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Dive Review of Big Blue Dive Resort in
Thailand/Koh Tao

Big Blue Dive Resort, Jul, 2004,

by John Crossley, CA, USA (Sr. Contributor Sr. Contributor 28 reports with 11 Helpful votes). Report 1361.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 1 stars Food 2 stars
Service and Attitude 2 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 3 stars Shore Diving 1 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 2 stars
Comments Big Blue Dive Resort, Koh Tao, Thailand
July, 2004
John Crossley

The diving at Koh Tao isn’t bad in July, but it’s not nearly as good as the livaboard based diving based out of Phuket in January. Although the seas were flat, and the water was a toasty 84 to 86 degrees, visibility was typically only 40 to 50 feet, and sometimes less. A few dive sites had hundreds of anemones, and one site (White Rock) had a super friendly red wrasse named Lucy that would swim right into your hands to be stroked. Other sites typically had some nice reef fish and nudibranchs, but not much in the way of big fish or any special critters.

The big disappointment on this trip was the Big Blue Dive Resort. It was the most disorganized and poorly managed dive resort I have ever visited. Problems included botched transfers, loss of my reservation (although I had several email confirmations), mediocre food at best, poor lighting in the rooms, weak air conditioning, huge cracks in door and window frames that let mosquito’s in, no hot water, a toilet that could barely flush, a disorganized dive shop for gear storage, a shower drain that had a strong sewer smell, and not a single hook, towel rack, or shower curtain rod in my room to hang anything on.

On the positive side, the dive masters were pretty good, and I listened in on a few of their many open water certification classes, and believe they give good instruction. This helps explain who the main market seems to be: 20-something Europeans who want to learn diving on the cheap while they smoke and drink a lot after diving. Overall, this island is getting pretty junked up with bad roads and dilapidated buildings. It does have a couple very nice resorts, but Big Blue is not one of them.







Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Sipadan, Galapagos, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Truk, Palau, Yap, Florida, Cayman Islands & more
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas calm
Water Temp 84-86°F / 29-30°C Wetsuit Thickness 1
Water Visibility 20-60 Ft/ 6-18 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions Dive with dive master. Reasonable depth & time limits
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 2 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish 1 stars
Large Pelagics 1 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 2 stars Boat Facilities 2 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 2 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Not much provided. I had to rinse my camera in my room shower.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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