OW to DM (Utila/Roatan or Koh Tao)

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scubaalp

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Location
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It's fair to say after completing my DSD I've caught the scuba bug :D

I'm now looking at places to go from open water to divemaster including EFR and 2/3 specialities, I've got prices from all over the world and I've narrowed it down to 3 locations due to my budget (otherwise it would be bora bora or tahiti
:wink: )

Anyway the 3 locations are;
Utila - Utila Dive Centre
Roatan - Coconut Tree Divers
Koh Tao - Bans, Crystal Dive, Davy Jones or Ban's

They're all roughly around the £1100 - £1400 mark.

I just wondered if anyone could share any experiences with me to help with my decision?

From the research I have done already there seems to be more species of fish over in the carribean compared to Koh Tao, and Koh Tao seem's to attract more backpacker's.

Would appreciate any help guys :D

Happy scuba'in days
 
Not what you're going to want to hear, but I'm going to say it anyway: SLOW DOWN
You are not even certified yet, and from the sounds of it, you've only done a discover dive. Why do you want to go straight to DM? I would suggest do your OW and AOW, locally in the UK, possibly even rescue. Do a whole bunch of diving. Then do a whole bunch more diving, and dive a bit more. Really develop your skill set as a diver, be completely comfortable in the water. If **** hits the fan, you need to be able to keep your cool and solve it. As a DM, you will be assisting with new divers, guiding divers who may only dive once or twice every couple of years. They look to you as a role model, and if you are not solid in the water, you're not one. I have seen far too many DMs (and instructors) who shouldn't be in a professional position (or even certified). Don't be one of them.
Like I said before, get certified here, in the UK. Go diving here, it's fantastic. It will also put you in a better position if and when you decide to go pro.
 
Rivers, I take your point, but to do it here in the UK, I'll be diving in water with a visibility of 1-2 metres, the price of all courses are twice the price than asia or central america i.e. OW, AOW, RD + EFR and DM is £1525 and that isn't including the price for diving and thirdly I think living a divers lifestyle with professional divers all day should ultimately make me a better diver.
 
Moreover, what makes you think you're going to be any good at it? The world is full of useless dive professionals. Spend a few (and by a few I mean a lot) years diving every weekend and rack up a few hundred dives and figure out if you've got any aptitude at all to a) do it yourself or b) teach others. Then worry about getting trained up.
 
Moreover, what makes you think you're going to be any good at it? The world is full of useless dive professionals. Spend a few (and by a few I mean a lot) years diving every weekend and rack up a few hundred dives and figure out if you've got any aptitude at all to a) do it yourself or b) teach others. Then worry about getting trained up.

What he said...

Rivers, I take your point, but to do it here in the UK, I'll be diving in water with a visibility of 1-2 metres, the price of all courses are twice the price than asia or central america i.e. OW, AOW, RD + EFR and DM is £1525 and that isn't including the price for diving and thirdly I think living a divers lifestyle with professional divers all day should ultimately make me a better diver.

I've only had one sea dive this year where the vis was 1-2 metres, and the best I had was 15+m (about 2 weeks ago in Plymouth on the Persier, and I had 10+m on the Maine. There's even video to prove it). Average was 3-6 metres, and this year has been pretty appalling vis wise. Yes, vis in the UK is a crapshoot, but it's not as bad as you think.
Okay, yes, the courses are more expensive in the UK, but I'm telling you to not do it all at once, and get some diving done in between each course. Taking course after course will not allow you to develop yourself as a diver. Getting out there and diving will make you a better diver. Just because someone is a dive professional does not mean they are good diver. I have seen some appalling "pros" that never should have been let out of the pool, nevermind become a dive pro.
My initial suggestion still stands: get certified in the UK. Do a bunch of diving, not just 50-60 dives, get a couple of hundred in (I can easily do that in 2 years). There are plenty of us over here in the UK that dive all year long, who will happily buddy and mentor a new UK diver (myself included). It's what I did. A now good friend took me under his wing when I first started diving here. His help and influence helped to develop my skill level to the point it is now. Something that never would have happened if I had gone abroad. Once you get a bit of diving in, if you want to head off somewhere tropical and warm to do your DM course, by all means, go and do it. But now, when you are not even certified, is not the time do it.
 
Point taken but I live in the midlands, so I'd be diving in quarry's and lake's, the reason I'm willing to go abroad and do it is because the sooner I can become a DM, then I'll be able to work as one then gain the experience. I've just finished university so I haven't got an employer to answer to, whilst I'm sat here applying for jobs I could be elsewhere diving. Obviously if I was employed i'd be doing the course in the UK. Obviously everyone scenario is different and you must take that into consideration before making a judgement.

There is no perfect route to becoming a dive instructor and I'm sure everyone else's journey is different.

My original question was "I just wondered if anyone could share any experiences with me to help with my decision?"

This was about 3 destinations, not whether I should do it all at once or not.
 
No one reputable is going to hire a zero to hero DM with no real world dive experience. Sorry

And I live in Somerset, and before that London. So I need to travel to get to the sea as well. Most of my diving is in quarries, but they can be good fun
 
He's going to be the next dead diver we hear about. People with this mindset are the idiots that go into places such as
overheads without training
 
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