2 Months Indonesia (Sulawesi) OWSI

Hello here is a special one!

We are planning a trip from July 1 – Aug 30 2013.
My boyfriend is so lucky to have spare education funds, but they run out SEP 1 2013. So basically he has around 4500$ he can use for a certified instructor course. So how much does it cost to go from AOW to OWSI, including ALL required materials, application fee to PADI, exam fees. Books, hotel and food!

The hurdle is that he has to have on paper a realistic schedule, and that when he is finished he must have a teaching license, and the whole package for him cannot cost more than the 4500$, and be finished before AUG30. Otherwise he will not receive any funding. So there can preferably be no extras! Flights are on his own dime.

The other thing is that I will be joining him, but as a poor Student I do not have the funds for diving every day for 2 months! I am a certified DM, so what are the chances that any center will hire a DM for just 2 months? I hope to share his “single” villa room, for it to become cheaper for me. So Full price for him and as many freebies for me as possible JI do not have to stay at the hotel the whole trip!

I’ve looked over the different places to dive, and N Sulawesi looks like a good place. Ive checked the forums and 2fish divers out on Bunaken, seems like an option. What other options are there in the Sulawesi area?
I hope it’s much better than Thailand which was rather run down (Richelieu rock, was nice) compared to Egypt. He likes beautiful scenery with lots of fish of any size, and I love macro, but also being engulfed in fish.
We have dived Egypt multiple times from land and liveaboards, same with Thailand.

We are very open to suggestions, and not bound to any destination. Egypt is scorching 45+ degrees C, Australia quite expensive so where do two cocktail divers go then?

Cheers

You mentioned Two Fish Divers and I would recommend them. They have locations in Bunaken, Lembeh and Bali. Also NAD-Lembeh might be an option. Kungkungan Bay Resort might also be an option. You will find some of these resorts will start to discount the rate the longer the stay with the 21 day rate less than the 14 day rate, etc. You might also look at the Village on Bunaken (www.bunakenvillage.com) and Kima Bajo with YOS Divers.

+1 for TwoFish. Very nice locations and you should be able to do the course between Bunaken and Lembeh. Send an email to Brendon at 2fish for the Instructor Developpment Course, I am pretty sure they will prepare you a detailed schedule. The key element that is maybe not on their hand is Instructor Examination that is scheduled by PADI.

Since you've identified a geographic area you'd like to go for diving and training, just start writing to the various ops there to ask your questions about costs, lodging, possibility for work, etc. I'm certain that nobody in Indonesia is going to hire you legally with all the paperwork necessary for just a couple of months. The work visa/permit is expensive for one thing, and for another nearly all dive guides in Indonesia are Indonesian. However, if you've never done an internship, you might ask whether you can sign on as an intern in order to do more diving and what the cost for that would be (in that case you'd be a "student" rather than an "employee" so your work status would be less problematic).

Your budget is likely to be a stretch more then your destination. Bear in mind that when 'courses' are sold at the pro level (DM and Instructor) often what is not included are course material costs. About USD $300 for DM and USD $400+ for Instructor. Course fees are variable depending on how desperate the operation is and how bad their cash flow is.

Your Instructor Examination will ask you to cough out another USD $450+. Your rescue course (minimally since you are AOW) will be another good USD $350 though this is on the very low side. And your first year PADI membership as a pro will take out another say USD $150 +.

Course materials and exams and membership alone you're already out of pocket some USD $1.6k before:
- equipment (a crappy pro set with required bells and more bells will set you back some USD $500 but you could die)
- course fees (variable - from after AOW to Instructor I'd estimate some USD $1k for course fees* on the very low side)
- * new PADI DM standards since 2012 require several more 'courses' or 'specialties' (more course fees)
- food
- accommodation
- tips (yes, you are no longer in Europe)
- visa extensions (definitely required for two months no matter where in Asia and if you are not a 'staff' member employed this could require you flying/driving/bussing/motorcycling/swimming out of the country for a couple of days and coming back in again - far easier to do from Phuket then from North Sulawesi)

If you do not drink a drop and do not smoke you might just scrape by with limiting your meals to only rice and vegetables twice a day.

You could possibly be better off with Quero in Phuket where there is a much wider range of accommodation and food cost. Assuming you would want to be a more competent instructor then some centres in Phuket will definitely put you in better standing in terms of number of students you can possibly train (and see being trained) after you pass your IE.

Hint for general expenditures: in Phuket prices are listed before you buy/eat. in Lembeh/Bunaken no prices are listed unless you shop/eat at Matahari in town (but that would be another expense just to get to town).

Please do not think that I do not like Indonesia. I love the diving in Indonesia! I'm letting you know your cost reality since you are on a very tight budget.

If you insist on going to North Sulawesi, get your medical done (for all your courses - you can request this form from your centre of choice or you can simply download it online from PADI/SSI etc) - and dated right before you leave. Make multiple copies just in case. Facilities are available but you'll have to take a boat ride and/or car ride back to the doctor.

Don't forget your airport exit tax and general foreigner tax. Remember, you will get what you pay for. Wish you the best in your endeavours to become a dive instructor.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, P, but I don't think my island will work for this couple in terms of timing, at least if he's looking for a PADI OWSI rating. The IE for August takes place on Aug 9-11 with the IDC starting in late July. That means he'd have to do Rescue, EFR, Deep, S&R, Nav, and DM all in about 3 weeks, and if he hasn't got his requisite 40 dives by the time he enrolls in the DM course, he'll need some time/money to plump up his numbers as well. I agree with you that the notion of both of them trying to live on his stipend and still pay for courses, gear, materials, certs is a bit of a stretch, but I think it can be done if they live very simply and don't party or think they need to "experience Indonesia/Thailand/wherever" as well.

---------- Post added January 5th, 2013 at 09:11 AM ----------

I just checked an IDC schedule to see where a late-August IDC might work, and there is one in Indonesia in the last few days of August. When I see the course + materials fees for that CDC, they come about $4300 for the DM and IDC courses (including all the other bits and pieces such as the EFR training, cert fees, materials, exam fees, etc.). So without the Rescue course, they could just about scrape by, if they can find some money for food and lodging, and still finish up by Sept 1.

#2 I Can see that Kungkungan Bay Resort does up to Assistant Instructor. The rest of the websites are a nightmare, but then again one should never judge a book by its cover. Except 2fish wich has a nice site. I cannot find YOS divers and Dive Center Kima Bajo « KIMA BAJO ? Resort, Spa, and Dive Center in Manado, North Sulawesi ? Indonesia website is unfortunately not finished.
Recommendations are always welcome on places to stay, as 2 months in the same place is a long time. Even though is holiday and nice surroundings!
#3 Thanks for the thumps up. We definitely will! Right now I’m just searching the market so I don’t spam the Dive centers with questions just yet.
#4 Good idea with the internship, it seems like a good option.
#5 Thanks a lot for the rundown of numbers! Greatly appreciated, as I thought it was more than enough cash for an education package, food and accommodation. I thought Indonesia would be cheaper than Thailand and Egypt all in all.
We don’t smoke but we do like to indulge in the Kitchen flavors of the east, so I do expect to use more cash. I was asking for an “all included price”. Because as a former travel agent I’ve stayed at a whole lot of All-inclusive hotels and it’s nice to have, but always expect to go elsewhere for your own dime if you want culinary wonders Well except maybe Burj Al Arab, wich was a real treat!
Ill apply for a 60days visa from home, because it’s too much of a hassle to renew the 30 day on arrival visa!
“-tips (yes, you are no longer in Europe)” A headache for any Scandinavian! True we like a price tag so we don’t have to worry over how much we have to add.
Nice with the Phuket recommendation, but we were there last in 2011. We were disappointed with the diving and the whole machinery! We did a 1 week live aboard around Richelieu Rock and I did my DM at Koh Tao. It felt horrible to be just another number and the run down corals and diver soup was a sore sight. I was a Koh Tao 10 years earlier, so I’ve seen some of the change. Don’t get me wrong I like Thailand, and I will be coming back, but diving wise it has limitations. But hey that’s just my opinion!
Good point with the medicals! And thanks for all your input.
#6 Thanks for your reply. As you can guess, Thailand is completely off our list of places to go, as the diving is in focus of this trip and we want to try something new.
We will have to haul our extremely heavy gear from back home; I mean I have to have my tailor made Star Trek uniform wetsuit with me! and size 14 Booties
As far as money its always easier to have an estimate when I up my credit, otherwise the bank isn’t so understanding!

Finally I haven’t heard any recommendations for staying on Bali, is it much cheaper or is the diving “less nice”.

In Bali, you may find dive centres that are happy to enlist free dive labourers (interns). This is totally illegal, may get you in trouble ( jail + fines) and will likely mean that locals will get annoyed with you for taking work away from them especially if you don't bring anything new like languages... I'd say don't do it unless you are actually training!
Other islands have much less checks by immigration or even local workers so that this may be less of an issue... Thinking Gilis! Be warned that Indonesia is getting harsher every year with illegal workers.
That being said, these dates correspond to high season in Bali and less regarding dive centres may be happy with free labour. Just be aware what you are exposing yourself since when **** hits the fan, you're on your own.
As for doing an almost zero to hero in only two months, this may be doable but seems to me like a stretch. Could do up to DM, get some work experience, maybe even extra courses like photo or Tec and really gain valuable experience rather than zip through the courses Asap and become an undertrained, inexperienced instructor...
Just my two cents on the matter!

---------- Post added January 6th, 2013 at 08:54 AM ----------

PS: the diving is not less nice... Far from that!
As for prices, i agree with quero that you need to check directly with IDC centres since prices change regularly. Some may have special offers for couples (buy one, get one free). A few IDC / CDC centres in Bali include Crystal, Baliscuba, Bali Breizh and Atlantis!
Wish you good luck in your search

Jakob Justesen:

the diving is in focus of this trip

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You are aware that the kind of training you have in mind is not focused on diving, right? I mean that perhaps you'll get some dives that are fun as the training dives for AOW, but certainly not for Rescue, EFR is a non-diving cert, and DM is almost devoid of diving beyond the workshops on navigation, mapping, search and recovery, and those have to be done at shallow sites, per standards. Of course DM trainees are meant to lead some dives as well, but these are working dives, not fun dives. In other words, these dives are the customer's fun dives, not the DMT's fun dives, and the objective is customer service, not diving. What you should be focused on is excellent instruction, not excellent dive sites because what you propose to do is really not much related to diving for fun.

I would contact Two Fish Divers - Brendon is a great Course Director. Also their prices are very reasonable. For the partner 'working' in Indonesia this probably won't happen but I would speak to the place that you choose to see if they can come up with a special 'deal' for the partner - cheaper diving etc.