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Technical diving in Thailand: 60 instructors on TecDiveTools, with the agencies and courses each teaches, and a summary of what students say.
TecDiveTools lists 60 instructors teaching technical diving in Thailand.
Listings are ordered by how much evidence exists about their technical diving, not by a star rating, with any paid Featured listing shown first and marked as such (how rankings work). 18 of these 60 carry reviews we have read and classified as being about technical or overhead training. The count excludes recreational certifications by name, so a busy resort does not outrank a one-instructor cave operation on the volume of its reef trips. Separately, 17 have a written synthesis of what reviewers say about them. How we read and count reviews.
Looking for the dive centres instead? Dive centres in Thailand.
TecDiveTools lists 60 technical diving instructors in Thailand: Bangkok (20), Phuket (14), Koh Tao (13), Koh Phangan (5), Krabi (3) and Pattaya (3), and 1 more region. The directory is not a census — it lists the instructors we have been able to verify, and grows as more are added.
Thailand gives you the widest range of technical training in one country. Koh Tao, in the Gulf, is one of the world's busiest dive-training islands, with deep pinnacles nearby and offshore expeditions to 65–75 m wrecks. On the Andaman coast, Phuket is the base for deeper offshore sites and trips inland to cave sites. And the caves are genuinely demanding: the limestone caves of Khao Sok National Park, the deep sinkhole at Sra Keow near Krabi and Song Hong in Trang.
TDI (39), IANTD (17), SSI XR (11), PADI TecRec (6), RAID (4), ANDI (2) and GUE (1), counted by how many of the 60 instructors listed in Thailand teach each. 14 teach more than one agency. The agency sets the standards and issues the card; the instructor sets the price and schedule. Recreational training (ERDI) is taught too and is not counted here.
Published whole-course prices at dive centres in Thailand, by training tier — Intro to Tech / Essentials: THB 9,500–23,900 (10 centres); Extended Range: THB 25,000–44,900 (10 centres); Cavern: THB 20,000–35,000 (10 centres); Technical Sidemount: THB 15,000–35,000 (9 centres); Advanced Nitrox: THB 8,900–30,000 (9 centres). Each figure is a centre's own published price; they differ mainly in what they include (gas, equipment, dives), so compare inclusions before numbers. Every course page lists the individual prices.
Yes — 28 of the 60 instructors listed in Thailand teach cave or cavern courses. Most often: TDI Cavern (20), TDI Intro to Cave (16), TDI Full Cave (12) and IANTD Cavern Diver (7).
Yes — 24 of the 60 instructors listed in Thailand teach rebreather courses. Most often: TDI Air Diluent CCR (14), TDI Air Diluent CCR Decompression Procedures (12), TDI Helitrox CCR Decompression Procedures (9) and IANTD CCR Advanced EANx Diver (7). CCR training is unit-specific, so check which units a listing supports.
Thailand's two coasts have opposite seasons. The Andaman coast (Phuket, Krabi, the Similan Islands) is best from roughly November to April, and the Similan Islands national park closes for the monsoon from mid-May to mid-October. The Gulf (Koh Tao, Koh Phangan) dives all year, with its wettest weather around November and December. Heavy rain can reduce visibility in the caves.
Around 27–30°C in the sea all year; a 3 mm wetsuit is usual, but long decompression still cools you, so many technical divers add an undersuit, a thicker wetsuit or a drysuit shell for multi-hour dives.