Ssi | Padi Open Water Course In Phuket

I would highly recommend SSS Phuket to anyone who wants to try scuba diving but feels nervous about the experience. From the very start, the team was professional, punctual, and well organised. My pickup driver was actually waiting before my scheduled pickup time, which was impressive. The boat trips were comfortable, and the meals were perfectly adequate. A special mention has to go to my instructor, **Oliver Stone**, who made the entire three-day Open Water course such a memorable experience. Oliver was incredibly knowledgeable, patient, friendly, and reassuring. He was also genuinely funny and kept the whole experience light with his jokes, which made a huge difference when I was feeling nervous. He broke everything down into simple, manageable steps and never once made me feel uncomfortable when I struggled or needed things explained repeatedly. There was one moment underwater when water got into my mask and I panicked. I honestly thought about giving up. Oliver simply held my hand, calmly told me to breathe, and his reassuring presence helped me regain my composure. Thank you, Oliver, for your patience, encouragement, humour, and professionalism. You turned someone who was ready to quit into someone who has completely fallen in love with scuba diving. **I only wish I could do more dives with you, Oliver!** 🤿💙 Thank you, SSS Phuket, for an unforgettable experience!

I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better instructor than Oliver. From the very beginning, he was incredibly attentive, patient and professional. He explained all the theory clearly, watched every detail, helped me with absolutely everything and always made sure I felt comfortable and safe. I trusted him completely, both underwater and during the whole training process. This experience genuinely changed my life, and I am so happy I chose SSS Phuket — especially because I was lucky enough to have Oliver as my instructor. His knowledge, experience and attention to detail are incredible, and I honestly can’t imagine having done this course with anyone else. I came as a complete beginner and left Thailand with both my PADI Open Water and SSI Advanced Open Water certifications — and, most importantly, with a completely new passion for diving. I’m incredibly grateful to Oliver for everything he taught me and for opening up a whole new world for me. When I come back to Phuket, I will definitely dive with him again. I will never forget this experience. I couldn’t recommend Oliver more highly! 🤿🌊

I did my SSI open water course back in January. It was so much fun! Communication with Jean (owner) was smooth. Pick ups on time. Boat not full, we had space, time, and the crew on board was amazing. But the highlight of this journey was Ootdy, my instructor. What a beautiful human being he is. Calm, educated, funny, and patient. He deserves all the good things I have to say about him. I’m super grateful for him to be a part of my diver journey! If I get back to Phuket I will make sure to pay him a visit. Thanks ☺️

I never usually write reviews, but had to for this! If you are considering booking, do it! Such good value for money, everything was so well organised. Our instructor Olivier was the best, he was really friendly and knowledgeable. The dive day included 3 dives, breakfast, lunch and snacks were all provided on the boat free of charge as well which was fab. Definitely will be using SSS again and asking for Olivier!

I recently completed my Open Water Diving course with SSS Phuket, and I couldn’t be happier with the experience. From start to finish, the team was professional, friendly, and incredibly supportive. Everything was well-organized, making the entire course smooth and enjoyable. A special shoutout goes to my instructor, Olivier, who was absolutely fantastic—patient, knowledgeable, and always made me feel safe and confident underwater. His passion for diving really came through in every session, and he took the time to ensure I understood both the theory and practical skills thoroughly. Diving in Phuket’s beautiful waters was unforgettable, and thanks to SSS Phuket and my instructor, I now feel well-prepared and excited for future diving adventures. I highly recommend this course to anyone looking to start their diving journey with a professional and enthusiastic team. Kasia

I was so fortunate to do my Open Water Dive Certification with SSI. They are very professional! My trainer was OotDy - Diving Master. An amazing Master trainer and wonderful person. It was very enjoyable and exciting 3 days and I am so grateful and happy I did it. I never ever had any diving experience before and I should mention I am 53. Thank you 🙏 so much. I am sharing some photos.

I had Olivier & Pommie as my instructor! Finished the course in 3 days! Absolutely amazing people and amazing experience. The dive sites are surreal. I recommend everyone to do this course.

We did the 'standard' diving course for two days with a pool day and a second day with a boat trip to another small island south of Phuket. We had a really nice time! Olivier was our Dive Pro and teacher and tought us well. He got us to go beyond our comfort zone and get to know the equipment. The first day was all about being safe and calm underwater and prepare for the most situations that can occur. We took our masks off and on and Olivier showed us how to change the equipment and how to act in an "out of air scenario". After learning the theoretic part in the app we went on the boat trip. The dives over there were wonderful. So many corals and sea life to see. We even got to see a stingray and a snake. The food on the tour was really good, too! We can 100% recommend this diving School, also as the price is almost unbeaten in Thailand. Now we can call ourselves open water diver and enjoy diving all around the world!

We had a bit detail on our arrival for which the instructor was flexible. We did the standard plan. We dove all morning in the pool to get used to it and we even got delayed on time because the instructor wanted to make sure we were feeling okay with exercises. On the second day we did dive in the sea to apply the same exercises. Our instructor Olivier was calm and transmits confidence to us. We were able to do the dives and have some little chats! If you are not so confident for your course Olivier will be the right choice by helping you with patience!

Fantastic day with Oodi. From feeling a little nervous being the fist time we have dived he was an amazing instructor and I was amazed at what we achieved in such a short time. 2 dives in clear water with amazing wildlife and a safe environment. Cannot wait to dive again it was brilliant

Pomme was an excellent instructor. She made me feel safe and her knowledge was extensive. So friendly and helpful. Unforgettable two days.

Firstly, this is an excellent diving operation. Olivier the instructor is incredibly professional, knowledgeable and particular about ‘plan to dive and dive to plan’. This makes for a great course, instills confidence in the new divers and ensures by the time you get to day 3, you are having a great dive experience and things are becoming second nature. Secondly, Olivier is great fun - an ex wine maker and fabulous company. He ensures that you are safe, confident and that there are no stupid questions about diving. He made sure that all the basic steps were complete - that we could swim, float and could take masks on and off in the pool before going out into the ocean. The dives in the ocean were fabulous, Olivier made sure that we knew what we were doing, tested our competence, and then thoroughly enjoyed our dive experience. He took us on a wreck, pointed out interesting fish and is an enthusiast (no matter how many times he has dived those areas - it felt like a new experience for him too). There were only two of us on the course - the ability to get 1 to 1 support was always there. I am so pleased i chose to go with SSS Phuket Dive. Can’t wait to return.

Completed the SSI open water course with my partner with SSS Phuket. Olivier our dive instructor, was a great help in helping my partner feel safer and calmer when she was nervous/anxious. He was patient with us and it helped that he had a cheeky sense of humour which we appreciate. The diving itself was very fun, and we got to see all sorts of marine life, ship wrecks and landscapes. We had some hiccups on our vacation and had to postpone the diving, and are thankful to Jean and the team for accommodating to our needs.

Really happy with the experience overall. Our super nice teacher, Ned, learned us all the basics, plus a lot more. After only two days of diving, we learned all the safety associated with diving but also had a lot of fun. 5 stars🙏✅️

Important aspects about this dive center. Well, long texts are annoying and boring specially when people are serching for speciffic reviews. I took my open waters course on jully 2023 on SSS Phuket and i had some experiences that made me give 3 stars. Starting with the bad facts bracause that is what people are searching for, let me advise you that, you're not going to Ko Phi Phi on your open waters course because you're not allowed to, the reason is because koh phi phi is a national natural reserve so not certified divers cannot go there, , so even if you take the "premium version" the possibility of they taking you there on your open waters course that is written on their website is a big lie. This was my first travel to Thailand so i was not sure where i could trust, so i decided to go personally to the dive center, here i got another bad experience, not in the dive center but waiting for it to open. The schedule on the internet its another lie, it is rarely opened, so after realizing this the bad way, i market with them to meet at the dive center, and they forgot me so i got to waint some houts at the door. After finnaly paying and marking everything, i asked for the online material by different ways, call, email and Whatsapp and i was completly ignored and only received it at the day of the course wich was really unconfortable because i ended up studying on the boat you shouldn't because you're definitely going to get sea sick. On the boat, there are some small things that you are not going to like but skipping them, i want to tell you that the only part of the lunch that is good, is the bunch of fruits, but despite that, the lunch is horrible, the table was full of fries and chicken nuggets because no one really wanted to eat them. Well, if you don't really care about all the previous words, i am now going to talk about the good ones. Beggining with the first day, the pool day, we got to meet our instructor, Nedip Emin, a Dive Instructor with 25 years of experience and defenetly a different mood. This was usefull at the part of learning because everything was told us seriously and certainly. All the material was well preserved and organized. In the other days, we didn't have to take a bolt to the local because the dive center picks you at your hotel. While diving, the instructor had an excellent eye so we got to see morays, a stone fish and even a devil scorpion fish. The crew was also very friendly and will help you with anything, just be carefull because they took away my material by accident so i needed to use one of another person but mistakes happen. Because of the weather conditions we wainted a total of 8 days to finish the course. Well i think there is nothing more to say because the rest was a normal scuba diving experience, wich was fantastic but it is just my personal opinion.

Me and my wife just completed the open water course at SSS Phuket. Everything was organized in a perfect way, and went very smoothly. Big thanks to our instructor Olivier, who always made us feel safe and kept the experience very fun at the same time. We had an amazing time.

Me and my brother booked one day open water diving with this agent, Ned was our instructor. He is such a nice person, gave detailed instructions and helped us all the time with everything, we had a really nice open water diving experience with him, would highly recommend that.

I took a diving certificate, and had Ned as a teacher during the entire course. It was an incredibly pleasant experience, where you could clearly feel there was room to be nervous. Ned was great to learn from and you looked forward to every dive with him. All in all, I would recommend this course to anyone considering a diver certificate, and especially with Ned as a teacher

This was a very enjoyable experience for me. My instructor Pomme was the best. I would recommend her to anyone.

Ned our instructor was informative and really teaches you the right way from setting up your equipment to doing your skills in the water. He was patient with me and my boyfriend, and really got us to feel comfortable being out in the open water. It is a lot of information to digest in 2 days, so bear this in mind and be open to learn. Ask lots of questions to really gain all the information you need. But you will definitely are in safe hands and we are excited to explore more of the ocean. Also lovely food on the boat and plenty of it. Thank you again Ned.

My girls aged 11 and 13 took the open water SSI course with Ned. It was a wonderful experience. We had really a great day. Good logistics : taxi, boat, food. Jean-Brice for the organisation and Ned for the teaching have been just perfect. Thanks to you!

Hello ,i Made my Open water in phuket .It was really really nice and Best greetings To my Diving Instructor Ned!🙏

Had the smoothiest training time with Ned. He is highly skilled and has a great didactic that will make it an incredibly experience. The Isle of Racha Yai is a paradise and the clean waters Made it unforgettable. Caique S 🤿 🇧🇷 See you next dive

Just had the most fantastic experience with SSS. We completed the SSI open water dive course and it was a great experience from start to finish Jean was fantastic in organizing everything and was very helpful in all steps. Nedip Emin was an outstanding instructor - we felt in very good and competent hands all the way through the course and Ned made us feel comfortable and safe in our dive experience. We highly recommend SSS and for sure we will use them when in Phuket again

Booked in advance. I am a beginner swimmer and past the swim endurance with back stroke and back float test in pool. Location was in chalong Bay in a plaza with cafe, dance studio, and dive shop. Mr. Ned Edim , our Open Water Diving Certification instructor was very pleasant with understandable English for us west coast Americans. 😅🥰 Highly recommend for instructions that will make YOU feel confident about diving and knowledgeable about the ocean life. You may get sting or scratched if you are not aware of your space under water. Ned was very patient and positive. He will give you feedbacks to be better.. Food ,drinks and pick - up from select hotel district available on day 2 and day 3 only. Please tip the boat crews for their hardwork.. SPECIALLY your instructor

Ned, our Professional Diver and Instructor, was an experienced, thorough and strict yet very clear and communicative teacher. We learned through practice, were expected to listen then repeat, and follow a process meant for us to stay safe yet efficient, every time. Not only was Ned a top notch diver, but a very personable and pleasant person to chat with about everything under the sun. SSI Padi Open Water Course was far more than we expected and hoped for. Although the weather was not calm and we arrived during a New Moon, we loved every minute of every dive. The food was delicious. The crew was all very polite and helpful. I could not recommend this experience enough. Thank you so much for an amazing time in Phuket!!

Had a few spare days in Phuket and decided to do an open water course. Absolutely do not regret it. Had David as my instructor. He was very relaxed, which took off any anxiety about diving for the first time, yet thorough and consequential on the instructions, which made it sure that I had all the necessary skills at the end of the course. First day was spent in the pool getting familiar with the equipment and techniques required to dive. Second and third days were done of the boat and the marine life was absolutely stunning. There even is a motorcycle sunk which you can sit on! Second and third days you still work on your skills but there is more than enough time to enjoy the ocean and its life around you and I can tell you there is plenty of that which will leave you speachless (not like you can talk underwater anyway). We also got amazing photos from David as he brought his camera with him and took photos throughout the second and third day. In all, the course and organization was done to the highest standart. All went smoothly without a single issue and communication with the team was always prompt from the point of the inquiry to the completion of the course. Would highly recommend SSS Phuket to anyone.

Dive instructor: Ned I was very scared of ocean before I dived into. The 3 days course was quick and smooth. Ned was very calm and precise in his instructions which was helpful to execute under water. He was very responsive and responsible under the water. In times of need, he was totally up for help and looked after his divers carefully. He was very well experienced and taught us according to his 3 decades of experience. The boat crew were great as well. They provided delicious and healthy meals. It kept us strong and energetic till the end of the dive. By the end of the dive, my fear towards deep blue ocean is gone. All thanks to the crew and especially Ned.

Ned was a great instructor on my open water course. He was focused on practical skills and used his vast diving experience to teach us how things are properly and safely done.

My experience with SSS Phuket to get my SSI open water diving certification was incredible!! My instructor, Ned, was really supportive and extremely knowledgeable. He knew when to be tough when it came to the course material but also made me feel comfortable and safe throughout the dives. It was really fun getting to know him and hear about his adventures and experiences with diving as well. During our last dive, he took some awesome photos of us underwater & I was sooo happy to have those pictures as memories! I would 1000% recommend SSS Phuket to anyone!

We did the Open Water Course with Ned and it was a fantastic experience! It was a very good course. He helped us learning all the skills. If we do the Advanced and still be in Phuket, we definitely would book it again through them!

My journey in Phuket doing Open Water & Advanced course (4 days, 9 dives in a row) was nothing short of amazing :) and undeniably, this happened because of our superb and supportive instructor, Ned Emin I decided to take this course out of my curiosity of the underwater world, but I didn’t realize how challenging it was going to be physically and mentally until my first dive. Without Ned’s support, encouragement, and easy but comprehensive teaching methodology, I won’t be able to overcome my fear of drowning that slowly came into my mind when I was underwater. Diving is a once in a lifetime experience that is really worth trying — the underwater is surely a magical world but your experience won’t be as amazing unless you have wonderful buddies and instructor who you can trust, have fun with, and looking forward to exploring with. I owe this fun and eye-opening experience trip to Ned! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #Peanut

We took the SSI open water + advanced diving program. Ned Emin, our instructor, made our dive experience very fun and safe. Ned was very professional, fun, and caring for my group throughout the whole trip! Highly recommend this!

We did our PADI open water certificate with David and it was great! Very thoughtful and structured teaching but also with tons of fun!

Great 4 dives for PADI Open Water with David! Safe environement, many underwater lives to discover. Great pics taken by David for great memories! I recommend 100%

My boyfriend booked the open water with SSS Phuket Dive and Surf Center in Kata Beach following the good reviews and it won't let you down. Since the first moment doing the exercises in the swimming pool you can see that they don't only have good dive instructors but people who have dedicated their entire life to diving and its their true passion, this is the case of Ned. His philosophy for the Open water is not only taking care of new students so they can pass their exam but develop the skills so you can become a diver and be able to face any situation under the water. He really impressed by his knowledge, the patience, the educational skills and his sympathy! Diving and learning how to dive next to him is a truly experience, but also his passion for animal wildlife. Definitely recommended!

We spent 3 days with Ned as beginner. it was very interesting, complete, a very good experience over all. Ned is very professional, trustful and very friendly!

Walked in off the street to the shop and the whole experience was exceptional! Our instructor for the open water course was Ned and we could not have asked for more, Ned was professional, with vast experience and always engaging and entertaining. I will be directing all my friends and family who want to dive to this crew and specifically to Ned. We can not thank him enough and hope to return to dive with him again.

A lot of thanks to Lea and SSS Phuket for the amazing diving and surfing experience!!! Lea is a very nice and fun and great teacher for my SSI diving course and the diving trip to Bay one is super fun! We meet a lot of fish and carols while we practice our diving skills :) The surfing trial session is a lot of fun, too! We can stand on our board very soon and I can even make turns and pop-up in the end! We also have photos for our best memory for diving and surfing in Kata!

My daughter did the course and did really enjoy it. Her teacher Lea was really nice to her and made her feel at ease not only underwater but also in between the dives. Thank you to all the team too as they all were really nice and helpful.

We had a great day. There were a lot of divers onboard. The diving site we went to was beautiful and we had a lot of time to explore them as the boat got there quickly. The crew was very friendly and helpful before after each dive. Our instructor Ned was an excellent diver and was able to teach us all the necessary skills to become certified open water divers with ease.

Becoming Scuba certified is on my bucket list and has been something I have looked forward to for a long time. My friend and I just completed the Open Water diving course. We chose the “Premium” option and it was an excellent value. We completed multiple dives and by the end I felt very comfortable setting up and checking my equipment and, subsequently, diving. Our instructor, Ned, was very knowledgeable and patient in helping us to learn and develop our techniques. I appreciated that he was very conscientious when teaching us about all the safety and emergency procedures. I also have to give a shout out to the boat crew, they were super friendly and attentive and the food was great!

The course was absolutely professional and we were lucky to have Pablo as instructor. He was not only an excellent teacher but also he helped me with my marriage proposal. Unforgettable experience and definitely recommend it.

It was a fun and amazing 3 days course with SSS Phuket. Highly recommended Pablo. B as he makes the trip assured and enjoyable, was afraid at first as I have trouble equalising my ears but he stayed closed and reassured me that it’s okay with equalising my ears slowly. It’s so amazing that we managed to get through all these with lots of fun and enjoyment thru whole dive trip. The diving experience was great, but the company and my friendly instructor makes everything even better. Thank you SSS Phuket and Pablo especially for these great 3 days experiences! :)

三日既course學識咗勁多嘢，最重要就係唔好閉氣同用鼻呼吸。終於可以克服恐懼潛水喇。個instructor叫Pablo，好有耐心同經驗，人又cool，成個體驗完全超乎想像！想學scuba diving既話，強烈推薦呢間，同埋記得搵Pablo！

handsome instructor，wonderful courses，awesome experience with instructor Pablo，learn a lot and have fun！

We have booked the open water dive course at SSS Dive Center, Phuket. As instructor and guide Ned Emin was assigned. After a couple of minutes it turned out, that Ned has a good and funny way to transport his mission. He did that in a thoughtful way and always has been safety-minded. A solid knowledge and good understanding of the risks and safety stuff was important to him. The first day in the pool was educational and also funny. We felt prepared for real-wold sessions and the other days in the sea turned out to be extraordinary. We felt always in proper hands and the time passed to fast, unfortunately. Therefore, we decided to add the Advanced OWD. We are lucky we did that. We have been in the ‘real’ open water in the middle of the sea and did a deep dive to 30m. We also visited a wreck which was roughly 15 meters high and I do not know how many meters long. It is at 30m below the surface. They were outstanding new impressions and I can recommend to add this to your planning as this dive felt like real diving. We thank Ned for his support and guidance. We are going to come back when we drop by next time, thats for sure. It is hard to find a good team who transports their mission well but SSS Dive Center in Phuket is doing a splendid job. Therefore I choose 5 stars, which I do not do often 😉 👌🏾👋👋

I can totally recommend to dive with this awesome Team from SSS Phuket! Booking, Email Contact, Instructions....everything went smoothly. The experience I had with the Open Water and the Advanced Open Water Diving was awesome. Our Instructor Ned played a major part in this. ....Wreck Diving, Deep Dives, even Motorcyrcles and turtles under water....best thing was: I felt always safe with Ned as our Guide. He explained everything in a truly professional way and we also had a lot of fun with him. Thanks for this great days together with you all. Hope to see you soon.

The best experience I have had in a long time. Thanks to Pablo. The best instructor ever. He was really safe and made me feel very relaxed. He explained every step carefully and showed us exactly what and how to do, until we totally understood. He vaiteted for us and gave us as much time as we needed in every momentum. I totally recommend this to everyone who wants to dive!