DPM Diving Koh Tao: Courses, Stay and Who It Suits

Featured image: ottomata, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr.

What DPM Diving Is on Koh Tao

DPM Diving is a dive school on Koh Tao that teaches the Open Water course and follow-on adventure dives. A hotel and bar uses the DPM name too. A third-party listing describes it as a 3-star property with 38 rooms and notes it was formerly called DPM Diving Hostel & Bar. The @dpmdiving YouTube channel describes itself as scuba videos made in Koh Tao and Koh Phi Phi. Treat these as three surfaces of one brand. Booking a room does not mean you have booked a course.

DPM Open Water Course Koh Tao: Format and What to Confirm

Past guest accounts describe a 3-day Open Water course with 4 open water dives and 1 confined-water dive. Confined water reportedly happens in shallow sea rather than a pool. The same accounts mention a 30 m deep dive and a wreck dive in the adventure stage. Spanish is described as the main language, with good English from staff. Confirm each of these with DPM for your dates, because those accounts date from 2018 onward. Ask which agency issues your card. SSI runs a public dive center locator you can use to check a school's affiliation. Ask for the THB course price in writing, and ask what it includes, such as gear, certification card and photos. Third-party sites quote dollar prices that may be stale. Before you book, read the medical guidance from Divers Alert Network, since the course requires a health questionnaire.

Staying at DPM vs Elsewhere on Koh Tao

A hotel listing places the DPM property in the Ban Ko Tao area at Mae Haad. It lists 38 rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi. Check-in runs 13:00 to 20:00 and check-out 08:00 to 10:00. The listing puts it about 250 m from Crystal Dive, plus the Mae Haad Clinic and the turtle statue. It also gives Samui Airport as 74 km away, so the last leg is always by sea. Prices and hours checked November 2026 against those listings. A past guest called the stay pricier than average, so compare the room rate against the course price.

Getting to Koh Tao and Planning Your Dive Days

Reach Koh Tao by ferry from the mainland or from Koh Samui. Boats arrive at Mae Haad pier. Ferry operators, times and fares change by season, so check the operator's own site. Arrive the day before your 3-day course starts. Leave at least one spare day after your last dive. Do not book a ferry or flight on the final diving day, because DAN publishes guidance on flying after diving. Sea conditions change through the year. Check a meteorological source for your travel month. January conditions are a common question, and a forecast near your dates answers it better than any general claim.

DPM vs Other Koh Tao Dive Schools

Compare schools on the same five criteria before choosing. Our comparison of Koh Tao schools is the starting point. Read Ban's Diving Resort if you want a larger resort setup. Look at Sairee Cottage Diving if you prefer to base yourself in Sairee. Big Blue Diving and Black Turtle Diving give you two more schools to price against. Ask each one the same questions and write down the answers.

Who DPM Suits and Who Should Skip It

DPM suits first-time divers who want a short course, a social evening scene and Spanish or English instruction. Skip it if you want a quiet stay, need a language it does not teach, are on a tight budget, or want a beachfront room. Avoid these mistakes.

• Booking the hotel and assuming the course is included.
• Booking without confirming the language of instruction.
• Skipping the medical questionnaire until arrival.
• Treating old party or BBQ-night reviews as current.