Divemaster internships!

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topher08

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Messages
2
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Location
Uk
# of dives
25 - 49
Im looking to do a divemaster internship somewhere in asia but am having trouble finding any good ones at the moment ive found some in mexico, does anybody have any good knowledge on where abouts i can find out more please.
 
There are many places in The Philippines offering good internships. Its not like Thailand where often costs are low and so is tuition - usually the training is of a reasonable to very high standard.

There are many places in The Philippines that specialise in internships - this means up to 10 DMTs at once. This can be very social and good fun. However it can also mean having to jostle for boat time.

Equally there are other places that are selective about DMT candidates, preferring to intern people who really plan to work in the industry.

The Philippines is the best kept secret in Asia - great country, great people, incredible diving. If you want more info you can PM me.
 
Hey there

It may help if you define "good" when people ask a question along the lines of what you are asking right now they are sometimes looking for courses where you get considerable discounts in return for working at the centre, if this is what you are looking for then that's a tall order.

If by good you mean solid training that genuinely prepares you to go out there in to the world and start your career then that is (potentially) a different thing.

I would agree with Mucksavage that the Philippines is an excellent choice and there are a whole bunch of dive centres there that have very highly trained personnel that offer their courses at reasonable prices. if you are thinking about going with PADI, I would suggest you take a look at their website and use the store locator to find the different dive centres and where they are located, you can then do your own research on them on scubaboard, trip advisor, scubadvisor and generally googling them. wherever you go make sure you look in to the seasons of the location, i.e. there is no point turning up somewhere as the season is ending but getting there a month before it starts depending on how much time you have is no bad thing as it will give you time to get through some of your class based training before the customers start turning up.

If you are based in the UK you may want to think about Europe, March/April would be a good time to look at the Med but I do not know of any centres there to recommend. There are a tonne of reputable centres out in Egypt, I know their business took a knock last year from the shark attacks and then the Mubarak episode but there are some really good outfits out there, try looking up the forum Yorkshire divers for recommendations.

How about the UK? I did my DM in the UK and am really happy I did so as the training was good. The disadvantage is that you will most likely do the course evenings and weekends but that does give you time to study in the week while still earning money in work, it takes longer but again if you are serious about getting in to the industry that is not really an issue, the course itself will probably cost more but not so much and as above you can still work a 9-5 while you do it so have money coming in. The conditions in the UK are tough but that makes you (in my opinion) considerably more prepared as a DM and a diver in general.

If you are set on Asia then I would start researching the Philippines.

Good luck
 
Muck-, Scooby- Thanks for your responses. I'm based in Japan and, like Topher, am interested in Dive Master/DiveCon training in Asia, for me next Feb/Mar. For me "good" is:
economical: lower better, including lodging during the training. (Guam meets my other criteria, but housing is expensive so prohibitive)
professional: I want the sense my skill/experience has improved and to feel capable to work as a DM if I choose, although at most this would be part-time in the future. I've experienced both poor instruction (my OW course) and very good instruction (my AOW course) and believe in the value of good instruction.
interesting/varied/challenging dive sites: deep, drift, wreck, night, cave etc. to pull me up the experience curve
dives spread out through the training rather than concentrated in just two or three 4-dive-per-day liveaboards.
want to do at least one liveaboard for the experience.
doesn't exploit DMTs by, in effect, charging them for doing the business' grunt work. Of course, enjoy a reasonable amount of hard work.


Any specific recommendations would be welcome.

Cheers,
 
Check out Scuba Junkies in Borneo Malaysia. They have an operation setup on Mabul island that I think is pretty nice. The staff is awesome and the diving sounds like what you're looking for...deep, drift, etc.

Probably one of the first places I would personally look into if I was looking for a place to intern/work.

Good luck!
 
Where are you based in Japan - there are some good trainers up in Tokyo area that can get you going or you could come down to Okinawa also. Feb/Mar is the slow tourist season here but that allows us lots of time to do our advanced and professional training.
 
Economy should be considered in respect of the local cost of living. This impacts your costs for living expenses and also the relative operating costs of the dive centre you choose.

Within a given area, prices will range within a band dictated by local economy. However, within that given area different dive centres will offer courses at varying rates. In that respect, the cheapest options tend to result from lower quality... 'bare minimum' courses and a 'sausage factory approach'. The overall skill quality of graduates tends to suffer as a result.

Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines offer a low cost of living. Your money will go a long way here. However, within that region, it's important to identify high quality operations, that will give you individual attention and teach beyond the absolute minimum standards.

From my experience, being integrated into a smaller, more personally focused, dive centre - with a direct and sustained individual relationship working alongside the instructional staff is the best option for real development and learning. Larger dive centres that cater to multiple DM candidates on pre-defined, pre-scheduled DM courses tend to have less flexibility and attention to detail when addressing candidate development.

Things I learnt from working in the scuba industry:

I wouldn't consider doing a DM course in a centre that couldn't offer a 1-1 ration between actively involved instructors and DM candidates.

I wouldn't consider doing a DM course in a centre that offered 'zero to hero' development schemes.

I wouldn't consider doing a DM course in a centre that had pre-scheduled, fixed-time training programs.

I wouldn't consider doing a DM course in a centre that offered qualification in weeks, not months.

I wouldn't consider doing a DM course that was pre-set to supply the bare minimum (training) dives to fulfil the course requirements.
 
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