Koh Tao vs. Bali IDC

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MikeSullivan

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Location
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I will be doing my IDC and MSDT soon and attempting to instruct for a few years after. I am deciding between Thailand and Indonesia.
I am 21 years old and about to graduate university. I am looking for the best place to do IDC on these preferences:

Since I am just graduating university, I am looking for a good quality program (quality course director and job placement), but also a good deal on price, with low cost of living (accommodation and food)
I am looking for the best diving possible, with goals to see: whale shark, any other types of sharks, mimic octopus, cuttlefish, sea krait, pygmy seahorse, frogfish, and may other unique creatures
I am single and looking to have a good time (party, meet other single ladies, not for $$$!)

I heard Koh Toa and Bali are both good places for all this, but I cannot choose which one, has anyone been to both?
I am also open to doing the IDC and MSDT in one place and then working in the other.
Thanks
 
Koh Tao is the cheapest place on earth for professional training.

It suits your other needs except for diving which is not as good as other places in South East Asia.

Still, I hardly see a single place meeting your diving expectations : you will need to get on different places & dive to see pelagic & small stuff ...

As for any other PADI program, the IDC is quite straight forward : CD ranking & additional workshops are pure marketing gimmick (diving is not different from any other business : you will not get a job by spending $$$ ...)

Travel a bit & meet the staff prior to signing up to the program, that's the only advise I can give you ...
 
Bali is better diving and some nightlife. Koh tao is good training and better nightlife and awful diving.... Might also want to consider the Philippines
 
Do you want a good IDC, or a party? Can't have both.

The IDC is a training course- you won't see much besides a swimming pool and a classroom.
 
Diving in ko Tao v average. Cheap for courses, good party atmosphere at times and plenty ppl. Nice place. Bali miles better diving but at scattered sites, has nightlife in parts but not the parts with the best sites!. Agree in that no one amazing place to go for macro Pelagics and nightlife and women and top training, personally I would look at Philippines also. Maybe choose ko Tao for idc then travel and see what u want to see and get an idea where you want to work. I did most of my training, and friends did their idc on Boracay in ppines. Great for beaches, party, women, food and diving is not bad (just not the best ppines has to offer but better than ko Tao), and u can access panagatan for Pelagics or travel on to other ppines sites.
 
Where is a good quality and price deal for IDC in Philippines?

---------- Post added October 10th, 2013 at 07:49 PM ----------

Who did you go through for IDC? How is the cost of living in the Philippines?
 
My friends did their IDCs on boracay, with calypso diving resort, and some other friends did theirs with twofish divers based at bunaken and lembeh. I couldn't tell u the prices they paid but I'm sure there is some standardisation within padi re price variance? I was going to do my idc on Boracay before ending up not doing it for various reasons. Philippines is very cheap place to live, though obviously on Boracay u can spend a lot if u wanted to...depends how much drinking and finer dining you want! And i wouldn't say it's cheaper then Indonesia tbo. I suspect it would cost u more than say ko Tao. My friends very much enjoyed their idc at bunaken having done some diving beforehand in lembeh to see some macro. They ended up in lembongan so they sampled various types of diving from muck to walls to drifts mantas and molas.
 
There's not much diving on any IDC, as you read before.
Our IDC gives you 1 week of diving before the start of the IDC itself. Moreover we offer a 28-day program, incl IDC prep and MSDT prep, which is much more relaxed then standard 12-ish day programs.
15 mins from the dive center you will find busy clubs and awesome night life!

Have a look here for more info.
 
I agree with what has been said above - the IDC like all PADI programs is pretty standardized, so your decision on where to do it depends on how you like the diveshop and area. The IDC program itself is intense with the openwater diving components focusing on training rather than fun diving. It's a professional program aimed at training you. So most of your partying and fun diving won't take place within the IDC but in the weeks leading up to and following the program.

Now time for a bit of self-promotion... if you are looking for both partying & good diving we do offer a joint IDC program a few times a year. The first half of the IDC is spent on Gili Trawangan (Indonesia's infamous party island) at Lutwala Dive, then the second half is spent here on Lembongan Island (some of Bali's best diving) at Blue Corner Dive. So you can get your quota of partying AND amazing diving!!
 
I have just successfully completed the IDC / IE on Koh Tao with Davy Jones Locker. Course Directors Peter Nieuwhof, Guy Corsellis and Patrick Tassin are superb and I highly recommend their programme. I wrote the following in a longer review of DJL:

"In the end, Peter, Guy and Patrick will intentionally over-prepare you for the IE. Why? Because they aren't preparing you to simply pass the IE. They are dedicated to helping you to become a safe, responsible and successful instructor - for your and your future students' benefit. Therefore they train you to the same high level that they would expect to see in any instructor that they themselves would hire. If you want rigorous, standards-centred training, then DJL is the right choice - if you just want to pass the IE, you're barking up the wrong tree."

Koh Tao is also fun, young and inexpensive in terms of daily costs - and there are good opportunities to work there after the IDC. I highly recommend that you look up Davy Jones Locker Koh Tao on Google, and have a chat with Peter or Guy - if you haven't already made a choice.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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