Going to Koh Tao to become a divemaster

[wiltol]

Hi everyone,

Hope you've all had a great christmas and are looking forward to the new year.

I noticed that this section is meant to offer 'friendly and helpful' advice so I hope I don't get totally roasted for what I am about to say!!

So I basically have about 4-8 months before I start my new job back in the UK and I have decided to pursue my absolute love of diving and head to Koh Tao to become a divemaster. I'd just like to say now that I have no intention of pursuing a career in diving but would like it to be a keen hobby of mine for many years to come. I would therefore like to get as much diving experience as I possibly can and live on the island for atleast 4-8 months. I've done quite a lot of research into it, I want somewhere that has great diving, relatively cheap and is somewhere where there is a close knit community that love diving - Koh Tao - having spent 4 months in Thailand a few years back I have always wanted to come back. I completed my open water and advanced open water on Thailand, and I have now dived in Bahrain, Australia, Egypt and the UK (around 60 dives).

To the point now - I have quite a few questions and would be so so grateful if anyone could offer advice to get me started?

1) I don't know how the divemaster internships work in Thailand but I would be after a long internship where I could work in the shop or promote the school itself, is this possible in Koh Tao?

2) Is there potential to gain short term employment as a divemaster on Koh Tao after you qualify? I understand that divemasters are churned out everyday from some of the schools so I assume there would be a lot of competition for work.

3) I am really struggling to decide which dive school to train with, should I wait until I get there and shop around or are there any schools that have a great reputation for fun/quality diving? Are there any divers on this forum who work for the schools?

4) In regards to Koh Tao itself, would I be right in thinking that near Sairee beach would be the best place to be located? and whether I should pick a school based on this beach?

Sorry again for the essay, and if you have got this far I would love to hear your thoughts.

Luke

 

[Dive Right In Scuba.]

So you want to get in a lot of diving and learn a lot about it during that period of time. Fine!

So why do you want to be a divemaster if you have no plans to pursue a career in diving? Divemaster certification spends a lot of time telling you how to work with students, something you don't intend to do. You can go to a dive paradise and learn a heck of a lot about diving by taking classes in other areas of training, areas where you will learn how to improve your diving skills in ways that will improve the diving you plan to do rather than the diving you are not planning to do at all.

 

[TMHeimer]

I'll also skirt your questions (especially knowing nothing of Thailand). I have enjoyed DMing here in NS by assisting with courses. I haven't DMd charters but am very familiar with how that works. You mention fun and quality diving. You may get some of the latter doing charters, despite the workload of taking care of customers and other stuff. Assisting with courses can be fun in the sense that you are helping others accomplish stuff--the diving itself (for me anyway), is not the fun part, as I am busy--if not helping a student with a skill, or demonstrating one, at least supervising them all the time. As a former teacher, this is attractive to me. If you're primary goal is not education-based, I agree with Dive right In. Either way, sounds exciting. Good luck.

 

[scubawithmike]

I am going out on a limb here so here we go.

I lived and worked on Koh Tao for 2 years 2006-2008. My job was to teach all the courses available and I worked for the largest school on the island, Bans diving. I taught the divemaster internship program as well and staffed 14 IDC's and taught over 400 open waters while I was there.

Here is the real deal. After reading your intentions I would say go. Have a blast, as I did, and do what you want

It is just that simple. Do not listen to any one on this site tell you what to do unless they have done what you are wanting to do.

I was there to be an MI and then CD and all worked out fantastic for me. I also taught many DM's that just wanted the experience and fun. Remember it is supposed to be fun

Mike

 

[rivers]

Honestly, if you have no intention of working as a DM, don't run off to Thailand and do a DM internship. If you want to be the best diver you can be, stick around the UK, and take intro to tech, fundies, or similar course with some of the best instructors in the world who are based in the UK (mark Powell, rich walker, John Kendall, Phil short, etc) and really develop yourself and your skill level as a diver. If you would rather not do the courses in the UK, every single one of them will do a course in Malta, Croatia, or some other warm water destination in Europe.

 

[knotical]

The OP said

... no intention of pursuing a career in diving ...

and folks here have interpreted that as never working as a DiveMaster, which is not quite the same thing.
It's possible Wiltol simply means just what he said - no intention of making it a career. I taught scuba for several years and never considered it a career - it was a sort of self-supporting hobby and a source of great enjoyment - but definitely not my career.
And even if he did mean no intention of ever working as a DiveMaster, there can be other reasons to do the training, such as the fun - as scubawithmmike said, or the challenge.

Now here's where I should start answering Wiltol's questions, but I have no experience with Thailand, so can't.
Hopefully others will respond to his actual questions.

 

[wiltol]

knotical and scubawithmike have got it absolutely spot on, thank you. What I am really after an amazing few months, doing something that I love and meeting a load of awesome people along the way. I think working with students and jsut generally helping out with courses etc would be good fun and a good way to get to know more people. If I can work as a divemaster after I qualify i'd also be able to stay out for much longer which would be incredible!

But yes.. I do not plan to start a career in diving - I have a bog standard city job to be getting back to in 8 months time.

Thanks for all the comments though it is actually really interesting and useful to hear everyones opinions and I am really grateful!

 

[Skulmoski]

With today's economy, it is not a bad thing to have some vocational skills such as being a dive master to fall back upon. You might want to pick up some dive related work from time to time while in university. Having your dive master ticket gives you options. My advice is to go to Koh Toa and become a dive master. Then go to university. Your dive master experience should be appealing to employers once you graduate. Soft skills like communication, multicultural interaction, leadership, responsibility, etc. are all applicable in today's job market.

Good luck, enjoy the curries and beaches of Koh Toa while doing all the diving that comes your way.

Take care

GJS

 

[chillyinCanada]

I thought the diving sucked at Koh Tao but it's a beautiful island and can be tons of fun, and is very diver centric. If I were younger, I'd love to consider something like you're planning. All the best.

 

[TMHeimer]

knotical and scubawithmike have got it absolutely spot on, thank you. What I am really after an amazing few months, doing something that I love and meeting a load of awesome people along the way. I think working with students and jsut generally helping out with courses etc would be good fun and a good way to get to know more people. If I can work as a divemaster after I qualify i'd also be able to stay out for much longer which would be incredible!

But yes.. I do not plan to start a career in diving - I have a bog standard city job to be getting back to in 8 months time.

Thanks for all the comments though it is actually really interesting and useful to hear everyones opinions and I am really grateful!

It's different since you have added that you think working with students would be fun (didn't get that from your OP). Then I say go for it. Knotical is right about some of us giving opinions and not simply answering an OP's question (I hate when people do that to me...). I guess some of us have read similar questions about doing the DM course and get concerned that this may be a mistake for someone.