Hello all--looking to become a Divemaster, would like opinions on locations!

[Jonger]

Hello,

Last year I received my first introduction to scuba in Thailand (Koh Phi Phi), where I became an Open Water Diver. I loved it, and was instantly hooked. This year, on vacation to Malaysia (the Perhentian Islands), I had another go at it and was again smitten with the experience, and got my Advanced Open Water Diver certification. The wildlife is beautiful, the experience is relaxing, working with and meeting new people is an added bonus, and all that. I won't bore you with the details of my love for scuba, because I'm sure you feel the same way.

Anyway, this year I finish my teaching contract, and my plan beginning in February is to go somewhere and become Divemaster certified, at the very least, and begin working at a dive shop. My original thought was that I wanted to do this on the Great Barrier Reef, but apparently February is in the middle of their low, rainy season, and February for me seems to be a pretty inflexible start date. Other ideas I have had are the Red Sea (great diving I hear) and the Philippines (pretty good diving, interesting wreck dives, cheap cost of living, probably cheap certification).

I am having trouble deciding in large part because I am unaware of the possibilities. Any opinions or ideas you guys have for me would be much appreciated. My main criteria are:

-Cheap--between cost of living and payment for certification, I would like to try to keep this expense under control. I have a limited budget. Also, if I can start working at a dive shop after getting certified there (or during, at the shop or something), that would be a huge plus).

-Good Diving--yeahhhhh you guys know what I'm talking about. Good wildlife and a high season when I am there seem pretty necessary.

-Decent Amount of Human Activity--some places appear to have amazing diving, but appear to be so remote that I'd only see the same few people all of the time. It would be nice to be in a place that isn't so remote, so that I may socialize from time to time. Cebu, Philippines seems decent in this respect (could be wrong on this though).

Any ideas? Thank you for your help!

John

 

[bacat]

Hi John

What about Thailand? February is the peak of high season with excellent weather and good diving conditions. Check out Scuba Cat in Phuket. They have a program that will take you from Advanced to Dive Master. I did my DM and IDC there a few years ago and I was very happy with the training I was given. Worth taking a look.

 

[DevonDiver]

There's plenty of cheap options in Thailand, you often only get what you pay for though. The cheapest, quickest routes to the Divemaster 'card' tend to be the 'factory' dive operators.

Employability after certification - you need to be realistic about this. 000's of students get qualified as DMs in Asia each year. Most (like yourself) begin the process without any substantial diving experience. It's an employers market, and unless you have multiple languages and/or a wealth of transferable skills (compressor maintenance, web design, sales, customer service etc) then you won't have much diving-related experience to help you stand out from the crowd. Many newly qualified 'zero-to-hero' Divemaster end up working for free... 'for the experience'. The lucky ones get a 100% commission based work, or do some scraps as free-lancers. To sustain yourself out there, you should have some savings to rely on...