Koh Tao Nightlife & Social for Gap Year Scuba Diving in Thailand

Divemaster internship graduates Brad and Joe enjoy Koh Tao nightlife

Thailand Diving Internships: Social Scene & Nightlife on Koh Tao

Koh Tao nightlife for diving internships

Koh Tao has fantastic scuba diving and is a very scenic island - one of the most picturesque places you can spend time. But it's the island's well rounded atmosphere which makes Koh Tao such a special to take your scuba diving internship.

Many tropical destinations around the world have fantastic scuba diving, and for sure it's great to visit these dive resorts and check out the marine life. But often these places are very remote, isolated and quiet, exceptionally expensive or in some cases over developed. That's ok for a short visit to enjoy the scuba diving, but few places can compete with Koh Tao as a place to spend an extended period of time.

Koh Tao is small and we have a constant flow of young, vibrant tourists moving through. There are many ex-pats living on the island, most working as scuba diving instructors, Divemasters or in some other position in the diving industry, so there's a really nice community feel.

One thing we can promise is that once you arrive on Koh Tao, you'll quickly fit into the Simple Life posse and have a great time. The blend of dive staff, other interns and day-to-day customers makes a fascinating mix and you'll be sure to settle in quickly. During the daytime you'll be busy diving and progressing through your Koh Tao PADI scuba internship. In the evenings you'll be hanging out with the rest of the crowd, soaking up the tropical island atmosphere and making lots of friends.

Gap year diving social scene at simple life

There's nothing better than enjoying a few cold beers at sunset, and sampling some of the tasty Thai food on offer. Sairee Beach is lined with beach front bar-restaurants so there's plenty of choices to hang out and relax. And on the rare occasions where you fancy a break from Thai food, you're spoilt for choice for Western cuisine - Aussie grills, seafood BBQ's, Mexican, Japanese, Indian, Italian and more are available.

Most evenings we'll have a movie playing from the days diving (shot and produced by our underwater videography team). The movies are screened in one of the beach bars - this is always a lot of fun to watch and makes a nice meeting point for everyone from Simple Life Divers.

As evening turns into night, the beach starts to liven up. There are a number of busy beach bars which start pumping out the music, each with it's own style. Lotus Bar is especially busy playing cheesy classics and dance music, Fizz is a bit more laid back with funky classics, and towards the South End of the beach are the late night club-style settings (Maya Bar, AC Bar, Cave Bar and more) which go on till the early hours.

The beach bars get packed out every night, so there's always an opportunity to go out partying if you feel like it. Lots of drinks, music, fire dancers and people - it's a lot of fun. And with all the day-to-day customers at Simple Life (which you'll be assisting during the internship), no doubt you'll end up getting dragged out for drinks on a few occasions!

Being Sensible & Enjoying Your Dive Internship

So, there's a party every night on Koh Tao.

We all enjoy a few beers and to 'let our hair down' from time to time, but that doesn't mean going out to get battered every night!

Having a late night every now and then is no problem - all that we ask is that you plan it and don't schedule any diving activities for the following day. If you were foolish enough to try diving with a hangover, most likely you wouldn't enjoy it, and would also be exposing yourself to an increased risk of diving related illness.

If you're planning a big night out, do it when you're not diving the next day, and let the instructors know you won't be in. Simply not turning up for a scheduled activity because you went out on a drinking bender isn't going to impress anyone. Similarly, if you turn up in the morning to go diving with a hangover you'll be sent home.

However, you're welcome to take a day (or days) off whenever you want - all that we ask is that you take a bit of responsibility and plan accordingly.