

• Underwater photography and video
• Underwater Scooters!

Other Benefits

• Diver certification courses at all levels.
• Tuition available in English, German, French & Dutch

We take pride in our small business philosophy.
The emphasis is on service to you

Our daily role at Discovery is to provide you with PROFESSIONALISM, SAFE & FUN underwater adventures, to ensure rewarding and memorable diving experiences during your stay.

The Dive Centre is located in North Chaweng overlooking the exclusive Amari Palm Reef Resort.

We are able to offer a new concept in diving for the Gulf of Thailand.

Discovery Dive Centre is owned and managed by Richie Lopez previously of Chang Diving School along with George Clancy.

All courses and trips are conducted by our small team of highly experienced, professional and friendly staff. We provide fast speedboat excursions to all the prime dive sites that the Samui Archipelago has to offer.

FIRST TIME DIVERS

Learn to scuba dive or snorkel or get PADI certified with Discovery Divers

Koh Samui is a wonderful place to learn to snorkel or scuba dive as it has safe warm waters offering year round access to some of the best snorkeling and scuba diving in Thailand. Our snorkel trips and PADI scuba diving certification courses are open to anybody aged 8 and above in average fitness and health.

We train you with care and pride
so that you dive safely and with confidence.

At Discovery we pride ourselves in producing certified divers who can look after themselves and their dive buddies safely and with the confidence that is achieved only by thorough training. We offer a complete range of PADI courses for beginners, from a single scuba dive experience up to the internationally recognized certification of Open Water Diver.

PADI (the Professional Association of Diving Instructors), is the largest diver organization in the world and PADI diver certifications are recognized worldwide. PADI courses are set apart from their competitors by their superb diver education techniques and well designed course materials which make learning to dive easy, safe and fun.

We take no short cuts with our training, and you will be trained to the highest standards personally by one of the owners, all of whom are experienced PADI Instructors passionate about the sport of diving and about your safety and enjoyment. We progress at your own pace with flexible scheduling to make the best use of your precious vacation time. Class sizes are small, often with just one or two people (you and your buddy!) at no extra cost to you. Family groups are especially welcome at Discovery and private trips can easily be arranged.

All of the rental equipment required is included in the price of the course. There are no hidden costs at Discovery!!

Dive TODAY!

Many people mistakenly believe that learning to scuba dive means spending hours in a classroom whilst everybody else is enjoying their vacation and having fun. This is simply not true! At Discovery we fully support PADI's "Dive Today" philosophy which puts diving first.

After attending an equipment familiarization and safety briefing with your PADI Instructor, we take you diving. It's as simple as that! You can be in the water DIVING for real under the watchful supervision of a PADI Instructor, in less than a couple of hours from the start. This is made possible by the enormous flexibility built into PADI courses. After all, diving is supposed to be about having fun and exploring the fascinating colourful and peaceful beauty of the underwater world, and you can't do that in a classroom!

CERTIFIED DIVERS

This page provides the information that experienced divers usually ask. Below is information on our regular dive trips, our quality rental equipment, required documentation, along with recommended comfort items for your day’s trip.

We know that whilst you are on vacation your time is precious and you don't want to waste it washing your equipment and humping it around between your resort and our Dive Centre. As a full service Dive Centre, we take care of YOU and YOUR EQUIPMENT. We will dismantle your equipment, clean it and store it for you after each dive. You simply have to just step off the boat.

The emphasis is on smaller guided groups (maximum 4:1) tailored
to suit abilities and interests with highly experienced, professional staff to assist, enlighten and entertain!

Your comfort and safety are our priorities

At Discovery, we believe that your safety and enjoyment are our priorities. We want you to enjoy the kind of diving experience that we would want if we were on vacation. Every fun dive you do is led by one of our highly experienced instructors, ensuring that you have a relaxing and enjoyable dive every time. The wealth of experience will ensure that you fully experience the most exciting and exhilarating sites on offer in Koh Samui and its neighbouring islands.

Boat Dive Trips

Each daily dive trip involves a two tank fast speedboat excursion. An early morning start ensures that you can enjoy 2 superb dives and still be back on Samui at a reasonable time in the afternoon. We always like to provide you with a long dive and strive to keep the group numbers small so that you receive a more personal experience

A 2 dive day trip includes free transport in our air-conditioned minibus to and from the hotel, use of tanks, BCD, weights, mask, wetsuit, fins and snorkel. With Discovery there are no hidden costs – everything is included, including food and drink. All you have to do is bring yourself!!

Rental Dive Equipment
We pride ourselves on our state of the art rental dive equipment. All rental equipment is renewed annually and consists of the latest Scubapro regulators including a 2 gauge console. Our BCD's are all Seac-Sub BCD's. We have a comprehensive range of Men's, Women's and Children's 3mm shorty wetsuits as well as a wide variety of fins, masks and snorkels to fit virtually everybody.

In addition we also hire digital underwater cameras and underwater scooters

Required Documentation
It would be helpful if you could bring the following documentation with you on your first day of diving to enable us to complete the necessary documentation prior to your first dive with us and to avoid unnecessary delays.

• Diver certification card. (If you have lost it and are PADI certified, we can check your certification online).
• Log book, but only if you keep one up to date.

Comfort items
The sun in Samui can be very strong. Dehydration and sunburn are the most common injuries to divers. Although the majority of the boat is shaded, please remember to bring your Sun screen with you on the boat.

If you suffer from motion sickness, tablets are supplied before the journey free of charge.

Please remember even though you are on vacation, to consume alcohol in moderation if you are going diving. We reserve the right to refuse to dive anybody who in our opinion, is unfit to dive.

The more Popular Dive Sites
around Koh Samui

Ang Thong National Marine Park lays to the west up to the north west of Samui about 35 Km. The Dive sites in the Park are the most northern point. In season the sites Koh Wao and Hin Nippon offer excellent diving with an abundance of marine life and swim throughs.

This trip also offers some fantastic sight seeing to and from the islands of the Marine Park. These dive trips are available from Discovery as a half-day diving or full day exploration by speedboat.

Widely considered one of Thailand's premier dive site, Chumphon Pinnacle is also one of the islands most challenging, with occasionally strong currents. Ranging from depths of 12m to 36m, the site is a group of massive rocks arranged in a rough oval and running north to south. Visibility is superb in season, and the site plays host to a wide variety of pelagic as well as reef fish. Great barracuda, king mackerel, grouper, and tuna throng to Chumphon year round, and in season whale shark sightings are common. As the site is a fair distance offshore, visitors from the open ocean are unpredictable and sailfish, oceanic white tip sharks and bull sharks have been spotted.

Southwest Pinnacle, a series of rock formations ranging from 4m to 30m. The tops of the pinnacles are covered with a carpet of anemones in brilliant greens, pinks and blues, with their cavalcade of pink anemone fish. Leopard sharks and whale sharks are occasional visitors to the site, which is home as well to large schools of snapper, yellowtail barracuda, and fusiliers. Giant grouper can be seen here as well, along with scribbled filefish and masked porcupine fish. The observant diver may spot scorpion fish and stone fish camouflaged on the rocks.

A single rock that protrudes from the water between Koh Tao and Koh Phangan. The absence of other pinnacles nearby explains the extremely high concentration of marine life. The most noticeable feature of the dive is "the chimney", a vertical tunnel in the rock that leads you from 18m to 8m, but the entire site (from the surface to 45m) is full of points of interest. The rock is riddled with small holes which makes a perfect habitat for white-eyed and yellow margin moray eels, and the large anemones that cover it are filled with anemone fish and shrimp. Whale sharks can be seen in the winter months here as well, and keep an eye out for manta, reef sharks and other large pelagics. Octopus camouflage themselves so exactly to match the covering of the rock that you may miss them completely. Visibility is usually very good and occasionally over 40m.

Appropriately named for it's resemblance to a sharks dorsal fin, this is one of Koh Tao's treasures. Each side of the island is its own dive site, with one side packed with a huge variety of hard corals and sponges, making this a popular home for turtles. The other side boasts a breathtaking soft coral garden with frequent sightings of stingrays, moray eels and titan triggerfish. Currents at this site can be stronger than usual for this area which makes this the perfect opportunity for a drift dive.

Twins consists of 2 groups of rocks with depths ranging from 18 meters to 6 meters below the surface. Just off the deeper rock is an entertaining family of clown fish nestling on the sand, and in between these peaks one can often encounter a rather exciting experience with a triggerfish!

Start your dive by the pinnacle otherwise known as Red Rock due to the colourfull soft corals covering it. A short swim towards the island will bring you to the caves, look down at the sea bed as you go observing the Kuhls sting rays. Look closley in this area for nudi brancs. Follow the reef back towards Japanese Garden.

Known by divers for its impressive collection of swimthroughs as well as the ‘trigger pit’, the nesting home to some 50 or more yellow margin triggerfish. An entertaining dive with many overhangs leading to more swimthroughs with chance encounters along the way with eels, batfish, groupers, sea snakes, pufferfish, scorpion fish and pipefish. Plenty of small and big stuff to keep you occupied.

This shallow collection of large underwater boulders and rocks occupies a plateau just off Koh Tao's western side. It's a great place to spot blue spotted stingrays, giant trigger fish, white-eyed moray eels and puffer fish. White Rock also doubles as an exceptional night dive with a fantastic array of critters and invertebrates showing off their colors. The highlight of the dive, however, are the large yellowtail barracuda hunting small reef fish in your torchlight.

Here at Discovery Divers, Professionalism,
Safety and Fun are Number One!!

Air Quality

We fill our cylinders using a fully licensed source so you can dive with the confidence of knowing that the air your breathing is of the best quality, pumped by compressors that are well maintained and have the filters changed even before the recommended changing time.

SSS Recompression Chamber Network

Discovery Divers are committed members of the SSS Recompression Chamber Network. This network provides you with peace of mind if, in the unlikely event that you are diagnosed with DCS (Decompression Sickness), you will be treated not only quickly but by professional scuba diving medical staff.

Insurance
Discovery is fully insured with the PADI recognized dive store insurance company. Whether you book on a course or just a single dive, automatically become insured through us.

General Travelers Safety
All travelers to foreign countries are advised to have adequate personal insurance, ideally covering legal, medical and theft.

Thailand is no different, consult your travel agent or insurance broker to find a policy that is suitable for you. Remember to stipulate scuba diving as a possible activity.

Life in Samui is fun, and with a few simple precautions to safeguard your possessions and person you can easily avoid an incidence that would otherwise disrupt your holiday pleasure.

Koh Samui has Western standard medical services and a Recompression chamber this at our service 24 hours a day.

ABOUT... SAMUI

Koh Samui Diving is the rare gem of the Gulf of Thailand. Conserving the idyllic simplicity of a tropical hideaway, it is mostly characterized by its powdery white sand beaches, crystal-clear waters and welcoming locals where you will delight yourself in a late-day Robinson Crusoe experience in comfort.

In such an idyllic setting the temptation is simply to laze peacefully on the beach and soak up a tropical sun tan. But if you want more there are amenities for water sports, such as windsurfing, kayaking, fishing, snorkeling and Scuba Diving Koh Samui.The coastal waters are exciting to explore and are especially rich in shoals of brightly colored fish and exotic coral formations. You even have the opportunity to learn how to scuba dive in the comfort of the villa itself (see scuba diving section)

The largest and most popular beaches on Samui are Chaweng, Lamai, Bo phut and Maenam. For those looking for a quieter place to spend their holiday or business trip, there is another twenty or so other beaches to choose from.

Principal among Samui's natural sights are two picturesque waterfalls, Hin Lad and Na Muang. Island hopping is another attraction and boats can be easily hired for trips to Koh Phangan (the nearest and largest island next to Samui), and to the smaller islands of Koh Tao, where beautiful bays with colorful coral formations offer excellent conditions for snorkeling and scuba diving.

A more adventurous full day excursion can be made to Ang Thong National Marine Park, a group of 40 islands northwest of Samui. Here you will see spectacular limestone formations, caves, blue lagoons and amazingly beautiful beaches.

The local population consisting mainly of Buddhist Thai’s is very friendly. Until the recent arrival of tourism, coconut farming and fishing were the main sources of income. The latter are still practiced though to a lesser extent. The fish you will eat in the majority of restaurants originate from the surrounding Gulf of Thailand waters.

The Climate
The climate of Koh Samui is tropical and therefore warm throughout the whole year. At the same time it is dominated by the monsoon winds that bring about the seasonal changes from dry to wet. There are two very hot periods of weather on Samui, the first between March and June when the average temperatures range from 32 to 38 degrees Celsius and only the occasional tropical thunderstorm brings relief from the heat. This is the least crowded time of the year.

It is also very hot between July and September with the temperatures rising to highs of about 35 degrees Celsius. There are occasional showers but these hardly last more than a few hours. The months from November to February are generally cool enough to spend more time enjoying outdoor activities. Although this is, November in particular, officially the rainy season, you will probably nonetheless see a good deal of sun and clear skies, as tropical rain showers tend to last not for long.

WATERSPORTS

Snorkeling - Kayaking - Sailing - Boogie boards

At Discovery, we offer a full range of water sport activities from kayaking to high speed catamaran sailing. If you are not scuba-diving inclined, or wish to take a break from diving, we have a wide array of other exhilarating and fun ways to take advantage of Thailand's beautiful environment.

Located on the beach in front of the Amari Palm Reef Resort, we know what we are talking about when it comes to having fun in, on and under water.

We have a selection of single and double open kayaks which can be rented by the hour or by the day. For extra fun you can rent the kayaks with snorkeling equipment so you can snorkel on the reef straight from your kayak.

Choose from our selection of sailboards. For beginners we offer lessons to get you up and sailing quickly.

We have 2 catamarans, one with a maximum of 2 people, and one with a maximum of 4 people. The Kats can be rented independently by experienced sailors or with our staff sailing the boat for you.

We are able to offer boogie boards, great for the kids to play around on or when the wind changes and the waves pick up, great for surfing on Chaweng Beach.

Discovery Dive Centre - Amari Palm Reef Resort

Chaweng Beach - North Chaweng - Koh Samui 84320 Thailand.
Dive Centre: +66 77 413 196 (10:00 - 18:00 daily)
Dive Centre Fax: +66 774 131 96
Mobile (Richie): +66 812 711 382 (09:00 - 20:00 daily)

Opening hours (Dive Centre) From 10:00 - 18:00 daily. We open 365 days/year.