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

[nicoool23]

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.

 

[Glenn08]

If teaching scuba diving is your source of income, it is a 'job'. I once spoke to a scuba instructor who had taken up hot air ballooning as a hobby, to replace scuba, which was no longer a hobby. He planned to become a ballooning instructor next. I wondered why he didn't recognize the pattern. Consider looking at this from the perspective of a 'retail employee' that deals with the 'public'.

 

[NorCalDM]

If you search this site you will find many posts on this subject. Personally I don't like these type of internships, if you want to be an effective instructor go dive and get some real world experience first. You live in Seattle go get certified in your local area and see if you even like diving before you move half way around the world. Just my two cents.

 

[theduckguru]

I am a flight instructor. Young wanna bees tell me they want to spend tons on college and flight training, work for squat building hours as a flight instructor, the work for squat as a 2nd in command for several years and fly for a living. I also point out that a health condition can end your carrer real quick. My advice, become a cardiologist and fly when and what you want. Go back to school, earn a bunch, and dive where you want.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I am not critical of the program nicoool23 refers to, but I too am critical of the idea of beginner to instructor in one continuing program. First get certified, then do some diving. Then move on toward higher certifications and then to professional certifications. There is something that bothers me about paying $10,000.00 for a program to raise to a professional level in an activiity you have never even tired! I think you should crawl before you walk, and walk before you run, and run before you run a marathon. I hope you find that you love diving, and that you become a great success as an instructor. But there is a lot of "doing" to get there. You don't become an instructor, you develop into that role with training, experience and maturity in our sport. No need to rush.
DivemasterDennis

 

[fjpatrum]

I don't know what the going rates are for that kind of program but I think if I had that much money to drop, I'd just go to Koh Tao and pay the ~$8 per night in lodging and ~$10-15 per day for food (at least a few years ago) and spend the rest just diving. Decide then if you want to go pro or not and plan accordingly once you're there. I suspect you'll have more freedom and spend less money, in the end.

 

[Ste Wart]

Koh Tao training comes with a bad reputation. I'd spend your money elsewhere.

 

[Allan C Smith]

Rainbow Reef in Florida offers a similar program but it's free. How ever you should at least get you open water first! Make sure your not claustrophobic Florida is a much easier move than Asia. And Rainbow Reef Graduates have a good name to stand behind them. After you get you Master Instructor you can roam the glob and get paid for it. well kinda... You can roam the globe on a budget but I would't plan on saving for retirement.

 

[pasley]

We call this type of instruction Zero to Hero (ZH) and it is not well regarded. While it complies with the letter of the certification agency policy manual it violates the intent. The intent is that the DM is a seasoned experineced SCUBA diver before they take the Dive Master Course and later the Instructor Course.

Dive Master (DM) is the entry level of Dive Professional. As a professional you are expecetd to have skills and are held to a higher standard. Insurnce is required and your DM or Instructor license expires every year and must be renewed (usally by paying the fee and proving you have insurance). The pay is low, usally barely enough to cover the essentials. Skip the ZH and go take your Basic open water course and see if you like SCUBA diving before investing $10,000 US dollars. Talk to several locations around the world where you think you would like to work and see what they really pay. Also note that SCUBA is usaly paid only when you work (not hourly) and often SEASONAL work in most places with the off season not having enough business to cover your personal expenses. NOTE: I have no experience doing this, but a friend went to a Carribean island to work as a DM, what they told him was the pay and hours and what he got once he was there and trapped were not the same thing. He had to borrow money to get out of there. I have heard this is not an uncommon occurance.

 

[Vicksburg Diver]

Nope! In agreement with all the rest who have posted....learn to dive.....get "real experience"...progress through the levels......then go into an Instructor program. Going through a program such as you've outlined is a manifestation of one of my favorite sayings, "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king".