Thailand is home to some of the most beautiful tropical diving destinations in the world. From colourful coral reefs and dramatic limestone islands to remote offshore dive sites, many of the places we enjoy as divers are located inside Thailand’s National Parks and other protected marine areas.
Visiting these places is a privilege, and protecting them requires cooperation from divers, snorkellers, sightseeing visitors, dive operators and everyone working in the tourism industry.
When we enter a National Park, we are not simply visiting another dive site, beach or island. We are entering a protected natural area. That means following the rules, respecting the environment, paying the required National Park fees and making sure those fees actually reach the National Park system.
New Diving and Snorkelling Rules in Thailand
Thailand introduced stricter nationwide measures for scuba diving and snorkelling around coral reefs in April 2025. The regulations are designed to reduce damage caused by marine tourism and establish clearer standards for operators, dive professionals and visitors.
The rules cover everything from group sizes and underwater photography to contact with coral and responsible behaviour around marine life.
For scuba divers, one of the most significant changes concerns underwater cameras.
Divers using underwater cameras must meet the qualification or experience requirements established by the regulations. This means divers should not automatically assume that they can take a camera underwater simply because they are certified divers.
The regulations also restrict underwater photography during diver training. Instructors and students should be concentrating on training, safety, buoyancy and the environment rather than taking photographs.
This is an important development.
A camera can significantly increase task loading underwater. A diver concentrating on a photograph can easily lose awareness of buoyancy, depth, other divers and, most importantly, the reef underneath them.
Smaller Groups and Better Supervision
The newer regulations also establish clear supervision ratios.
For certified recreational diving and diver training, the maximum is generally four divers or students per supervising dive professional, while introductory scuba experiences such as Discover Scuba Diving are limited to two participants per supervising professional.
These limits are important both for safety and environmental protection.
Smaller groups allow instructors and dive professionals to maintain better control, identify buoyancy problems earlier and react before a diver accidentally contacts the reef.
But legal maximums should always be considered exactly that — maximums.
Responsible operators should consider conditions, experience levels, currents, visibility and the individual divers when deciding appropriate group sizes.
Protecting Coral and Marine Life
The regulations also reinforce something every responsible diver should already understand:
Do not touch the reef.
Touching, handling, moving or damaging coral and marine animals is prohibited. Feeding marine life, littering and disturbing the reef are also prohibited.
Divers need to maintain proper buoyancy and fin control so they do not kick coral or create clouds of sediment over the reef.
At Fast Manta, we believe this starts with education.
We teach neutral buoyancy from the very beginning — including introductory diving experiences. Students should not need to kneel on the bottom to learn scuba skills. Learning to control yourself in the water from your first dive creates better divers and reduces unnecessary impact on the underwater environment.
The goal should not simply be teaching divers not to touch coral. The goal should be developing divers who have enough control that they don’t need to touch it in the first place.
Snorkelling Is Also Regulated
The environmental rules are not limited to scuba divers.
Snorkellers also have responsibilities when visiting coral reefs. The newer regulations include requirements concerning supervision, life jackets and maintaining adequate distance between snorkellers and shallow coral.
This matters because environmental impact is not determined by whether somebody is wearing a scuba tank.
A snorkeller standing on coral can cause damage just as easily as a scuba diver.
Everyone visiting a marine environment has a responsibility to protect it.
National Park Fees Apply to Everyone — Not Only Divers
Another important point that is sometimes misunderstood is that National Park entrance fees are not only for scuba divers.
Everyone entering or visiting a National Park must pay the applicable National Park entrance fee. That includes scuba divers, snorkellers, freedivers, sightseeing tourists and visitors travelling by boat to islands, beaches or other attractions located inside the National Park.
If your sightseeing tour enters a National Park or takes you to an island, beach or other location inside the National Park, the applicable entrance fee still needs to be paid.
Depending on the National Park and activity, scuba divers may also have to pay an additional diving fee on top of the normal National Park entrance fee.
The exact amounts and conditions can vary between National Parks, visitor categories and activities, so visitors should always check the current requirements for the park they are visiting.
But the basic principle is very simple:
If you visit a National Park, you must pay the applicable National Park fee — whether you are diving, snorkelling or simply sightseeing.
You Paid the National Park Fee — Where Is Your Ticket?
There is another part of this system that every traveller should understand.
If you pay a National Park fee, you should receive an official National Park ticket or other official proof of payment.
It does not matter whether you personally buy the ticket at the National Park entrance or whether your dive centre, tour company or boat operator collects the money from you.
If a company charges you for an official National Park entrance or activity fee, that money needs to be paid to the National Park.
Your official ticket is your evidence that the payment has been properly processed.
This is especially important when a tour is advertised as including National Park fees.
“National Park fee included” should not mean that you simply pay the operator and never see evidence of the National Park payment.
Ask for your official ticket or valid proof of payment.
Keep Your National Park Ticket
Do not automatically throw your National Park ticket away after your first day.
Depending on the National Park, the type of ticket, the activity and its stated validity, some tickets or fees may remain valid for more than one day.
That can mean that a valid ticket may also be used the following day rather than paying the same applicable fee again.
Always check the validity and conditions shown on your ticket or confirm them with National Park officials.
Different activities may also have different fees or validity conditions, so never simply assume that yesterday’s ticket covers today’s activity.
But equally, do not automatically pay the same fee again without checking whether the ticket you already have remains valid.
Keep your ticket. Check its validity. Carry it with you.
No Ticket? Ask Why.
This is where customers can also help improve transparency.
If you have paid money that has specifically been described as an official National Park fee but you do not receive an official ticket or valid proof of payment, ask why.
There may sometimes be an administrative explanation, so it is always reasonable to ask the operator first.
However, a missing ticket should be treated as a warning sign that the payment may not have been properly processed through the National Park system.
Visitors should never automatically assume that money has reached the National Park simply because a tour company, dive centre or boat operator called it a “National Park fee.”
If the fee was collected as an official National Park payment, there should be official evidence of that payment.
Without that evidence, you have no way of knowing whether the money went where it was supposed to go.
Why National Park Fees Matter
National Parks require resources to operate.
Marine National Parks need rangers, patrol boats, mooring systems, visitor facilities, administration, monitoring, waste management, environmental programs and enforcement.
Protected areas cannot be maintained for free.
National Park fees should therefore not be viewed simply as another annoying tourism charge.
We travel to these places because they are special.
If we want them to remain special, they need to be protected and properly managed.
This is also why collecting National Park fees from customers without properly processing those payments would be particularly harmful.
The customer believes they are contributing to the protected area. The National Park should receive the money collected in its name.
Responsible Tourism Requires Responsible Businesses
Responsible tourism is not only about asking customers to behave properly. Businesses have responsibilities too.
A responsible dive operator should follow National Park regulations, respect environmental laws, employ properly qualified and legal staff, maintain appropriate group sizes and ensure required government and National Park fees are handled correctly.
Responsible operators should not be put at a competitive disadvantage because another company avoids fees or regulations.
Sometimes a cheaper trip is cheaper for a reason.
When comparing diving or island tours, customers should therefore look beyond the headline price.
- What is actually included?
- How many customers are in each group?
- What environmental standards does the operator follow?
- How are divers trained?
- Are National Park fees included or additional?
- And if you pay those fees, will you receive your official National Park ticket?
These are reasonable questions for every responsible traveller to ask.
Responsible Diving Starts Before We Enter the Water
Protecting Thailand’s National Parks is not only the responsibility of National Park rangers. Dive operators have a responsibility. Dive professionals have a responsibility. And divers, snorkellers and sightseeing visitors have a responsibility.
For divers, responsible behaviour begins with good training.
Divers should understand why buoyancy matters before approaching a reef. They should be able to control their position without standing, kneeling or holding onto the bottom.
A camera should never become more important than buoyancy control. No photograph is worth breaking coral.
No close encounter is worth chasing, touching or stressing an animal. And no certification card gives us ownership of the underwater environment.
We are visitors.
Dive With a Purpose
At Fast Manta, this philosophy is part of what we call Dive With a Purpose.
Every dive gives us an opportunity to enjoy the ocean, but every dive also gives us an opportunity to do something positive for it.
That may mean collecting marine debris, recording useful observations, participating in citizen science, reporting environmental problems or simply demonstrating responsible diving behaviour to the people around us.
Sometimes the most important contribution is even simpler:
Leave the reef exactly as you found it.
Conservation should not be something a dive centre does once a year for a photograph or social media post.
It should be integrated into everyday operations, everyday training and every dive.
Rules Are Minimum Standards — We Can Do Better
National Park regulations and national diving regulations establish minimum requirements. Responsible operators can choose to go further.
A regulation may establish a maximum ratio between divers and supervisors. That does not mean an operator needs to fill every group to the maximum.
The law may tell us not to touch coral. Good professional training should give divers the buoyancy skills that make touching the coral unnecessary.
Camera restrictions can reduce environmental risks, but the bigger objective should be creating divers whose buoyancy and situational awareness are good enough that photography does not compromise their safety or the environment.
Following the law is the starting point.
Responsible diving should aim higher.
Your Choices Matter
As a traveller, you have more influence than you may realise.
Choose operators that respect National Park regulations and environmental rules. Listen carefully to environmental and safety briefings. Maintain good buoyancy. Do not touch or chase marine life. Do not feed fish. Keep your fins away from coral and sediment. Follow the current regulations regarding underwater cameras.
And remember that National Park fees apply to everyone visiting the National Park — divers, snorkellers and sightseeing visitors alike.
When you pay an official National Park fee, ask for your official ticket.
Keep it. Check how long it is valid. And if you have paid an official fee but receive no ticket or other valid proof of payment, ask why.
Thailand’s National Parks belong to something much bigger than any individual dive centre, tour operator, instructor or tourist.
They protect ecosystems that took thousands of years to develop and that future generations should also have the opportunity to experience.
We should be happy to contribute to their protection.
But we should also make sure that money collected in their name actually reaches them.
Pay the National Park fee. Get your official ticket. Keep your ticket while it is valid. Follow the rules. Respect the reef. Support responsible operators.
And most importantly:
Dive With a Purpose — and make every dive count.
