Assava Diving Koh Tao | PADI Scuba Diving Centre & Hotel Beach Resort, Thailand

Fantastic Dive center

I recently completed my open water certification at Assava Dive Resort, and I couldn't be happier with the experience. From start to finish, everything was seamless and enjoyable. Skip, my instructor, was absolutely fantastic. His expertise, patience, and enthusiasm made the learning process smooth and fun. He ensured that I felt confident and safe underwater, which was incredibly reassuring as a beginner. The resort itself is beautiful, with well-maintained facilities and a relaxed atmosphere. I highly recommend Assava Dive Resort to anyone looking to get certified or further their diving skills. A big thank you to Skip and the team for an unforgettable experience!

I would highly recommend this dive resort. The resort itself is in a nice quiet cove on the beach. It’s easy to access the rest of the island. The food was sooooo delicious and the staff was lovely. The diving was my favorite part! I was only going to do fun dives but after talking to the amazing staff I decided to get my advanced diving certification. Jaime was the best instructor! He is so knowledgeable and made the training so fun 🤩 I would highly recommend diving here!

We did our PADI Open Water with Assava over 4 days, and it was an absolutely fantastic and unforgettable experience. Our instructor, Viola, was kind, patient, professional, incredibly knowledgeable and taught us brilliantly from start to finish. There is no one else we would rather have done it with!

Assava Diving Resort is in a perfect location, right on the beach of Chalok and easy to find. The welcome from Natalie and the other instructing staff was warm and polite. It was a clean and relaxed space with an exciting energy as divers of all levels coming and going on various dives. The food was exceptional the all serving staff very attentive and polite.

Overall, Assava Resort was an excellent experience and I would highly recommend ! There really was no negative points! :)

Legendary dive centre.
I was recommended here by a friend, Libby, to start my diving (open water.

The staff were incredible and the whole community feel and other guests made the resort feel much like home.
The restaurant on site is lovely and generously priced.

I absolutely loved my open water, my instructor (Paul) was a brilliant mix of everything, ie professional and fun, making me feel very safe at all times.

I loved it so much i decided to extend my stay and do my advanced open water. The instructor again was perfect (Reuben) , clearly very experienced and a brilliant teacher all round 😄

Accommodation is ideal (stayed in Dorms), only slight mishap is the air con is quite old/filters not the best so it was quite a trigger for my asthma during the night so would probably book a newer room when i come again!

Would recommend Assava to anyone from novices to experienced divers 💪

Wonderful resort! They have dorm rooms, but it‘s not like a super-social hostel. It really is more of a resort.
The rooms were super clean you had a lot of space. Every dorm room had its own bathroom, which they cleaned every day.
The mattress is rather hard, but honestly, it has been like that in every hostel I‘ve been to in Thailand.
There is a beach access, and it was one of my favorite beaches. The restaurant there is super yummy, and Thai food costs between 100-150 Baht.
The location couldn’t have been better, bike rental shops, restaurants, a 7 eleven and a pharmacy are within 5-10 min walking distance.
The also rent stand-up paddle boards for 100 baht an hour/ 400 baht for the whole day.
I did my diving there, and it was the most amazing experience I could have wished for. I felt really safe with my diving instructor, and they truly do an amazing job. Shout out to Jordan for being the best diving instructor!
I also stayed at a different hostel while being in Koh Tao but the Assava dive resort was my favorite, and 10/10 would go there again!

I came to Thailand with the intention to do my first class of scuba diving. Arrived in Koh Tao without a clue where to stay and where to do the course.
I booked Assava Resort because it looked nice and was a cheap place to stay for me on a student budget.

When I arrived I was greeted by a smile and a helping hand of Jess who explained how the courses work and that you get free accommodation during the course, (Open Water and in a dorm).

So I looked at some reviews over schools and it seemed like one of the best and then I signed up.

Had a wonderful instructor, Megan, who guided our group of 3 through our pool sessions and 4 dives.
She answered and explained any questions and had a perfect balance of professionalism and humour.

All the other instructors and personell at Assava were great as well, helping with any issues or questions at any time.

All in all, a great place and I would totally recommend it if you want a relaxed place to stay and a great school to do your first scuba diving course with!

Had an amazing time doing my dive master at Assava. Natalie is a wonderful instructor and course director. I took the time to also do some specs with Russ and Viola which were great. All instructors were very friendly and professional. This place has both a good vibe and high standards, I warmly recommend. Big up to the boat crew Jo, Mao, Tun and all the others ❤

My partner and I both completed our open water scuba diving course with Assava dive resort! Our instructor Pepe was amazing! He was incredibly thorough and taught us everything he knew. The resort itself is really beautiful and clean. Would definitely recommend! We will be back to complete further courses in the future 😁

Most amazing experience, I had never dived before and they made me feel so safe and confident. I started the day in the pool where Megan showed me all the skills I needed to feel confident on the water. Going out on the boat I felt so well looked after and confident. I couldn’t recommend this company more, especially for new divers. Safety was 10/10, all instructors were amazing! I will be back for sure. Thank you all especially Megan who was so amazing and helped me the whole way. She never took her eye off me and ensured I was okay the whole time. We also had a great time with Skip and Benny!!

Great place to get your Open Water diving certification! Accommodation is calm and quiet, right by the water. Our instructor Russ made me feel at ease the whole time and I arrived as a total beginner yet left qualified and confident as a diver! 100% recommend 😎

I had an amazing experience at ASAVA. All I want to do now is spend my days diving. Russ is amazing and I felt so comfortable the whole certification. I’ve done dives with other companies before but never have I felt so good about scuba!! The instructors make the experience super personal and super fun! So patient and understanding. I felt as though my worries, questions and needs were important and valid. Crew is amazing. Location is unreal. Literally living the dream. Thank you so much ASAVA. Thank you so much Russ. Thank you so much Tun. 🫶🏻🫶🏻

Just completed the Open Water course with Viola. An amazing experience with a very professional dive centre. Viola was a superb instructor who was very patient, extremely competent, made us all feel very safe but also kept it fun. I would recommend Assava to new divers and those that want to gain more experience.

Just completed my open water certification at Assava Diving on Koh Tao. For someone with a healthy fear and respect for the ocean, I felt very comfortable throughout the course. Will was incredibly knowledgeable and if I had a question he made sure I understood the answer before we moved on. My understanding of the mechanics of diving are all the better for his thorough instruction.

Highly recommend!

I went to Assava to get my open water divers license. My teachers name is Vianney who I really can recommend. I felt all the time in the course comfortable. Location Assava is pretty and direct next to the ocean.

We had an incredible time at Assava during our 4 day stay. Thank you Joe for your enormous enthusiasm throughout the three day PADI open water course. We felt like we were in good hands from the start and thoroughly enjoyed every dive. It's amazing how you can build up so much confidence as a new diver in three days. We will definitely do many more dives during the remainder of our trip. I think we caught the diving fever!

Returning to the resort itself after each diving session was really nice as well. We were able to complete the theory and pool session on the first day, which gave us more than enough time each afternoon to relax on the beach and talk about the dive. The food at the restaurant itself is very tasty, and there are also a lot of good places to eat, shops and an ATM within a few minutes' walk.

Would definitely recommend to stay here during a visit to Koh Tao, especially if you plan on following a PADI course during your stay!!

Assava Diving Resort surpassed all expectations! I successfully completed my Open Water course, gaining confidence in equipment and water skills. Instructor Skip's exceptional patience and expertise made the experience truly remarkable. The host and accommodation were both fantastic. I highly recommend Assava for those seeking PADI certification—an outstanding diving destination!

10/10 recommend Assava Diving. They have something for everyone one, from completing a course, extending your knowledge or just wanting to have a fun dive!! They do multiple dives throughout the day so you have lots of choices and this has to be one of the cheapest places to dive!! Meaning you can do more.
Huge shout out to Simon who was my advance open water instructor, very patient and knowledgeable.

Assava is a small boutique dive operation inside the resort with same name, which is situated on the beautiful calm and secluded Chalok Baan Kao Bay.
All levels of courses are being run every day as well as fun diving trips to about 25 different sites to choose from.
Great people, flexible scheduling and an overall chill and pleasant stay. Highly recommend!!

Really lovely instructors that explain everything super well and welcome any question yoy have (Jess and Jamie are the best!!), small groups, decent equipment. And the location is lovely. The pool can get a bit crowded, but overall a great experience!

I completed the open water course with Assava and highly recommend doing it with them! Everyone is so nice and very helpful! I have never dived before and was really nervous but, Will, my instructor made me feel so safe and confident!!!! Thanks Will and Assava crew for the amazing experience:) see you soon!