Where to do a Divemaster course/internship?

[MortUK]

Thanks for the advice guys..

Diving in the UK doesn't really appeal, Call me a fair weather diver if you will but it's just my preference.. )

I don't intend to use the qualification straight away, but it'd be nice to have as you never know, I might come across an opportunity or two while diving and travelling around over the next few years. and now with 2 months off work it seams like a good time..

Honduras looks quite nice, I wasn't too worried about price, just want a nice place to spend 6-8 weeks that's pretty laid back and has good diving/training. Like the sound of the Philippines too, has anyone got any recommendations on who to go with.??

I was set on Cairns at one point, but in Feb/March I've heard it's monsoon season, Not sure how bad it gets out there.!?? and the courses seam quite short 3 Weeks.!! Surely that's not long enough.!!

Mort..

 

[DevonDiver]

Do your rescue and DM in the place where you're going to use it.
Best training IMO you'll get just back home.
Looks like your from the UK so do them in the UK.
The harder the conditions the more you'll be likely to learn.

IMO when your a good DM in the UK,you'll be a good one where ever.
If you're a good DM in the tropics,you'll suck in the UK.

Not joking you,I've seen "tropical"pro's diving the Dutch waters and they came out (within 5 min.) SCREAMING. While our students said they had good viz. They said there was NO viz.

I disagree with this in many ways.

Diving experience (whether professional or not) is specific to the enviroment in which you dive. I agree that a diver who only has experience in warm, clear, waters would have to adjust to temperate water....but the same is equally true in reverse. A good diver recognises that they need to gain experience in a new area - but they remain a good diver (or dive professional).

Training in the UK, will do very little to prepare you for working in the tropics. It is a very different working environment - in and out of the water.

Just because the viz is worse in the UK, it is neither easier or harder diving. It is just different. The UK does not have problems associated with clear water diving, diver numbers, different current behaviour, heat injuries/risks, aquatic marine life etc etc etc

A DM in the UK has a very slow and methodical work routine - dealing with small customer numbers and, invariably, more capable recreational divers. It is a huge culture shock to go from that working environment to work in a holiday destination where a dive center could be dealing with hundreds of divers over a working day or week. Many of them, only performing a handful of dives once per year on their holidays. Likewise, they have little experience providing the levels of customer service that are expected by holiday divers.

Likewise, a UK trained DM will have little experience of providing exciting, informative and high customer service when leading certified divers on 'fun dives' in tropical locations. If you train in the English Channel or a murky quarry - you just won't develop the same level of ability to spot and identify marine life for your customers. You can educate yourself with Fish ID books all you want - but that won't develop your instincts for finding those elusive Pygmy Seahorses, Ghost Pipefish or Blue Ring Octopus....

Vizibility is not the ONLY criteria in diving. Most of the dive industry - and when dive professionals desire to work - is in the tropics. Gaining experience working in the Tropics is the best way to get experience for working in the tropics. Why would anyone think that training outside the tropics would be better?!?!

I did my diving (10 years) and DM course in the UK. I had a LOT to learn about the industry when I moved to Asia. Having more familiarity with low viz, cold water, drysuit diving was very little benefit to me in Thailand, Malaysia or Philippines.

If you WANT to work in Europe, train in Europe. If you want to work in the tropics, train in the tropics.

Don't accept the bravado of cold water divers....there is a lot to learn in any environment...and none is better or worse than another.

 

[SubMariner]

I disagree with this in many ways.

Diving experience (whether professional or not) is specific to the enviroment in which you dive. I agree that a diver who only has experience in warm, clear, waters would have to adjust to temperate water....but the same is equally true in reverse. A good diver recognises that they need to gain experience in a new area - but they remain a good diver (or dive professional).

Training in the UK, will do very little to prepare you for working in the tropics. It is a very different working environment - in and out of the water.

Just because the viz is worse in the UK, it is neither easier or harder diving. It is just different. The UK does not have problems associated with clear water diving, diver numbers, different current behaviour, heat injuries/risks, aquatic marine life etc etc etc

A DM in the UK has a very slow and methodical work routine - dealing with small customer numbers and, invariably, more capable recreational divers. It is a huge culture shock to go from that working environment to work in a holiday destination where a dive center could be dealing with hundreds of divers over a working day or week. Many of them, only performing a handful of dives once per year on their holidays. Likewise, they have little experience providing the levels of customer service that are expected by holiday divers.

Likewise, a UK trained DM will have little experience of providing exciting, informative and high customer service when leading certified divers on 'fun dives' in tropical locations. If you train in the English Channel or a murky quarry - you just won't develop the same level of ability to spot and identify marine life for your customers. You can educate yourself with Fish ID books all you want - but that won't develop your instincts for finding those elusive Pygmy Seahorses, Ghost Pipefish or Blue Ring Octopus....

Vizibility is not the ONLY criteria in diving. Most of the dive industry - and when dive professionals desire to work - is in the tropics. Gaining experience working in the Tropics is the best way to get experience for working in the tropics. Why would anyone think that training outside the tropics would be better?!?!

I did my diving (10 years) and DM course in the UK. I had a LOT to learn about the industry when I moved to Asia. Having more familiarity with low viz, cold water, drysuit diving was very little benefit to me in Thailand, Malaysia or Philippines.

If you WANT to work in Europe, train in Europe. If you want to work in the tropics, train in the tropics.

Don't accept the bravado of cold water divers....there is a lot to learn in any environment...and none is better or worse than another.

Wow... couldn't disagree with you more. As someone who did most of their pro dive training & fair bit of teaching in Canada, I can tell you that how well one teaches "large numbers of divers" or how "exciting you make the dive" has nothing to do with diving in the tropics. It all depends on your training, background, & how well you take care of your customers. There are many dive ops in colder climes that have a large and enthusiastic customer base, with the work load to match!

While the marine life in cold water may not always be as colourful as the tropics (although some who dive off the coast of BC may may argue that point) it can be every bit as interesting/diverse IF you take the time & effort to LEARN about it. Not to mention want to TALK about it. I have seen schools of fish and wrecks in the Great Lakes to rival some of the sites I've been on in Palau, but with less travel time & no jet lag.

Does the vis sometime suck? Yeah. Is the water cold. Yeah. But that doesn't mean that it's ALWAYS that way. People in the tropics have bad vis too.

So be wary of painting your picture with so wide a brush; it can obscure the details when you do that...

Pax

 

[DevonDiver]

The reason for my view is that I dove in the UK for many years, before moving to Asia to work in the dive industry. I didn't learnt my 'craft' as a macro-spotting dive guide until I had completed a season diving Sipidan/Mabul. Nothing in temperate waters would have provided that experience....and customers now benefit from it.

Of course the natural enthusiasm and professionalism of the individual concerned counts for a lot.... but developing an awareness of the needs of holiday market divers is location specific. The nature of the dive industry, common practices, expectations etc vary greatly in different parts of the world.

Also, diving in Canada...with the amazing marine life you have there is great.... but it won't teach you how to best identify (for example) a pygmy seahorse...or what sort of coral will support a porcelain crab... or provide you with a working knowledge of hundreds of nudibranch names in latin.

Also...when dealing with 'large; numbers... I think this has to be viewed relatively. Some of the operations I worked at in Thailand would run 3 boats a day...each with 60+ divers aboard. The logisical and organisational effort to make this run smoothly and efficiently was incredible...and depended upon a cadre of knowledgeable and effective divemasters...who understood the system and requirements of that operation.

I doubt that there are any dive operations in Canada that provide diving services for 180 divers, twice a day, 7 days a week......

Add to that the 'holiday diver' mentality - with people needing rental gear, not knowing their weighting requirement, turning up late for diving, not remembering how to assemble their gear...and generally wandering around aimlessly unless effectively directed by the dive staff. PLUS, the fact that they all have very high expectations and demand personal attention, service and 5-star treatment....

My point is...whilst an individual dive professional may have excellent merits, the location where they work is highly specialized and will operate in a very precise way. Training in one environment does not equip you to effectively step straight into operations in another environment....although it does allow you to transition over time, if your attitude is right.

However, learning in the environment you will be working in, is always the easiest and most logical strategy.

 

[japan-diver]

We also offer internships for DM and Instructor in Okinawa, Japan. Jan-Apr is our winter season so the water temp is a bit colder 21-23C but still awesome diving. Humpback whales, schooling hammerhead sharks and of course the wrecks are still here then to. Viz is awesome and we are a bit off the beaten path.

 

[Divenomad]

Now, this is interesting and everyone has good points. How about this? I would advise doing the rescue and DM and instructor in the UK. Assuming the OP is from the UK. The OP states that he/ she has ten YEARS to get to the tropics as a working diver.Now, to say that cold water diving is not more challenging, well...I've done both, and the tropics is way easier, and teaching divers in cold water is more challenging. No six to eight week course can teach you to be a good divemaster in ANY location, that takes time and experience. No six to eight week course will teach you about macro spotting. You have to do it, and the OP is ten years away from being able to devote the time for that.

Compare as a potential employer:

Ten years experience as a DM and an instructor in the UK, in 12 C water with limited visibilty, keeping track of anywhere from 1 to 12 divers in 5 ft of vis, and keeping them happy while making them schlep thirty kilos of gear, and doing it well enough to keep them coming back, with the added dose of having led a few tropical dive trips

OR

I just retired, did my DM ten years ago, did a few trips for fun to the tropics.

I can train you in macro spotting, I can't give you the mental fortitude that training divers in challenging conditions gives you. The customer service you need to provide differs, yes, but it is no less demanding. As for location specific training, it assumes the ocean is static, that fauna remains the same. The sea you dive in today can and does look very different each year, let alone ten years. One of the things that sets someone apart from the rest is that experience of watching the environment change, and truly knowing it. The learning of how to see, how to read a current, how to notice these changes, IS translatable, and very useful. Diving occasionaly, no matter where you are, cannot give you this skill.

Not bashing anyone, I've done both, and in general, going from temperate to tropical is far easier. Just my opinion.

All that being said, the OP has little interest in diving temperate, so I say Phillipines or somewhere in the Caribbean. I'm sure that Thailand produces some good dive pros, but my personal experience has been that many lack what I feel are neccesary skills.

Another idea, I've recently had the pleasure of meeting and dealing with some Hall's graduates from Florida, and I was impressed. And, no, I have no affiliation or first hand knowledge, but damn, those kids were good instructors.

Nomad

The reason for my view is that I dove in the UK for many years, before moving to Asia to work in the dive industry. I didn't learnt my 'craft' as a macro-spotting dive guide until I had completed a season diving Sipidan/Mabul. Nothing in temperate waters would have provided that experience....and customers now benefit from it.

Of course the natural enthusiasm and professionalism of the individual concerned counts for a lot.... but developing an awareness of the needs of holiday market divers is location specific. The nature of the dive industry, common practices, expectations etc vary greatly in different parts of the world.

Also, diving in Canada...with the amazing marine life you have there is great.... but it won't teach you how to best identify (for example) a pygmy seahorse...or what sort of coral will support a porcelain crab... or provide you with a working knowledge of hundreds of nudibranch names in latin.

Also...when dealing with 'large; numbers... I think this has to be viewed relatively. Some of the operations I worked at in Thailand would run 3 boats a day...each with 60+ divers aboard. The logisical and organisational effort to make this run smoothly and efficiently was incredible...and depended upon a cadre of knowledgeable and effective divemasters...who understood the system and requirements of that operation.

I doubt that there are any dive operations in Canada that provide diving services for 180 divers, twice a day, 7 days a week......

Add to that the 'holiday diver' mentality - with people needing rental gear, not knowing their weighting requirement, turning up late for diving, not remembering how to assemble their gear...and generally wandering around aimlessly unless effectively directed by the dive staff. PLUS, the fact that they all have very high expectations and demand personal attention, service and 5-star treatment....

My point is...whilst an individual dive professional may have excellent merits, the location where they work is highly specialized and will operate in a very precise way. Training in one environment does not equip you to effectively step straight into operations in another environment....although it does allow you to transition over time, if your attitude is right.

However, learning in the environment you will be working in, is always the easiest and most logical strategy.

 

[ScubabunnyCR]

With so many places to choose from when deciding look at what extras the centers offer you withe regards to experience during and after your course. Its not just about leading divers or completing a physics exam its so much about developing your own skills and becoming a good, competent diver, to be prepared to help others as well. The more you take out of your training e.g. not just completing A.B.C.D the better you will be as a professional. If you want to work in caribbean conditions then complete your training there but I would agree with 300 bar in some ways that if you are going to work in England where conditions aren't 100ft then consider somewhere with more challenging conditions to train. Most importantly.....HAVE FUN!

 

[Centexbear]

I don't even have my OW certification yet but at 34, 10 years might not seem to far off but I promise life will lead you down many paths over your next 10 years. Who knows what you'll be doing or where you'll be.

I'd advise picking a place that looks and sounds cool, offers a good bank for the buck to pursue the designations you desire to pursue and go for it!!

As the Nike shoe commercial says: Just Do It!

 

[SubMariner]

The reason for my view is that I dove in the UK for many years, before moving to Asia to work in the dive industry. I didn't learnt my 'craft' as a macro-spotting dive guide until I had completed a season diving Sipidan/Mabul. Nothing in temperate waters would have provided that experience....and customers now benefit from it.

Of course the natural enthusiasm and professionalism of the individual concerned counts for a lot.... but developing an awareness of the needs of holiday market divers is location specific. The nature of the dive industry, common practices, expectations etc vary greatly in different parts of the world.

Also, diving in Canada...with the amazing marine life you have there is great.... but it won't teach you how to best identify (for example) a pygmy seahorse...or what sort of coral will support a porcelain crab... or provide you with a working knowledge of hundreds of nudibranch names in latin.

Also...when dealing with 'large; numbers... I think this has to be viewed relatively. Some of the operations I worked at in Thailand would run 3 boats a day...each with 60+ divers aboard. The logisical and organisational effort to make this run smoothly and efficiently was incredible...and depended upon a cadre of knowledgeable and effective divemasters...who understood the system and requirements of that operation.

I doubt that there are any dive operations in Canada that provide diving services for 180 divers, twice a day, 7 days a week......

Add to that the 'holiday diver' mentality - with people needing rental gear, not knowing their weighting requirement, turning up late for diving, not remembering how to assemble their gear...and generally wandering around aimlessly unless effectively directed by the dive staff. PLUS, the fact that they all have very high expectations and demand personal attention, service and 5-star treatment....

My point is...whilst an individual dive professional may have excellent merits, the location where they work is highly specialized and will operate in a very precise way. Training in one environment does not equip you to effectively step straight into operations in another environment....although it does allow you to transition over time, if your attitude is right.

However, learning in the environment you will be working in, is always the easiest and most logical strategy.

With all due respect, NOTHING that you have stated is a skill that cannot be learned by a good dive Pro, regardless of geographical location. Especially with reference to indigenous marine life.

But the BASICS are best learned in an environment that hones one's skills for "the worst". And the tropics just aren't it.

FYI "As someone who did most of their pro dive training & fair bit of teaching in Canada..." does not mean that I have only taught in TGWN. I have also conducted classes in tropical locations like the Bahamas, Red Sea, etc.

Pax,

 

[DevonDiver]

But the BASICS are best learned in an environment that hones one's skills for "the worst". And the tropics just aren't it.

I suppose that depends on your experience of the tropics.... I would rate Baracuda Point at Sipidan to be a far more demanding and dangerous dive than any I conducted in european waters....and it has nothing to do with viz or water temperature.

Some of my local wreck dives, here in the Philippines, are extremely demanding...and viz can be on a par with UK waters....ok, the water is warm.... but then you don't get bulL Sharks, scorpionfish etc in temperate waters....or the false sense of security that comes with dropping into the blue wearing a rash guard and shorts.

Assuming adequate exposure protection....what exactly is the difference between a low viz, high current topical or temperate dive?