Hi Mike
,
You’ve asked some really good questions! So, the following paragraphs will hopefully give you a satisfactory answer to each of the questions you’ve listed.
Addressing your first question on our intake of PADI Divemasters and Instructor Development Course (IDC) candidates: it varies with the trend of travelling and tourism. However in my personal experience, as an internship candidate in the past, and now as an employee at Downbelow Marine and Wildlife Adventures, my estimate would be around 120 - 150 per year.
The IDC is conducted 5 times a year and scheduled before the Instructor Examination (IE) and there is a limit to the number of candidates we accept to keep in accordance with the PADI standards. Our next IDC, which is starting in May, we already have a group of 7 candidates so far
and we are well within our allowed ratio too, so we still have some spaces left!
Our next PADI IDC & IE is 16 May - 4 June 2013 | Diving Sabah? Dive Downbelow!
To answer question 5; our top priority is the safety of our clients during any and all in-water scuba diving training, so our ratio is to ensure small group instruction to benefit the students’ knowledge retention and achieve their desired successes.
We have a high standard of quality dive instruction as the thoroughly experienced Go PRO team of PADI Instructor Trainers conducts the dive education for all professional internships under our resident PADI Platinum Course Director.
Downbelow's Go PRO Instructor Development Team | Diving Sabah? Dive Downbelow!
Our professional internships are inclusive of UNLIMITED scuba diving and we conduct 3 boat dives daily, of which you may join the Divemaster, although our 5 Star IDC Dive Centre on Gaya Island is fortunately located with a calm and shallow training lagoon right on the doorstep with a jetty. In response to your third question, as a professional intern you may conduct jetty and/or shore dives with another diver during your free time. All other dive sites are approx 3-10 minutes boat ride from our dive centre.
The closest hyperbaric chamber is at the Royal Malaysian Naval Base in Sepanggar, a sub-district of Kota Kinabalu City Centre, so it is very close by and our emergency procedures is either road or low level helicopter evacuation from Kota Kinabalu Marina, a 7-minute speedboat ride from our dive centre on Gaya Island.
Malaysia's Newest Hyperbaric Chamber in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah | Diving Sabah? Dive Downbelow!
Continuing your education as a professional diver is very much encouraged for all professional divers and our island team are frequently achieving qualifications in a variety of PADI Specialty Instructor ratings to improve their scuba diving career and employability.
As for completing a PADI Divemaster internship program of 1 month in November, there would be no problem at all! If you contact one of our KK Times Square Head Office staff, they will provide a thorough itinerary of your professional internship program to integrate whatever courses you would like to certify in. We can accommodate your preferences into a 1-month program, which could include the PADI Divemaster with PADI Specialty Instructor ratings in PADI Digital Underwater Photography and PADI Emergency Oxygen Provider to experience teaching these two courses, which are very popular within the scuba diving industry. Alternatively you could extend your internship program duration up to 2 months to complete PADI Divemaster, the Instructor Development Course and PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer to fully immerse yourself in the dive lifestyle of dive education!
PADI Divemaster Internship | Diving Sabah? Dive Downbelow!
Follow our current internship candidates to get a good idea of what you yourself will be doing everyday at Gaya Island, Borneo!
https://www.facebook.com/divedownbelow
I hope these answers give you a better idea of our dive operation, Mike!
