Safety Stop Restaurant and The Ocean Store dive shop in Koh Tao are both part of ‘Siam Diving Enterprises’.
On our last trip to the island we stopped off to meet Brian in the dive shop to ask him a few questions…
Hi Brian, so what’s your Koh Tao story?
It’s the typical one, I came for the day and have now have been here for fourteen years but have left now and again.
I did my divemaster whilst travelling and am now in the business.
Tell us a bit about Safety Stop…
It’s one of the oldest bars on Koh Tao, it started off under a coconut tree a very long time ago, maybe twenty years.
Our company bought Safety Stop and it’s kind of a dive bar, it’s changed a lot over the years but things always change when the area changes. It is more of a challenge as there are places everywhere, it’s very competitive now.
We have good fresh thai food, we can reduce the chilli so it’s not always spicy for people. Also fresh bread and good drinks.
And The Ocean Store…?
We have all diving equipment plus sidelines depending on what the owners are into. We are one of the biggest shops and we are the oldest. We have retail and wholesale.
How are you going to try to stay at the top?
This is my current challenge, using social media which is very important, things like photos get a huge response.
We are having to stay active!
Do you still dive?
A little, I still love it but I’m a bit ‘dived out’ on Koh Tao.
And what makes the island so special to you?
It’s a nice place to be and it has a good community, if something happens like there’s some shoplifting then everyone helps in this case.
People come here and stay to go diving, it’s the main attraction.
Leave us with your life philosophy Brian…
I’ve always been ying yang, if you do good then you get good.
The Ocean Store has everything you need for diving and we really enjoyed meeting Brian there. With the Safety Stop Restaurant opposite serving great food in a central location we suggest you pop in to see them both!
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