Flip Flop Divers — Attraction in Ko Lanta Yai

Flip Flop Divers is the most popular Diving School in Koh Lanta. Ady who is the owner helped us immensely while we were planning our trip to Thailand. He went out of his way to help plan our stay, suggested transport, which mobile network will be useful and responded to all my queries promptly.

The Diving Institute is full of life and has an amazing vibe. We went and signed up a day prior and tried all the equipments to see the fit. We were asked not to pay upfront which was quite surprising in a good way.

We had our first dive in Koh Ha Lagoon and our instructor Jin (may be Jim) suggested we consider this as a DSD (discover scuba dive) as we were diving after 5 years and we are absolute beginners. He helped us refresh all the skills and then we went for the dive. Unfortunately we didn't have a great experience with Jin, he kept a very aggressive attitude underwater with very strong body language...he kept belittling us by mentioning that we don't know anything and especially gave my wife a very hard time. He kept pointing out how poor our skills are. He hardly explained anything about what we will be seeing, there was very minimum interactions and we were instead of having fun a bit shocked by this. Next dive was also the same story and we came back to Koh Lanta slightly disturbed. We made it very clear from the word go that we are absolute beginners with only 6 dives experience, hence instead of encouraging us or helping, his attitude was quite negative. Both my wife and I felt this is not the vibe we got from Flip Flop Divers and rest of the crew. He might have got up from the wrong side of the bed....but it really was a bad experience for us.

When we got to know that Jin has a day off next day we immediately signed up for 2 more dives just to make sure we go back in a positive note.

The next day we had lovely two dives with our instructor Yanis. Before the dive he gave us really good briefing about the dive site the marine life. During the dive he made us see a lot and we really had a good time...our technique is definitely not perfect and he helped us few times adjusting our technique and gave us great tips to improve our skills.

We had a lovely time. Saw amazing marine life sharks, sea snakes and so much more.

Post our 4 dives, I decided to discuss with Ady and provided our feedback about our poor day 1 experience. Ady patiently heard my feedback and expressed his concerns. Told me he will definitely be taking care of this so that no other beginners experience the same.

All I want to say about Flip Flop Divers, all the reviews are absolutely a testament of the good work and great vibe they have created, we had a little hiccup but we did have 2 wonderful dives.

If you are in Koh Lanta and looking to dive do not look further. This is the right place 100%. They have great equipment, great transport amazing diving boat and a great crew....our experience in Day 1 is an exception it is definitely not the norm ....Thanks Ady...

I would give this place 10 stars if I could! They are so much more than your average dive shop. I don't typically do many reviews, but I had to do one for FlipFlop after my husband and I had an outstanding trip to Koh Lanta and discovered this dive shop. We enjoyed them so much that we actually extended our stay on Koh Lanta and decided not to travel to other islands just because of them. We made a total of 9 dives with them during our stay.

We are still newer divers, and I personally am someone who tends to always be more cautious. I was super pleased with how this shop prioritizes safety and was very impressed with the personalized care they give to their customers. Everything in the shop is very clean, organized and shows their attention to detail. The dive groups are very small, typically only one or two people per DM from what we saw, which helps to ensure safety and a personalized dive every time. Ady and Dom gave very detailed dive briefings, complete with a map of the dive site and possible marine life we could see. We had breakfast and lunch as well as fresh fruit on the boat, which was great. Another plus to choosing this dive shop is that Nong's Bar and Kitchen shares the same space as the shop itself and has some of the best food and drinks we had during our stay on the island!

From the minute we walked up to the shop the first time, we were welcomed by Dom, who made us feel very comfortable and at home. We ended up deciding to do our Advanced Open Water certification with them and learned so much along the way. I felt like I learned so much more about diving outside of what is just "needed" to be done for the course. It is very aparant that all of the DMs at this shop are extremely knowledgable, experienced, and passionate about what they do. Additionally, personal limits and concerns regarding depth or level were all taken seriously, which I greatly appreciated as sometimes I have trouble equalizing.

From being custom fitted with our rental gear, spending time in-between dives laughing and learning with one another, to having Nong waiting with a smile to serve you a post dive drink back at the shop and being dropped off again at our hotel, Ady and Dom do far more than just going above and beyond for their customers. Nong was even able to help us coordinate other excursions and things we wanted to do on the island and was able to give us some great local tips.

Some dive shops you go to you just dive, give them your money and go on your way, but not with FlipFlop Divers. With FlipFlop, it is so much more. We came to this island as strangers and left feeling like we were leaving family behind. So much so that we are already planning our trip next year and planning to pass a few days in Thailand just to...

The BEST dive centre!!! And Everyone here,EVERYONE!, are super welcoming, helpful and they look after you, thank you all! Special thanks to our incredible instructor Riccardo for the past 5 days of diving for our Open water and Advanced Open Water courses. We couldn’t imagine a better first diving experience.

The Dive shop: We planned very early for this trip to learn the two certifications and Ady, the owner for the dive shop, has been very patient in answering any questions we have, from selecting gears to sorting out our online theory courses. Flip Flop Divers is accommodating, we only had 6 days on the island (5 days of diving + 1 no fly day); Ady and Dom organise everything to suit our schedule to make it work!!! Really appreciate your help.

Additionally, Flip Flop Divers keeps to a 2:1 student-to-instructor ratio, which I think helped a lot in our learning! Big Plus!

The dives: Everyday, we got picked up and dropped off at our hotel. After gathering at the dive shop, all the divers then head to the Sala Dan pier to board the dive boat. Although the dive boat is shared across a number of dive shops, every instructor or boat crew on board are very friendly and professional. They also provide buffet breakfast, snacks & drinks between dives and lunch. Sometimes, there will be a photographer on board, who will take underwater photos for you, which you can purchase. The two dive sites we went to are Koh Bida and Koh Haa. Both are stunning with colourful coral reef and all kinds of fish. We also saw sharks, sea turtles, clown fish (Nemo) and massive groupers!

The instructor: We have Riccardo as our diving instructor for both our PADI Open Water and Advanced Open Water courses. At the start of each day, Riccardo very patiently explained the activities to us and gave us tips and tricks for each diving skill. In the water, Riccardo will show us how to perform the skill and you just need to repeat after him. He’s very encouraging, every mistake you made he would elaborate on and he’s willing to show you over and over again how to do it properly. Riccardo is also very attentive, both in the water and out of the water, he checks on you frequently and sorts out any problems you have throughout the course. Riccardo is an excellent instructor with tons of experience and a wealth of knowledge about fish, which make the learning process relax, fun and enjoyable. And I can say the same for other instructors in Flip Flop Divers.

If you’re looking for Dive shop in Koh Lanta, no need to look further. This is the best! We couldn’t recommend Flip Flop Divers and Riccardo enough!!

Wish you all the best for everyone in the dive shop and we hope to see you again...