Recommendations for divemaster course in Thailand

[stevenl]

There is something really strnage with the divemaster course price.

The required materials are already over 10,000 Baht, so 9,000 Baht for the course only? And for 4 weeks people spend their time and money instructing you?

 

[lord khram]

There is something really strnage with the divemaster course price.

The required materials are already over 10,000 Baht, so 9,000 Baht for the course only? And for 4 weeks people spend their time and money instructing you?

I was a little surprised at this one myself.
I just did a little research by looking at a UK shop website that I use to get spares for my kit, and they do DM internships for £299!!! I dont claim to know details of the course but it would appear that manuals etc are included?
Check out their website for yourself. Go-Dive Scuba Store, Derby, UK.
Maybe same as dive equipment, PADI materials are also grossly overpriced in Thailand? Again not being involved in the industry myself I cannot comment on that one, maybe someone that is could enlighten us?
What is the average cost of the DM course here?

 

[watboy]

I paid 30,000 baht + PADI books/fees for a 9 week course/internship, included all dives related to the course and any fun dives during the program were 1,000 baht a day if you needed the dives. Also got discounts on specialty courses like Nitrox. I did google some UK operators and and found many sub £400 DM courses. The kicker? It did not cover equipment rental, tanks or boat fees. As I found only one site that listed that detail, and it seems that £400 is the market price, i'd assume that its true for all the other ops. So whats missing is the logistical costs.

And once again, you cannot generalize all of Thailand off Pattaya. There are great DM training programs down south and I cannot fathom why PT is this attached to one city.

 

[limbo]

I have already described basically my divemaster course, on the divemaster course thread, see posts 125 / 127.
I paid for my rescue course £199 & DM course £359 (around 10500 / 19000 bart) this included all materials and manuals, only addition was the Padi registration fee for the DM course.
I did actually see the DM course even cheaper at one shop but chose to carry on with the same outfit I had done all my previous training with as I was very pleased with them.
When you are drawing any comparisons also bear in mind the time scales of the courses, in Pattaya I was offered 2/3 day rescue courses and 1 week / 10 day DM courses for significantly more money and some I think did not include the Padi materials. The courses I did were of 4/5 days for the rescue and around a total of 4 weeks for the DM.

PT,

That is a very cheap price indeed, did that price cover all dives and tanks for the course or was there a limit or did you have to pay extra for that?

 

[daveray]

Koh Tao is 25000bht plus 5500bht for materials. This includes unlimited diving. In fact a 14 day course is just 20000bht. Equipment rental inclusive. 10% discount for own equipment.

 

[lord khram]

Again we seem to have conflicting figures.
steven states PADI materials for the course cost over 10000bt.
daveray says in Koh Tao they cost 5500bt.
Why such a variation?

 

[watboy]

There's a USD100 DM application fee that may or may not be included in those two prices. There's also some course material which is really optional. Like the DM work book, which is full of practice questions and full solutions. I have an engineering background, so I found it unnecessary, but I know others benefited greatly from it. I only bought the DM manual (not a whole lot of info in it) and paid the DM app fee, though there is more you can buy on top of that (come to think of it, I didn't get any DM slates). The whole DM crew pack, all books, slates, workbooks etc I was quoted 4,750 baht, and then there's the other $100 you need for the application on top of that so would be about 8300 baht all in. And then there's the diving encyclopedia which would probably push it to 10,000 baht. So i guess it depends on how much you buy, not sure on what the padi standard is.

 

[limbo]

PADI standard is that a DM needs to own the DM crew pack, which should include the DM Manual, Diving Knoweldge Workbook, Encyclopedia and DM slates. DM also needs to posses a copy of the eRDPML.
Once the new materials are to be released, a DM will also need to have a copy of the Instructor manual, which will come with a sticker and that sticker needs to be on the DM application.

The difference in price is that the more you order from PADI over a year, the more discount you receive from PADI (or it's importers/distributors). Some DC's choose to make a (recommended by PADI) profit on the PADI materials and some don't, they're happy with the discount they receive off the wholesale price, hence the price difference.

 

[lord khram]

PADI standard is that a DM needs to own the DM crew pack, which should include the DM Manual, Diving Knoweldge Workbook, Encyclopedia and DM slates. DM also needs to posses a copy of the eRDPML.
Once the new materials are to be released, a DM will also need to have a copy of the Instructor manual, which will come with a sticker and that sticker needs to be on the DM application.

The difference in price is that the more you order from PADI over a year, the more discount you receive from PADI (or it's importers/distributors). Some DC's choose to make a (recommended by PADI) profit on the PADI materials and some don't, they're happy with the discount they receive off the wholesale price, hence the price difference.

Do PADI materials in Thailand attract the large duties that most imported goods do? That would increase the cost significantly.

 

[Arizona]

If you try to buy directly from PADI as an independent instructor or DM yes! As Limbo states, the amount of material you buy earns a better discount so pooling it together does make sense when considering discounts and import duties.