Alternative to divemaster internship

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My take was the OP is still abroad, hence the 2 month timeline.

If this is the case, I can understand his inquiry - I found myself on beautiful Thai beaches shortly after becoming certified, and wondered if a DM internship wouldn‘t be best for me, too. 3-4 dives a day for 2 months for about 25 000 baht? Tempting.

I never did it. Just dived my ass off, then when the time was right, took tech courses.
 
My take was the OP is still abroad, hence the 2 month timeline.

If this is the case, I can understand his inquiry - I found myself on beautiful Thai beaches shortly after becoming certified, and wondered if a DM internship wouldn‘t be best for me, too. 3-4 dives a day for 2 months for about 25 000 baht? Tempting.

I never did it. Just dived my ass off, then when the time was right, took tech courses.

Yes. I am not abroad, just came back and want to leave again. But that is exactly what I was thinking.
 
so, you are looking for a "free lunch" (lots of "free diving" and no "work")....... Either become a DM (work for your diving), or pony up what it costs to dive/learn....
 
so, you are looking for a "free lunch" (lots of "free diving" and no "work")....... Either become a DM (work for your diving), or pony up what it costs to dive/learn....

Did you not read what I wrote? I am willing to pay, I am just looking for the best option.
 
so, you are looking for a "free lunch" (lots of "free diving" and no "work")....... Either become a DM (work for your diving), or pony up what it costs to dive/learn....

I‘ve seen many a DM candidate schleppin‘ tanks on and off boats, rinsing and sorting gear, and performing ‘unpaid‘ guiding services on all the early a.m. or night boats that paid staff didn‘t want. ‘Free lunch‘ it wasn‘t, but a fair deal for both the shop looking for warm bodies, and the young crowd making their way across Asia on the cheap.
 
Would a self-directed internship interest you?

You could develop your own learning plan by prioritizing your learning/experience objectives. It would even be better if it was a win-win proposition for the dive centre if you help them achieve their objectives.

Good luck with your development goals.

GJS
 
The GUE Fundamentals class was created to be an introduction to cave diving. It is essentially the same as Intro to Technical Diving classes taught by other agencies. They are not the only ones who teach those skills.

To repeat what I said earlier, one approach is simply to look at the list of specialties offered by the agency of your choice in the area you want to dive and then select the ones that interest you. You can also start looking into technical diving if you want a path that will improve your skills without getting into a professional position like DM. You can get your fill of instruction tailored to exactly what you want to learn from any agency without going anywhere near a DM class.
 
SSI used to have a "Master Diver" certification - higher level non-professional certification. After completing certain recreational specialties you could get the card. My buddy is one. I believe it's the more useful specialties like Deep, Nitrox, Buoyancy, Night etc. Not Rescue since I know he doesn't have that.

I'd find a cheap place to go diving instead. On our side of the world it's Roatan/Utila but I don't believe there's an SSI shop on Utila currently. On Roatan, TGI Diving and Infinity Divers are options - both are affiliated with resorts in West Bay or Roatan Divers in the West End which is a standalone business.

On Roatan dives are 10/$300 and there's inexpensive living options also in the West End where much of the diver training occurs. A decent 1br. apt with kitchen on a weekly rate is $50-60/nt. so on a longer term you can probably do a lot better. Nice thing about that area is there's a dozen dive operators for fun dives, most of the restaurants and almost all the nightlife concentrated in a one mile area. West Bay is a more touristy, slightly more upscale area 2 miles away - they have the best beach. Food is also really cheap - there's some larger markets in French Harbour or small stores all over the island. Many locals seem to get around on scooters.

If you want to stay PADI, there's a lot of options on both islands. Utila is a little harder to get to but the whole place revolves around the one town there and it's only road. I'd personally be bored on Utila after about a week, Roatan could take longer.

Grand Cayman is extremely expensive to live on aside from having generally high dive costs. Without any sort of discount, dives there are 2/$100. The only advantage there is there's almost a dozen known shore dives - more if you find someone to show you the entries. Tank rentals are reasonbable - $8-10ish but if I were spending months there, I'd buy my own and pay for fills. Leave it for the next guy when you go. I knew one guy that DM'd there - to make ends meet he lived with 4 others in a 2BR apt - someone slept on the couch. He told me when he first arrived, he'd go to happy hours just for the food.
 
Well if your still in Thailand - then I would get in contact with Dive Tribe- Thailand - Gwyn is the owner and he does reduced rates if you go out with them to clean up the reefs or help build the artificial one there making, you can learn the science of coral and sea horses etc - Top bloke IMO - defiantly best bang for the buck should be around 50-55 bucks USD includes boat and tanks possibly rental too not sure ( i bring my own stuf )

Have fun
 
Suggest you find a shop and/or instructors with whom you are comfortable and explain your goals. It might be a matter of hiring an instructor as a mentor. Or it could be Scuba Reviews. A Scuba Review has you repeat most skills from Open Water. You might find that one or two sessions is sufficient, and could couple that with a dive package for practice. GUE would improve your skills, but might require a change of equipment to BP/W.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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