Puffer Divers

Located in Surat Thani, Puffer Divers serves as a reliable base for diving the diverse marine environments of Koh Samui and the surrounding Gulf of Thailand. The centre has been operating for eight years, establishing itself as a highly standard SSI facility for both recreational divers and those pursuing professional certifications.

The area offers a varied underwater topography, ranging from sheltered, shallow bays perfect for training to dramatic submerged pinnacles and interesting wreck sites. This variety allows for a broad spectrum of diving, from calm reef explorations to more advanced encounters with currents and deeper structures.

The team at Puffer Divers consists of three highly trained instructors with extensive local knowledge of the Koh Samui dive sites. They maintain a professional diver-to-guide ratio of maximum four divers per instructor, ensuring close supervision and safety during every excursion.

Communication is streamlined for international divers, as the staff are proficient in English, Chinese, and German. This multilingual approach helps ensure that course material and dive briefings are clearly understood by a diverse range of students.

Puffer Divers offers a complete progression of SSI certifications. Beginners can start with the Open Water Diver course, moving through to the Advanced Open Water Diver and Rescue Diver levels. For those looking to enter the professional stream, the centre provides Divemaster training.

Speciality courses are a core part of the curriculum, including Nitrox, Deep Diver, Sidemount Diver, and Wreck Diver. The centre also caters to underwater photographers, offering dedicated courses and professional photography packages for those wanting to capture the local marine life.

The centre provides a full range of rental kit for divers who do not wish to travel with their own equipment. This includes regulators, BCDs, wetsuits, fins, and masks, allowing you to arrive ready to dive without heavy luggage.

For those interested in night diving or specialised photography, torches and other necessary accessories are available for hire. Nitrox is provided on-site for divers looking to extend their no-decompression limits during their outings.

The reefs are home to a vast array of colourful reef fish, including butterflyfish, angelfish, snapper, and parrotfish. You will often see large schools of fusiliers and batfish moving across the pinnacles, alongside groupers and various species of triggerfish.

Larger pelagics are a highlight of the region, with sightings of trevally and great barracuda common at the more prominent sites. Depending on the season, you may also encounter whale sharks or blacktip reef sharks patrolling the deeper waters.

In the shallower, sheltered bays like Mango Bay and Tanote Bay, the environment is ideal for spotting turtles, stingrays, and blue-spotted stingrays. These areas also host a healthy population of rabbitfish and various tropical reef fish.

For those with an eye for macro life, the seabed and artificial structures provide habitats for moray eels, nudibranchs, and pufferfish. The presence of diverse reef species makes every dive an opportunity for close-up observation.

Conditions in the Gulf of Thailand vary depending on the specific dive site and the lunar cycle. While many of the sheltered bays offer minimal to no current, the larger pinnacles can experience currents ranging from mild to strong.

Divers should be prepared for a range of environments, from the calm, shallow coral reefs of the northern coast to the more exposed, deeper structures found further out at sea.