Best Divemaster Internships?

[Ranch]

Any advice on dm internships that are out there? I would eventually like to work up to IDC and make a career out of Scuba. I currently have my open water and enriched air certifications. Any advice about anything scuba related would be of great help! Thank you!

 

[Tralfamadore]

There's no such thing as the best DM internship. First decide if you actually want to work as a DM and then do your internship in a location where you would be working. Alternatively, if you don't see yourself wanting to work as a DM and would like to take the course for the experience and diving do it somewhere with world class diving.

For now, just work on getting your dives up. You still have quite a lot to learn before taking the DM. Once you get your dives up I would recommend spending money on your own equipment before spending on a DM.

 

[Skulmoski]

Do you speak French? Multilingual DMs are more valuable than unilingual DMs. Any other languages?

I you speak a few languages, then check out those locations that attract divers who speak the languages you speak.

Good luck

GJS

 

[cipherbreak]

Actually addressing the question...

The best program I know of is Rainbow Reef IDC's in Key Largo (Scuba Diving Internship Programs, Key Largo, Florida Keys) because, unlike most, it is an actual internship. You work for them and in exchange they train you and give the opportunity to gain experience in the dive profession. You don't pay them for training. However, as you might expect, it is pretty competitive. Experience and knowledge can only help you. Rainbow Reef is a solid example of a dive operation.

There are other options out there and multilingualism opens doors. Having Spanish down, I'm now working on my French. And my diving. Then I'll retire somewhere nice and instruct because I want to, not because I need to.

 

[Subway Watersports]

Subway Watersports on the Caribbean island Roatan, Bay Islands of Honduras!!!

Our GoPro Green Divemaster Intersnhip is one of the first and only truly environmentally oriented Divemaster Internships that allows Divemaster candidates to get involved in some of the most exciting eco-projects in and around Roatan and the Bay Islands!

As one of the busiest PADI 5-Star Instructor Development Centers in the Caribbean, we offer all inclusive internships with the highest standards of teaching and training always followed. Our goal is to prepare you for real world work in the dive industry. We also offer monthly Instructor Development Courses for those wanting to continue their training.

Feel free to contact us at internship@subwaywatersports.com and we will provide you with all of the details and put you in contact with former interns so you can get the inside perspective from former candidates.

We look forward to hearing from you soon!

 

[Trailboss123]

Another option is with Dressel divers in the Mexican Caribbean and a few other locations: Free PADI DIVEMASTER INTERNSHIP with Dressel Divers
I encouraged a young Divemaster friend to look into Dressel to do their Instructor internship and he did and was accepted and they delivered on what they publish. He did his in Playa Del Carmen.

 

[stuartv]

For these "free" DM internships, what kind of work are you doing for 4 to 6 months that "pays" for your training?

Specifically, are you doing actual DM work? I.e. working as an assistant to an instructor who is teaching OW classes?

Leading certified divers on guided dives?

Conducting DSDs and/or refreshers?

Or are you...

Lugging tanks?

Swabbing the boat deck and cleaning the head?

Working the cash register?

Washing rental gear?

Is it 40 hours (or more?) of actual work each week, plus the time required for your training?

 

[Trailboss123]

For these "free" DM internships, what kind of work are you doing for 4 to 6 months that "pays" for your training?

Specifically, are you doing actual DM work? I.e. working as an assistant to an instructor who is teaching OW classes?

Leading certified divers on guided dives?

Conducting DSDs and/or refreshers?

Or are you...

Lugging tanks?

Swabbing the boat deck and cleaning the head?

Working the cash register?

Washing rental gear?

Is it 40 hours (or more?) of actual work each week, plus the time required for your training?

It is all of the above- All of the in-water tasks and responsibilities of a divemaster that we would expect to do, as well as sales, marketing, gear repair, filling tanks, dive shop general operations, customer service (all the things you would need to know and have experience in if you are going to work full time in a dive destination location).

 

[stuartv]

So, how can these operations be allowed to have people who are not Divemasters (because they are DMs-in-training) doing DM tasks? How can a DM-in-training (who is thus not a certfied Pro yet) be allowed to conduct a DSD, for example?

Do these operations also have OW classes where the DM-in-training is being used to support having a higher student-to-instructor ratio than would be allowed for just the instructor by him or herself?

From the RR and Dressel website info about their internships, I kind of got the impression that the DM interns are paying their way, in part, by doing the work that a DM would normally be getting paid for. As well as the other work that is just normal work that wouldn't require a Pro card. So, how is that allowed? Do PADI standards have some exception in them that allows a non-DM to perform the tasks of a DM if the person is in training to be a DM?

 

[Trailboss123]

So, how can these operations be allowed to have people who are not Divemasters (because they are DMs-in-training) doing DM tasks? How can a DM-in-training (who is thus not a certfied Pro yet) be allowed to conduct a DSD, for example?

Do these operations also have OW classes where the DM-in-training is being used to support having a higher student-to-instructor ratio than would be allowed for just the instructor by him or herself?

From the RR and Dressel website info about their internships, I kind of got the impression that the DM interns are paying their way, in part, by doing the work that a DM would normally be getting paid for. As well as the other work that is just normal work that wouldn't require a Pro card. So, how is that allowed? Do PADI standards have some exception in them that allows a non-DM to perform the tasks of a DM if the person is in training to be a DM?

They don't do any tasks that a certified DM would do "prior to" becoming a certified DM. Same holds true for their Instructor program. They don't become DM's at the "end of" the internship. They start their training upon arrival and become certified DM's in the midst of the internship and with plenty of time to spare, prior to the end of the 4-6 month internship in order to work as a certified DM and put things into practice and gain experience. As for all of the other tasks and experience they are getting-- such as sales and marketing, customer relations, etc... that is happening throughout the entire internship around all of what we consider the normal "DM certification process" -- on a scheduled basis. That is probably as much as I can tell you. This is not how I became a DM, but how it has been related to me by others who have gone through Dressel. My route was here in the USA, through my local dive shop in the Pacific NW and for the purposes of giving back and volunteering around my day job. I have no desire to make a career in the dive industry, but lots of young people do and this may or may not be a viable route for some.