Questions about IDC last quater of 2013 - biased and unbiased recomendations welcome

[whooyeah]

I did my Divemaster in Pattaya so I was going to do the IDC there but thought I should look around first so I have a couple of questions:

1) based on the weather which area of Thailand would be best Oct - Dec?

2) How much should it cost all up in baht with crewpack, IE and application fees. (not including accommodation)

3) Can anyone recommend dive stores and explain why? I lot of people make recommendations based on where they did it but that doesn't really say much about the quality of the teaching.


I been looking at all4diving in Phuket as I've heard good thing about them and seen their dive operation before. I'd like to do it on a small island but not too sure about the quality of the teaching. Not too keen on koh Tao as it seems a bit like an Instructor factory however it might be a good option to finish MSDT.

 

[supergaijin]

IMO if the Divemaster training was solid, the IDC doesn't make or break the instructor. Course Directors do have their own personality of course. Personally I would recommend a change of scenery and dive center only for the added experience of seeing another shop and their operating procedure.

However I would wonder whether there would be a huge difference between IDC's in either location. What I saw while in Koh Tao at... Asia Divers ( 2009 I think) was little different from my IDC in the Philippines.

Perhaps IDC staff'ers on SB could have a better picture.

 

[Quero]

I know that Chris Pace, the CD at All4Diving is good, so you will be fine there if you decide to do it with them. He's French, and the whole A4D op is also French, so that will make for one sort of atmosphere. You might contact Bubble Junky here on SB, who is a CD on Phi Phi and also runs IDCs on Lanta. I may staff for him in September, so that would be sooner than you are considering. He's English, and his approach is going to have to do with his own background, wry sense of humor, and beliefs. I have staffed for Limbo here on SB as well, and you might like to contact him. He's Dutch. Another CD I am associated with is Sarah Kench at Scuba Cat, though I haven't (yet) had a chance to staff for her. One nice thing about Scuba Cat is that they've got both daytrip and liveaboard boats, so you may get the bonus of an overnight trip.

 

[buiszie]

Why doing ur Instructor course in Thailand if there is Indonesia.

Padi Instructor Development Course (IDC) starts every month. If you like to chance your life style, if you like the have the ocean as your office this is the way to go.
Oceans 5 is a Padi 5 star Instructor Development (IDC) dive resort located on Gili Air. Gili Air is part of the famous Gili Islands, North West Lombok. The diving around the islands offers diving for everyone. If you like big fish (sharks, bumpheads, trevallies, etc), small stuff (nudis, seahorses, pipefish) or turtles.
It is a perfect place to start your IDC. The island is not that busy as Bali or Gili Trawangan, but has enough bars and restaurants to have in the evening a nice drink or dinner.
Oceans 5 dive resort conducts every month IDCs. The Instructor Development Course (IDC) is a 10-12 day program that enables Divemasters and leaders from other training organizations to achieve their dream of teaching scuba diving using the PADI system. The IE will be held on the Gili Islands.
During the IDC you will use the latest teaching techniques, the complete system of PADI support materials, and will be continuously assessed on your teaching and presentation skills.
PADI Course Director Camille Lemmens, Padi Course Director Sander Buis and our team of IDC Staff Instructors are committed to your success at the Instructor examination (IE). They also want to make sure that you are comfortable with teaching afterwards. The Instructor program at Oceans 5 Dive Resort exceeds the minimum required by PADI in terms of time and number of presentations you will prepare.
The program is taught in a dedicated classroom, the confined water sessions are held in a 25 meter swimming pool and the open water sessions are only 5 minutes away from the dive shop. Our facilities will enable you to study and prepare in a relaxed and chilled atmosphere. Gili Air is so relaxed because there are no motorbikes, no cars and no dogs on the island.
Before the IDC there is an IDC preparation. Normally this takes 3-4 days, but it is no problem if you come earlier. During these days your diving skills and dive theory will be brushed. Also after the IDC it is possible to assist instructors on courses so you will get the feeling how a course will be conducted.
Maximum of students of an IDC is 8 candidates. The average of 2012 was 4-5 students each IDC. Oceans 5 dive resort has a 100% passing rate of the IE.
All the candidates of Oceans 5 dive resort found a job in the dive industry. Mostly they found a job on the Gili Islands, not long after they passed their IE.
After the IE there is a possibility to do a prep MSDT program. Oceans 5 offers a lot of instructor specialties, but the most popular ones are Nitrox, Deep, Digital Underwater Photography, Oxygen Provider, Night, and Sidemounting. But there are others you can choose of. It depends about how many dives you have to do for each specialty yo choose how long the prep MSDT takes.
Why is Oceans 5 dive resort different than all the other IDC centers?

• Oceans 5 dive resort is the only dive centre in the Gili Islands that has 2 course directors.
• Oceans 5 dive resort is well aware of hisenvironment.
• Oceans 5 dive resort organizes every week reef and beach clean ups in the harbor of Gili Air.
• Oceans 5 dive resort has a turtle nursery for injured turtles. With an In -The-House marine biologist Oceans 5 likes to bring some knowledge to the IDC candidates.
• Oceans 5 dive resort offers during the IDC a free marine biology class.
• Oceans 5dive resort is also the only Padi dive center in Asia that is awarded with the Padi Accessibility Award, that means that Oceans 5 can teach and has the possibilities to teach or guide disabled divers.

 

[Alfawolfje]

Sander,

Although I can understand the need for marketing, re-starting week old threads multiple times is really annoying. I've just read the same message three times in 2 minutes. if I was mod, I would delete them.

Good luck with your IDC.

PS: I'm actually someone looking for an IDC myself right now and this behavior doesn't really 'convince' me

 

[scubadollar]

How about having a chat with these guys? Dive-Careers, have been around the block, do training in a few different locations, and seem to have good feedback.