Dive Instructor Training Abroad

[vaq]

Slow down the flame and shift the argument from the agencies responsibility to the consumers responsibility. Anyone choosing to engage in our 'sport' which has more risk than most, should do their homework. There is a market for both the most and least experienced of instructors.

 

[Ex-Aquanaut]

I feel sorry for the OP, who has been ignored amidst the flame throwing.

There are good and bad divers; good and bad instructors and good and bad internship programs. We work hard to be on the good side of that.

 

[Crowley]

Well Said and thank you Bob - we might have been in competition but I worked very hard indeed to make sure that our interns were well trained.

Not only was the training at my former "factory" first class, it was a great environment to train in. People learned a great deal from both experienced professionals and from each other. There are cowboys out there. Research carefully, ask lots of questions, make sure you know exactly what you are getting and what you are not.

Some people may class some of the intern programs as "factories" but... Ferrari have a factory, right?

To the OP - I wish you all the best wherever you end up - it worked for me!

Cheers,

C.

 

[ScubaRambo]

Hole-lee-crap

I didn't think this would spark this much debate. I only asked what you guys thought of specific schools, and if anyone had any experience with a school (not their instructors).
Thank you all for making this such a fun read. I honestly DO agree with doing my training here in California, but I'm not exactly a fan of my local LDS (they are far too into themselves and seem to be much more into money than into teaching correctly...on my OW I learned to set myself down on the bottom, it wasn't until I had spent some time on here and done dives on my own that I started REALLY learning).

 

[tomfcrist]

I honestly DO agree with doing my training here in California, but I'm not exactly a fan of my local LDS (they are far too into themselves and seem to be much more into money than into teaching correctly...on my OW I learned to set myself down on the bottom, it wasn't until I had spent some time on here and done dives on my own that I started REALLY learning).

I am sorry that your local shop seems to be junk.....Are there any other shops in the area? If you have to travel 30 minutes to a better shop it will be more than worth it if its a good shop.

 

[Crowley]

Have a holiday and do it overseas!! If you wish to PM me about IDCs in Thailand I will give you some pointers. I won't advertise too much on here due to a conflict of interests with my current dive centre but I will be honest and open about some of the different places with which I am familiar; I am of course faithful to my alma mater but I will also not bash the opposition. Having said that, there are places to avoid if you head in that direction.

I have experience of the large (more than 20 candidates in some cases) group IDCs and the smaller groups (2 people) and I have to say I think the larger classes are much better training environments. A large class size does not mean poor training, and 20 candidates on an IDC does not mean they are all being taught at the same time. Standards require a maximun of 8:1 for the IDC training excercises and we limited our groups based on the size of the IE.

Individual attention is great of course, but all of our candidates got that anyway if they required it, and it really does help to be able to spark ideas off other candiadates and also live and work in a busy diving environment for a period of time.

Being realistic, whilst many instructors go their own way and provide more personal training, the bulk of recreational diving instructors, like me, work in busy resort environments and therefore I think it makes sense to be able to go to a centre such as that and learn from the experience you gain simply fro existing in that way of life.

Take a look at what you expect in the time after your training, and what you most want to accomplish by completing it. What people think of the recreational dive industries and its various agencies is immaterial. They exist. They make up the lion's share of the market. What do you want to do as an instructor?

I hope that gives you ideas - as always, PM for more. I know for sure that Aquanauts would give you a similar, if not identical type of response. I work in the industry, in a busy resort envronment, and given I have to look after divers underwater, it is not in my interest - or any other dive professional's interest - to train poor divers and instructors, and I would therefore not recommend that sort of envrionment if I did not think it had validity.

I can't speak for CDCs in the US cos I really don't have much experience over there although one of my former employers told me that is IDC in Florida was "great fun but the water was very cold". The water is never cold in Thailand!

Cheers

C.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I can't speak for CDCs in the US cos I really don't have much experience over there although one of my former employers told me that is IDC in Florida was "great fun but the water was very cold". The water is never cold in Thailand!

My worthwhile Key Largo experience started in April and I was comfortable in 3 mm John and Jacket. By mid June the only reason for full 3 mm was protection from stingies. Many years later, I am wearing full Merino lined 5 mm below 80 degree water temp (full Aquaflex 5 mm above), so it just depends.

 

[BLUESEASONBALI]

Hi Scuba Rambo,

$10,000 is rather a large budget, im guessing you still need to work your way up through the recreational ladder first before becoming a professional diver.

With Blue Season Bali we offer a full range of internships giving you the flexibility to do what you want when you want.

Please take some time to look over one of our websites,

PADI ZERO TO HERO INSTRUCTOR INTERNSHIPS BALI

if you have any more specific questions you want to ask, then please dont hesitate to email me at info@baliocean.com

Thanks

Blue Season Bali

 

[divebunny13]

I did my training at a "Zero to Hero" center in Mexico called Neptunes Diving. The classroom education was second to none and the diving was fun. There isn't a lot of variety in the diving (and almost no deep diving) but I still came out as a good instructor.

If you have time, work up to divemaster and go to work somewhere as a DM to get some experience under your belt. Most instructors end up as divemasters who can teach and you'll be better off with guiding experience.

 

[Ex-Aquanaut]

Curious who actually did your IDC as Neptunes is not an IDC or CDC center.