I first started diving back in 2008 with Sairee Cottage and about a year ago while living at home in Ireland I decided it was time to turn Pro! Luckily for me I knew exactly where to go so I booked my ticket for Koh Tao and away I went. Once I arrived back on Koh Tao I was surprised and excited to see how far along the facilities had progressed at Sairee Cottage Diving since I had last been on the island.
I began my Dive Master Course and Dive Control Specialist training soon after and was lucky to work with both Chris Fitzgerald (D.C.S.I) and Neil Francis (I.T) who I had dived with in the past and was really impressed with their level of professionalism and the quality of the training which I received, both academically and practical in water training. I could not have been more satisfied with what level I was at and was completely confident about beginning my I.T.C
As for the ITC itself I feel it was a great challenge and achievement to become a qualified Open Water Instructor and throughout the whole course Neil was the utmost professional but also a good friend and confidant who always had time for me and made sure I was happy with how the course was progressing. So when it actually came to the big day: the start of my I.E, I was 100% ready and relaxed. During and after the 2 day evaluation I felt I was actually over prepared which is the highest credit I can give Neil because without him it may have been a different story.
Over all the last 8 months have been some of the best of my life and I have all the staff at Sairee Cottage Diving to thank, I have made friends for life here and I can’t speak highly enough of them and would recommend them to anybody who’s looking to take their diving career to the next level!
Diver Diver 🙂
Alan O’ Toole
Dive Pro No. 62409
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