Where to go as a new instructor?

[jisoo]

Hi, I'm just certified as an OWSI in Carribean and I'm looking for a job as a dive instructor somewhere around asia.
The thing is, there're too many options!! Well, it took me one whole week to pick Roatan for my DM and IDC, so this time would take the same amount of time or more...

I want to find somewhere; possible to get a job as newbie instructor
; with good people and good dive
; preferably my language skill's useful-English, Korean and Mandarin
; not too far away from Korea (so that I can call my friends to come and visit me)

So far, I've looked Vitnam, Philippine, Malaysia and Palau(Micronesia?).
Any suggestion...??

 

[kilo_fox]

:yelclap: :yelclap: CONGRATULATIONS!!! :yelclap: :yelclap:



Maybe try this site !?

 

[jisoo]

Thanks, kilo fox. But I want to visit dive shops and get known and know them first. I think & heard it's better way to do that. The thing is, I simply cannot decided where to go. Thailiand or Philipine - i've been there, so i kinda can imagine what kind of divers i should deal with. Presumably non-divers, and train them into divers... But if i'm going to Palau, i might face more fun divers than diver-wannabes. I'm thinking, what's better for me?

 

[kilo_fox]

Yeah, I think you are absolutely right.
I did some 200 dives in Indonesia over the past two years, in many different corners of the country, there's two of the dive shops I dived with that I now consider for my DM internship next year.

So I can't really offer an opinion as I haven't been to those locations you mention...
But talking about it, did you ever consider Indonesia?? Fantastic diving!!

Good luck..

 

[Bubble Junky]

Maybe look into Bhudda View on Koh Tao, Thailand. I know they have a big Korean market, and it's a good place for a new instructor to learn various aspects of real-world teaching, eg. control.

 

[Quero]

BJ has the right approach: find out where there are lots of Korean divers and tourists; then check out the dive ops in that area. We also have lots of Koreans coming to Phuket (we even have Korean language IDCs). I don't know what proportion of Korean visitors are divers, since they tend to stick together on Korean-language ops/boats. Is there a Korean-language online dive community like Scuba Board where you could get an idea of where Koreans are most likely to go?

 

[jisoo]

Thank you very much for your replies, guys. I know where Koreans usually go for their vacation-Thailand just as you guys said. Myself've been there three times, I love there so much, but I just want to try other places and I also hope Koreans travel other places as well... I don't like Korean style vacation, which is organized trip, so I kinda want to show my friends different type of travel and different destinations... and for myself, too.

 

[Harley1962]

There are at least two Korean-owned and managed Dive Centers on the island of Boracay (Philippines) that cater specifically to Koreans. Also there are more and more Koreans going there in general-thus LOTS of opportunities to train new divers (or at the least a few DSD's).

Good Luck.

 

[gr8fuldiverNC]

hey jisoo, marc from coconut here. i see you are looking for work, i wish you luck. im also looking, no longer at coconut or on roatan. im thinking thailand, florida or mexico. if you come across anything i might be interested in let me know, email is scubadiver101@hotmail.com, ill do the same for you.....

check the padi website, but beware, there are a lot of crap jobs and terrible operations posting on that board. if the same job is posted over and over again, theres probably a problem there (neptuno and dressel are examples).....

another resource that is very useful is the diveproinfo board. they post some jobs, but the best part is the ratings of various stores around the world written by former employees (neptuno has several pages of very negative reviews for example). also they have a thread about grants and scholarships ie FREE MONEY for training. in particular, the womens divers hall of fame has 750 dollar grants for women for tec or pro level training, does not have to be paid back. also more info about working in various regions and countries.... check them out at

diveproinfo.proboards25.com

for some reason, i havent been able to sign on there for a few days, but give it a shot anyway