If I can try and sum up the pros and cons... what do you think?.....
- (Phuket) more advanced divers/less courses = more guiding rather than assisting?
- (Tao) not as good diving...
- (Tao) more courses, better chance to improve skills
I want to be busy enough assisting/guiding to improve my skills.
Just a few points....
Firstly, the DMT programme consists of a set number of 'assists' that you need to do (
as well as theory and skills training etc). Wherever you go, you will get the opportunity to lead dives as well as assist on OW and con-ed courses. Generally though, the course focuses on assisting instructors...so you will do more of that wherever you go. In Tao, there are more courses and more opportunities to do both. However, any dive centre that actually utilises inexperienced DMTs to lead dives should be viewed suspiciously....it is normally just a way to make more profit from their fun divers (
by not having to pay a qualified DM) and can lend suspicion to generally unsafe dive management practices.
Secondly, if you view the DMT course as simply an opportunity to stack up a load of cheap fun-dives (
which is how some DMT programmes are run), then you will find yourself woefully lacking in professional experience after you are qualified.
Thirdly, any dive centre that cannot keep it's DMTs fully occupied with training is ripping its interns off. It means they either have too many interns on their books (
compared to their number of instructors & customers) or that they are a dead, lacklustre dive centre - this may be true of some schools (
either side of Thailand) during their respective monsoon seasons.
Fourthly, a good DM training centre should offer lots of value for money on the course. For example, (
not mentioning any names - I don't care about advertising) the dive centre I work at runs (
IMHO) a world-class DMT course. The manager will only select (
yes, select) certain applicants for the course - they have to be serious about their diving, professional (
they're seen as being integral to our team and representing the company with customers) and willing to work and learn. We stack in loads of extra-curricular training. I do a lot of training with the DMTs on deco theory, deep diving, wreck diving (
yes, there are wrecks off Koh Tao), dsmb masterclasses, kit configurations, detailed dive planning, accident management, tank filling/blending, buoyancy development, navigation training etc....and they get the full benefit of my technical diving experience. Another instructor at our place is a qualified Dive Medic Technician...he teaches some very advanced first aid, O2 and DCS stuff for them. Our DMTs also spend time working with a qualified service technician...and get first hand experience in servicing regs, bcds and cylinders. Over the space of 2-3 months, they will have done formal OW and con-ed assists with every instructor at the centre (
learning different ways of approaching problems etc) and typically cover over 4x the required amount of assists. At the end of the course, they are very EMPLOYABLE....and, what is more, they are excellent and professional divers (
who I'd be glad to dive and work with). When our DMTs finish the course and move to other locations, we (
as a team) are always gutted to see them go.
In contrast, some DMTs (
at some dive centres) just go fun diving lots ,hang around bored on assists with indifferent instructors...and stagger around the island (
Tao) with hang-overs most days. They won't get (
paid) work afterwards...and (
IMHO) have sold themselves short as divers.
