Beginner to Instructor internships -- Go big or go home...?

[MXGratefulDiver]

Hello! I have yet to go scuba diving, but would appreciate your opinions on internships that turn beginners into divemasters or instructors. I was looking into this one, specifically, and would love to hear if anyone has been affiliated with them in the past.

Koh Tao scuba internships - Gap year Thailand dive instructor internship

They are in Koh Tao, Thailand and the cost is a little under $10k, for 7 months, including accommodation and everything.

Really, any advice would be welcome. The prospect of being able to turn scuba diving into a career sounds incredible to a recent graduate, refusing to enter to corporate world of desk jobs.

It's a nice dream ... and one shared by a lot of people. In some ways it reminds me of when I moved to Seattle, 20 years ago. Driving out here from New England with no job, no real plans, and the attitude that if nothing else I could always open a coffee shop. When I arrived, I realized that about 100,000 other people had the same idea ... and most of them weren't going to be very successful. In other words, you could end up spending a lot of money only to find out that it's not at all what you'd hoped for and that you really don't like it.

As others have said, learn to dive first. You live in a place where the diving is very good and very accessible. Take advantage of it. Scuba diving involves a great deal more than what you'll learn in a class ... any class. And the real learning happens in the water. Spend some time learning before you decide whether teaching is for you.

Then keep in mind that once you start to do something for pay, it ceases being recreation and becomes a job. Successful instructors don't succeed because the love diving ... they succeed because they love teaching. The typical scuba instructor lasts about two years ... then either burns out, loses interest, or realizes that with few exceptions it's a subsistence type of job. If your passion sustains you, you'll have to learn other trades to make ends meet.

If you really want to be an instructor, then do it right. Learn to dive, take your time to go through the progression ... allowing experience to teach you things you won't get out of a classroom. Put some context into what you're doing ... it's what makes the difference between a real instructor and someone who can only regurgitate what was in the student handbook ... and there are lots of bad instructors out there who can only do that. The world doesn't need more of those. If it turns out to be something you really want to do, develop the skills to do it well and take some pride in what you're doing.

There's a world of difference between diving and teaching diving. The zero-to-hero courses aren't designed to help you learn what those differences are. And more often than not, they turn out to be a worse investment than a longer, step-by-step approach.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[elan]

Just get certified and dive first. The whole experience of being on a boat with small waves and "feeding the fish" can kill the beautiful dream.

 

[randytay]

Hello! I have yet to go scuba diving, but would appreciate your opinions on internships that turn beginners into divemasters or instructors. I was looking into this one, specifically, and would love to hear if anyone has been affiliated with them in the past.

Koh Tao scuba internships - Gap year Thailand dive instructor internship

They are in Koh Tao, Thailand and the cost is a little under $10k, for 7 months, including accommodation and everything.

Really, any advice would be welcome. The prospect of being able to turn scuba diving into a career sounds incredible to a recent graduate, refusing to enter to corporate world of desk jobs.

UTD Dive Professional Programs - Unified Team Diving

 

[Quero]

Three points:
1) Without getting into the whole Z-H issue, which, as has been noted already, has engendered extensive discussion here on SB, this particular program is run by a dive school widely regarded as a "cert factory" or "sausage factory" dedicated to churning out divers at all levels in prodigious quantities (and of questionable quality), all the way from Open Water divers through Z-H instructors. For some people, this is exactly what they want--tons of classmates to hang out with and party with in a very laid-back environment during a gap year (Tao is sort of backpacker heaven that way), and a way to get lots of "free" dives, lodging, etc. without worrying about running out of money halfway through the gap year. For people who truly foresee scuba diving as a career and a longer-term way of life (several years, for example), smaller, more personalized dive schools may be more appropriate and yield better results for becoming a dive professional with insight into all aspects of the industry and skills to match. You need to reflect on your objectives for your gap year (is it primarily personal/professional development or primarily socializing) and decide whether a cert-factory-style school is what you're looking for.

2) The dive school this program is affiliated with is called Crystal Dive Resort. To figure out whether Thailand GapYear Internship's rates are a good deal or not, you should investigate the prices listed on CDR's website under "Instructor Internships".

3) I can't imagine being trapped on Koh Tao for seven months. "Island fever" is a real phenomenon, and Tao is small and a bother to get to and from (I feel it even here on Phuket, and we've at least got an airport). In addition, I can't imagine diving at Koh Tao for that long. I've spent periods of several days at a stretch in the area, and I'm always ready to leave when the time comes because the vast majority of the dive sites are not especially interesting for repeated visits over those few days, let alone for spending weeks and even months diving there. Again, it will depend a great deal on your objectives--if the diving experience is foremost, Tao can get old fast. If the transient-youth-social scene is what you're looking for, you may never want to leave.

 

[divewench1]

Then keep in mind that once you start to do something for pay, it ceases being recreation and becomes a job. Successful instructors don't succeed because the love diving ... they succeed because they love teaching. The typical scuba instructor lasts about two years ... then either burns out, loses interest, or realizes that with few exceptions it's a subsistence type of job. If your passion sustains you, you'll have to learn other trades to make ends meet.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)

My husband and I came to Bali in 2008 with wide open eyes, hearing that most dive instructors last three years in the business. Now, after 5 years of bloody hard work, managing other peoples companies, learning a lot, and getting a lot wrong (and a lot right), we are fast running out of money. In February, we return to the UK, to get a real job and hopefully make some money to live on. There is a saying here in Bali ""if you want to make a small fortune in diving, you need to start with a large fortune''

DO NOT think that you are going to make money diving, few do, (mainly the DC's that have been here the longest, 10+ years) and don't go into this business expecting to be surrounded by bikini-clad babes, as that is rarely true either.

Don't get me wrong, I have had a ball, and I'm not looking forward to going back to the cold of UK, and getting back into the real world, but the zero to hero course is not the way to go.

 

[jIM STEELE]

I teach 3 nights per week 2 weekends per month started in 1967 love it and not board yet. BUT its not for every one lesson to the others there right.

 

[BluewaterSail]

I think that the OP is putting the cart ahead of the horse. He may not even enjoy scuba! Not everyone does.

I would suggest that he get an OW certification, dive a bit, then start dreaming about professional careers in scuba.

 

[jIM STEELE]

go see harry truet at lighthouse scuba take his class work for him in his store see if you like it and how well you do and what lifes path you need to take

 

[Colliam7]

This thread has provided some interesting insights. I doubt that I need to add my cautions to the near unanimous consensus ('Don't do it. Learn to dive first. Then see where that takes you') that has already emerged in response to the original question. But, four observations do come to me.

1. Until I clicked on the link to the Koh Tao site, I was not aware of my real position in the diving world: 'PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors are the most in-demand dive professionals on the planet!". Here, I thought I was merely one of many, many scuba instructors, looking for opportuntiies to teach. Instead, I find that I am the most in-demand dive professional on the planet! I think I will tell my LDS owner that a little more respect, and compensation, is in order, starting today.

2. I think I have now discovered how to make money in diving. Instead of charging $395 for an OW course, I am going to set up a dive training supersite, and charge people $10K to go from newbie to OWSI. I will have to provide accomodations and food, but I think I can get help from FEMA (some slightly used trailers) and the Food Bank. And, I will have an ample supply of free labor, among the 'interns'.

3. Perhaps, the best summary possible was provided in one post:

Successful instructors don't succeed because the love diving ... they succeed because they love teaching. . . . Learn to dive, take your time to go through the progression ... allowing experience to teach you things you won't get out of a classroom. Put some context into what you're doing ... it's what makes the difference between a real instructor and someone who can only regurgitate what was in the student handbook ... and there are lots of bad instructors out there who can only do that. The world doesn't need more of those.

Sage advice to the young, and worthy of the most serious consideration.

4. The OP provided a rather interesting, and revealing, self-description.

The prospect of being able to turn scuba diving into a career sounds incredible to a recent graduate, refusing to enter to corporate world of desk jobs.