Course overview

The PADI Underwater Navigator Specialty teaches you to find your way around a dive site using natural references and a compass, an essential skill on Koh Lanta's larger sites. At Koh Haa, where the lagoon, caverns and surrounding reef can disorient newcomers, precise navigation lets you explore confidently and return reliably to your exit point. You finish able to estimate distances, run patterns and lead your buddy team underwater.

What you’ll learn

• Navigate accurately using natural references such as reef contours and depth
• Set and follow headings with an underwater compass
• Estimate distance underwater by kick cycles and time
• Run reciprocal and square navigation patterns
• Sketch a basic underwater site map
• Relocate a submerged object and find your way back to the exit

Prerequisites

• Minimum age 10
• PADI (Junior) Open Water Diver or qualifying certification
• Comfortable with basic buoyancy control
• Diver medical questionnaire (physician sign-off if any condition applies)

What's included · What's not

Probability of sightings · month-by-month

What you're likely to see each month, based on historic operator logs.

Day-by-day itinerary

1. Day1
   Theory & navigation dives

   Cover natural and compass navigation, then complete three training dives at Koh Haa practising headings, patterns, distance estimation and site mapping.

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Frequently asked questions