Where to become a divemaster

[Lobke]

Hello scubaboard friends,

Next year (july/august 2005) i'm going for a 2 month holiday. I'm looking for the following:

- a nice dive place where I can get my divemaster
- sun ( a lot of places have raining season in that period)
- a save place (I'm travelling alone)
- also a littlebit culture
- and a place where I can meet thousands of new friends!
- and (yes I'm dutch) it has to fit in my budget (approx. 5.000 euro)

What's your suggestion for a location and a dive school?

I've already been to Hurgharda, Sharm el Sheik, El Gouna (Egypt), Koh Samui, Koh Tao (Thailand) Tulum, Xcalak and Cozumel (Thailand) and Malta.

Thanks a lot in front!

Lobke

 

[sharkdiver00]

Would you consider the caribbean? I know there are lots of places around the islands and several in Florida. Check out www.oceanfrontiers.com Grand Cayman is one of the safest places you can travel to, incredible diving, and Ocean Frontiers is a top notch operation.

Good luck,
Maria

 

[SubMariner]

Hello scubaboard friends,

Next year (july/august 2005) i'm going for a 2 month holiday. I'm looking for the following:

No offense, but it takes a lot longer than 2 months to become a proper DM.

What is your dive background? Your current level of certification?

Just wondering....

 

[boulderjohn]

I recently dived several days with someone who got his DM in four days in a resort area. I look at the requirements and I wonder how it is possible. I got my DM stateside through an organization that very thoroughly put me through my paces. They took their time, for example, to make sure I could teach skills at a level that would make them comfortable having me work with their instructors. It was a lot more work, obviously, than the guy I met went through, but I will say with confidence that he was not nearly as well prepared to be a DM as I was when I was done. I don't think I would ever go for a quick certification process.

I work for that operation now, and I feel that I am extremely well prepared for that work. I recommend that your number one priority should be locating a place that is going to give you the best quality instruction.

Hello scubaboard friends,

Next year (july/august 2005) i'm going for a 2 month holiday. I'm looking for the following:

- a nice dive place where I can get my divemaster
-

 

[underwater daphne]

why not malaysia?
it's very cheap, food costs practically nothing. the exchange rate to the euro is almost times 4. People from Netherland are allowed to stay for 3 months without a visa. it's multi-racial with many malays, indians, chinese, etc so you'll get a bit of 3 different cultures and more. you're near to singapore, indonesia and thailand if you wish to extend your holiday to visit other countries.


i would recommend tioman. tioman is a duty free zone with cheap cigarettes and booze. being a diver you might not smoke, but i thought i'd mention it anyway. otherwise there are many nearby islands. divers come from singapore, other parts of malaysia and mostly europe.

more infos:

http://www.tioman.com
http://www.samudra-swiss-cottage.com
http://www.tioman-dive-centre.com
http://www.lawyerment.com.my/library/doc/imgr/visa/1000000-2.shtml
http://www.hatl.gov.my/divemed.htm
http://www.asiandiver.com/


ps i'll be doing my divemaster on tioman next year. monsoon is from october to march.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

I'd vote for southeast Asia, though you can do it in Malta for your budget.

If you can devote two months on a daily basis you can easily cover the DM requirements at any busy dive center. With 5 day work weeks, that works out to somewhere around 42 days of class. That is the same as someone who spends every Saturday for 9 and a half months.


And as much as I love it here in Grand Cayman, I think it might bust your budget.

 

[bwerb]

Just curious...to echo SubMariner...where do you ultimately want to DM? Warm or Cold water...I'm not sure if you dive locally much right now but I would think that if you were interested in DM'ing locally, you'd be better served to get your DM locally. If you are interested in DM'ing and diving in the tropics, that's a whole different story. I would be concerned that doing a "quick and easy" tropics cert would not serve you well if you wanted to work in cold, dark, drysuit type waters.

 

[DeepBlueResort]

Hi

Have a look at Utila, you could spend 2 months there and spend less than 1,000 euros lots of people, lots of fun, middle of summer, fantastic diving and a chance to see Whale Sharks ...what more could you want.

 

[Diver0001]

Hello scubaboard friends,

Next year (july/august 2005) i'm going for a 2 month holiday. I'm looking for the following:

- a nice dive place where I can get my divemaster
- sun ( a lot of places have raining season in that period)
- a save place (I'm travelling alone)
- also a littlebit culture
- and a place where I can meet thousands of new friends!
- and (yes I'm dutch) it has to fit in my budget (approx. 5.000 euro)

What's your suggestion for a location and a dive school?

I've already been to Hurgharda, Sharm el Sheik, El Gouna (Egypt), Koh Samui, Koh Tao (Thailand) Tulum, Xcalak and Cozumel (Thailand) and Malta.

Thanks a lot in front!

Lobke

Lobke,

I think before you do it you have to ask yourself two questions:

- Why/what goal to I have for becoming a divemaster?
- where would I work?

Ideally you would get trained by the operator/school where you want to work. Every operation has it's own way of doing things and you may have to catch up a lot if you get trained somewhere else and the school may not find it necessary or worth the effort.

Also, if you intend to work in Holland then you should really consider getting trained in Holland. A lot of shops here are a little reticent to employ someone who (for better or worse) "took the easy way out" and got certified as a DM in the tropics. I'm not saying that all shops in the tropics are bad just that there is a certain amount of chauvinism about it in the Netherlands.

R..

 

[newtodive]

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