Qualifications of a DM

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When I started out, the shop paid $25 to get an OW student through academics and confined water. Another $25 IF they get certified. That's why many instructors will pack as many students as they can by using assistants. Otherwise, "it isn't work their time".

I was doing it to develop as an instructor.
Yeah. The shop here had big classes when I was assisting--sometimes as many as 12 or more. Thus one (or 2 ) instructors and 2 DMs. The instructors liked it because they also got paid by the student.
But in recent years they have basically limited the OW course to 6 or so. My instructor friend said at times he wished he had stayed a DM making $300 per course instead of as instructor making maybe $450 and being in charge, doing all the paperwork, etc.
 
Yeah. The shop here had big classes when I was assisting--sometimes as many as 12 or more. Thus one (or 2 ) instructors and 2 DMs. The instructors liked it because they also got paid by the student.
But in recent years they have basically limited the OW course to 6 or so. My instructor friend said at times he wished he had stayed a DM making $300 per course instead of as instructor making maybe $450 and being in charge, doing all the paperwork, etc.
yeah, and when you do the math of how much you earn per hour BEFORE you consider insurance and fees. If I wasn't going to open a dive center, I wouldn't do it.
 
The time that foreigners could easily find a job after the initial training is NO longer the true.
Instructors who work without permits are most likely the chinese/Korean working for their own nationals.
You were talking dive guide in the beginning and now instructor?

I met a lot of instructors who were from UK & Europe working in Asia on tourist visa's.
 
I met a lot of instructors who were from UK & Europe working in Asia on tourist visa's.

I dive in South East Asia and Taiwan. I have found local guides to be quite excellent divers mostly. A lot of them have 10,000 - 15,000 dives. The DM's in SEA I have found not so good as those people who came on their Asian Sojourn and decided to try diving. Then then go on with getting to DM and instructor in the shortest possible time without buildup of years of experience who are in fact not very good divers. They have the bling but very little experience.

Yes for DM work permits near impossible to get. That's why some places offer "internships" It's quite possible for instructors to get work permits however I met many who worked as instructors without work permits.

I made about 8 - 10 diving trip a yr in SE Asia over last 25 yrs until Covid put a stop in it.
I could not agree with nearly everything you had been saying.
 
I made about 8 - 10 diving trip a yr in SE Asia over last 25 yrs until Covid put a stop in it.
I could not agree with nearly everything you had been saying.

Could you share your experience?

SE Asia is a big place, maybe there is great variation among different countries...

Thanks :)
 
I met a lot of instructors who were from UK & Europe working in Asia on tourist visa's.
For me, it is a quality indicator whether employer provides work permit or not. In 2003 I was working in Egypt with proper documentation, not everyone had it but it showed my employers commitment to me. Training and service levels were also very high in that particular business; we were all multilingual instructors with good experience and we were all called "guide". Professionalism expectation of the employer was also correspondingly high.
Businesses with good practices will have best training and most motivated and competent employees. You want to get good service, good guides, divemasters, dm training, select the service provider well, check their employee retention/turnover, business practices.
The more people will work on tourist visa, more likely they will be short term employees. Continuity is a part of quality as well.
 
Could you share your experience?

SE Asia is a big place, maybe there is great variation among different countries...

Thanks :)
The big four: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand
First of all, non local guide does not mean "short term professional". Age is a give away.
Depend where do you want to dive. Location and location.
There are many places where "short term professional" would not have a chance to get employed. They would have no clue to find all those "cool stuffs" that divers want. They would not have enough experience to lead a dive let alone finding the route.
LoB is another one. Experience guide only.
There are a lot of great places to dive but also run of the mill stuff. But I am pretty sure you have a good idea where you want to dive in SE Asia.
 
There are a lot of great places to dive but also run of the mill stuff. But I am pretty sure you have a good idea where you want to dive in SE Asia.

Thanks for the reply! Actually, I am not planning any big trip in the early future :) I am just curious, want to build a bit of knowledge for the future, and I also believe it is relevant to this discussion.

EDIT: it would be nice to know where @BLACKCRUSADER uses to dive in SEA, besides Taiwan, just to make a comparison of your experiences
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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