DM and IDC questions

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morgan84

Contributor
Messages
77
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0
Location
Tonsberg, Norway
# of dives
25 - 49
Hello members of SB,

I have some questions regarding my future as a Professional diver, and Im hoping that some of you can perhaps give some opinions to aid me in my choices that I have to make this year.

Im turning 25 this year and im a male from Norway who currently study Psychology in London. But I wish to take a year of studies to improve the quality of my life. I recently tried scuba diving in thailand and it was the single most powerful experience I have ever had! I originaly inteded to stay in ko tao for 6 nights, but ended up extending it to 14 nights, the very maximum i could before having to catch a plane back to london...

During these 14 days I completed OW, AOW, EFR and Rescue diving pluss squeezing in as many fundives as possible(8 i think).

So now you have some background to take into consideration when replying to my following questions.

1. Nearly every thought and dream I have had since i tried diving has been about diving... Is this normal or am I the only one?

2. Where in Thailand should I continue my diving education? What are the differences between Ko tao and Phuket?

3. What budget should I be looking at? is 500.000 baht enough for a full year, everything included (Place to stay, DM and IDC fees, social expences, travels, gear and food++)?

4. I trust it wont be a problem getting an educational visa. If i complete my education in 6 months, can I then work as a certified instructor for the remaining 6 months?

5. Will it be hard to find work after completing IDC? What criteria are instructors hired after?


I would very much apprichiate any answers to my questions!

-Morgan
 
Morgan-
Its good to see your enthusiasm for our great sport. I can't answer all of your questions. I would give you one piece of advice... dive more.

Dive as much as you can. Progessing through the ranks is fine, but in my opinion an instructor who has many dives is better than an instructor who knows the rules backward and forward and has little diving experience. You'll also have to meet minimum dive amounts to progress through the professional ranks. I wish you the best... just remember... a diver dives.
 
Morgan-
Its good to see your enthusiasm for our great sport. I can't answer all of your questions. I would give you one piece of advice... dive more.

Dive as much as you can. Progessing through the ranks is fine, but in my opinion an instructor who has many dives is better than an instructor who knows the rules backward and forward and has little diving experience. You'll also have to meet minimum dive amounts to progress through the professional ranks. I wish you the best... just remember... a diver dives.

thank you for your reply. I understand what you mean well, but I am unable to dive where I am now, and without the education I would have to do visa runs etc rather than getting and educational visa. I can still dive after having my IDC completed :p Im wishing to become more experienced and from my current understanding this is the best way i can get experience. Teaching others would just be a bonus to me, as I dont want this to be my main career.
 
There are certainly places in the UK or Norway where you could dive. Why not join the BSAC and dive close to where you are?

An inexperineced DM or instructor is a dis-service to everyone involved. To a large extent diving the the best way to learn to dive.
 
There are certainly places in the UK or Norway where you could dive. Why not join the BSAC and dive close to where you are?

An inexperineced DM or instructor is a dis-service to everyone involved. To a large extent diving the the best way to learn to dive.

Being a student in london puts severe limitations to my time available and my echonomy makes it impossible to dive in these areas for the moment. But I will take this statement and the one above in to consideration. I will complete my DM first and then gain experience before starting my IDC. I have a whole year to complete this, so I can do alot of dives. Thank you
 
Wow, I am excited about you being so excited, while I can not answer your questions about doing your education in Thailand, I am impressed with your enthusiasism, but do some fun dives, to finish divemaster you need 60, and instructor is 100, so if you did ow, aow, and rescue, with 8 fun dives, I am guessing right now 21 dives? So you go dive, and dive more, and just when you think you are ready, dive more. Your excitement will go a long way as an instructor when you get there, but go log a bunch of fun dives in different spots and conditions to get some seasoning
 
You can dive Wrasbury if you are in London and it will cost you ten quid or so. You can get there on the train.

It's cold, it's generally dark and there is a pike. But we love it. Good place to do dry suit training and eat bacon sandwiches.

Or Lakeside - do a spot of shopping afterwards!
 
Grats on finding this fantastic sport and understanding just how addictive it can be, I can understand your enthusiasm and feel the same way after 3 years of being a diver :)

I can't answer your questions about visa's and costs in detail but I do know that being treated as a student does increase your time available there and changes the rules under which you can stay.

The only thing I remember (from memory of a couple of years ago) is that you need the scuba school to help you get the non immigrant visa (?) or eductational visa, which is only issued outside of Thailand (or was) so that may mean you will need to leave the country to get it.

I think you would still need to apply for a work permit to then work for a while after qualification, as the visa gives you educational rights, not work rights, but the Visa forms usually tell you those restrictions when you have to complete them.

As to finding work, well that depends on where you want to teach in the future, because if you have only dived in warm tropical waters, then teaching elsewhere is going to be a shock for you, and you will probably find alot of dive schools probably won't want to employ you without more varied diving experience.

Realistically, a good dive instructor will feel at home with the worst of conditions that he/she has to take students into, just as well as the best conditions and you don't want an instructor feeling task loaded as he/she isn't used to *cold* water, or poor visibility etc, so you need to factor that into your decision as to whether you want to make this something you do only for this year out, teach only in tropical areas, or you carry that instructor training with you for along time.

It may not be a bad idea if you think this is really what you want to do, to get to DM so that you understand more of the risks work involved and then move around a little on that basis, allowing you to see different instructors/dive school set ups etc.

Seeing different dive shops and the way they are run is very good at giving you more of a feel for what would suit your style, of course, this does mean you probably couldn't use the educational visa, but something to think about maybe, plus it starts to increase your experience of different diving areas and potentially diving with different dive agencies.

You could always take a few months out after uni to complete the instructor training in the longer term as a treat to yourself for completing the degree, because if you can't afford to dive now in the UK, you'll be paying all that money for skills and knowledge that will not be constantly used, unless as "holiday skills" for a few years while you finish your course, that's going to make it harder if you have any long term view you have on being an instructor. (i.e. weekend instructor with a club) :)

I would suggest that while you love diving, find instructors who will help you harnass that feeling and explore what type of diving you love, because longer term, that may alter your decision on which agency you want to train with or train for.

What ever else you do, stay happy and safe with your diving :)
 
Grats on finding this fantastic sport and understanding just how addictive it can be, I can understand your enthusiasm and feel the same way after 3 years of being a diver :)

I can't answer your questions about visa's and costs in detail but I do know that being treated as a student does increase your time available there and changes the rules under which you can stay.

The only thing I remember (from memory of a couple of years ago) is that you need the scuba school to help you get the non immigrant visa (?) or eductational visa, which is only issued outside of Thailand (or was) so that may mean you will need to leave the country to get it.

I think you would still need to apply for a work permit to then work for a while after qualification, as the visa gives you educational rights, not work rights, but the Visa forms usually tell you those restrictions when you have to complete them.

As to finding work, well that depends on where you want to teach in the future, because if you have only dived in warm tropical waters, then teaching elsewhere is going to be a shock for you, and you will probably find alot of dive schools probably won't want to employ you without more varied diving experience.

Realistically, a good dive instructor will feel at home with the worst of conditions that he/she has to take students into, just as well as the best conditions and you don't want an instructor feeling task loaded as he/she isn't used to *cold* water, or poor visibility etc, so you need to factor that into your decision as to whether you want to make this something you do only for this year out, teach only in tropical areas, or you carry that instructor training with you for along time.

It may not be a bad idea if you think this is really what you want to do, to get to DM so that you understand more of the risks work involved and then move around a little on that basis, allowing you to see different instructors/dive school set ups etc.

Seeing different dive shops and the way they are run is very good at giving you more of a feel for what would suit your style, of course, this does mean you probably couldn't use the educational visa, but something to think about maybe, plus it starts to increase your experience of different diving areas and potentially diving with different dive agencies.

You could always take a few months out after uni to complete the instructor training in the longer term as a treat to yourself for completing the degree, because if you can't afford to dive now in the UK, you'll be paying all that money for skills and knowledge that will not be constantly used, unless as "holiday skills" for a few years while you finish your course, that's going to make it harder if you have any long term view you have on being an instructor. (i.e. weekend instructor with a club) :)

I would suggest that while you love diving, find instructors who will help you harnass that feeling and explore what type of diving you love, because longer term, that may alter your decision on which agency you want to train with or train for.

What ever else you do, stay happy and safe with your diving :)

thank you so much for taking time to write that very useful post! Since i started this thread i have been in contact with 2 dive schools in thailand, including the one i took my first three courses with, and I have decided to do my DM with them.

So here is my plan so far. Ill travel to Koh Tao in September and do a DM course, and uppon completion ill travel thailand for a few months gaining experience while chunking up my number of dives. I might even travel to australia to dive there for a few days. Then ill return to do my IDC at the same school.

If time allows it ill use my traveling experiences to decide where to work.
 
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