Where Should I Do My Divemaster? Seeking Location Recommendations!

[Diver1712]

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to do my Divemaster internship from mid-September to mid-December (up to 3 months), but since it's not the best season in Europe, I'm looking to go somewhere else. I'd love to hear your recommendations on where it might be best to do the internship during this time of year.

I've been considering East Africa, like Tanzania or the Seychelles, but I'm unsure about the weather conditions there. I'm also open to Asia, but I'm trying to keep flight costs reasonable. It would be great if accommodation is included in the internship package.

My boyfriend and I are planning to do this together—I'm an Advanced Open Water diver, and he's Open Water certified. Any suggestions or advice on locations, dive centers, or experiences would be really appreciated!

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[wlecyt40]

www.cocoviewresort.com Roatan, Honduras.

They have divemaster internships available.

 

[NorCalDM]

Divemaster Training Program - PADI Courses | IDC Center | Fundive | Diving Gili Trawangan
the Course Director "Goto" is a great guy/instructor and diver.

 

[elgringoperdido]

I would advise you to complete the divemaster course in whatever waters you plan to master dives. And divers.

I don't have a DM cert. Don't want that responsibility. But I have 13 certs from 3 agencies and I have been diving for about 25 years. I don't always dive with a DM--in fact when I'm diving locally in the North Atlantic off the coast of New Jersey I never do--but when I do make foreign travel to dive, I want a DM who knows the aquascape. For example, when I dive in Cozumel, I feel more comfortable with the guides who grew up there and who speak Spanish as a second language, having learned yucatec maya growing up, than I feel with the people who move there for a few months from Belgium or San Francisco. In fact, I avoid them. Similarly, when I am on the Mediterranean coast Spain I prefer diving with spaniards rather than the many dutch and germans who show up there to work over the summer.

Don't get me wrong. I have dived successfully with Scots dive guides in the Mediterranean, Gringos in Roatán, and Japanese in Hawaii, but they were people who have lived and dived there for many years. They were people who loved their adopted territories (and maritorries) and who have led dives in those regions for years.

But I have also had the experience of diving with "divemasters" from New Jersey in Cayman Brac, and with "divemasters" from England in St. Lucia, and I have had the joy of watching them get us lost, leading us in circles, and wasting the day. Luckily I haven't watched them get anyone injured.

I would advise you to learn to guide dives in the place where you will be guiding dives. You mention Tanzania and Seychelles. If that's where you want to lead dives, then that's where you should get certified to lead dives.

 

[NothingClever]

@Diver1712

Going to have to say I agree wholeheartedly with @elgringoperdido .

Seasoned divers will sense who are the reliable guides and who amongst the guides are really just the "extended stay" tourists.

I saw the same thing growing up in the ski industry in Colorado with people coming up from the flatlands.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I would advise you to complete the divemaster course in whatever waters you plan to master dives. And divers.

Seasoned divers will sense who are the reliable guides and who amongst the guides are really just the "extended stay" tourists.

I can't speak for the OP, but I will point out that we know from umpteen threads where someone announces they want to take the DM course that most of them say they do not anticipate ever actually working as a DM--that is, they never plan to guide dives professionally. It seems to me that people are attracted to the DM course just because they perceive it as the next rung on the ladder and a mark of achievement, and they can live in an interesting location for a few months, and they believe it might help improve their skills. All of this has been debated extensively, with people pointing out the pros and cons and, as far as the improving skills aspect, suggesting perhaps more efficient alternatives. Yet a steady stream of people who do not foresee themselves ever actually working as DMs continue to seek out the course. Credit to the training agencies for creating this demand--it's good business for them and their dive centers. I have no advice to offer those people, though.

If the OP and boyfriend do not fit this description, and are indeed setting their sights on working as DMs, maybe going on to become instructors, the advice to train in a locale with sea conditions similar to where you plan to work is probably optimal, though I have met some happy and apparently successful globetrotting DMs/instructors.

 

[chrisch]

I can't speak for the OP, but I will point out that we know from umpteen threads where someone announces they want to take the DM course that most of them say they do not anticipate ever actually working as a DM--that is, they never plan to guide dives professionally. It seems to me that people are attracted to the DM course just because they perceive it as the next rung on the ladder ..

Both divers in post #1 need to complete the Rescue course first. I would guess many people are sold on the idea by the dive centres with "dive for free" or "dive cheap" or "see the world" or some such other thing. The thing to remember about this job is you are there to please other people not yourself and your responsibility is to look after divers who lack experience and skill and may need help. For myself then I would suggest a couple of years' diving experience over a wide range of venues and a few hundred dives should really be the minimum level at which someone should contemplate certification as a DM. Certainly not at Open Water.

 

[NothingClever]

All credit to the marketing department(s) of the mainstream certifying organizations.

Fresh out of Basic OW and I triumphantly proclaim, “To Divemaster…and beyond!”

 

[Leatherboot69]

The problem is that Scubaboard has multiple audiences with different motivations occupying the same space. On the one hand, there are the highly experienced divers who are relatively small in numbers but who advise everybody to amass hundreds of dives and do fundies. On the other there is the mass market of recreational divers who represent the majority of divers and also of money being spent in the dive industry, and want to do a few courses, perhaps DM, look at the fish and dive a handful of times per year. Both might appear to be part of the same industry, but in reality they have very different needs, and advice for one group isn’t necessarily suitable for the other. Both audiences seem to talk past each other as a result.

If people want to do DM for an extended holiday or a bit of fun then why not? I did. If they really don’t meet the standards then they won’t be certified or ultimately employed. 60 dives is enough for someone who is competent and motivated to reach DM level in tropical conditions. Their certification qualifies them for conditions appropriate to their level of training and experience.

 

[Lorenzoid]

The problem is that Scubaboard has multiple audiences with different motivations occupying the same space. On the one hand, there are the highly experienced divers who are relatively small in numbers but who advise everybody to amass hundreds of dives and do fundies. On the other there is the mass market of recreational divers who represent the majority of divers and also of money being spent in the dive industry, and want to do a few courses, perhaps DM, look at the fish and dive a handful of times per year. Both might appear to be part of the same industry, but in reality they have very different needs, and advice for one group isn’t necessarily suitable for the other. Both audiences seem to talk past each other as a result.

If people want to do DM for an extended holiday or a bit of fun then why not? I did.

I believe you are correct that SB members include some highly experienced divers whose style and ambitions do not reflect the vast "mass market of recreational divers who represent the majority of divers...." However, from what I have seen, divers who ask questions about taking the DM course fall into one (or more) of these groups: (1) those whose goal is to actually work in the dive industry, (2) those who believe the DM course is the way to improve their skills, and (3) those whose goal is "to do DM for an extended holiday or bit of fun." I totally agree with your answer of "why not" to those in the third group who inquire about doing the DM course, and I would like to believe that most SB members would similarly answer "why not" regardless of how "highly experienced" they may be. But before we give that answer, we need to know in which group the diver inquiring about the DM course falls (though I suppose there could be overlap in some cases). From what I have seen, most seem to be in the third group, a smaller number in the second group, and an even smaller number in the first group. We need to know in which group(s) a diver falls in order to give the advice that best addresses their goal(s).