Divemaster course

[mikeemike1982]

where is the best area and school to take my divemaster course in thailand ? i am in florida presently and thought thailand would be a good and fun place to do this and possibly work for a little while once im done? do you recommend somewhere better then thailand? any advice accepted!!! just wanna do the course and work a bit in a nice place. ive heard thailand certifies tons of ppl a year and is quite good for schooling.

so far ive looked at this place for the course seems it has a good rap

Dive jobs - Scuba diving internships Pattaya Thailand divemaster training (mermaids)

 

[Bowmouth]

Phuket, Krabi, Koh Lanta, Phi-Phi and Khao Lak are all wonderful places on Thailand's West Coast to do your DM course.
Koh Samui, Koh Tao, Chumpon, Pattaya and Koh Chang are very good places to do your DM on the East Coast.

First decide where you want to go; East or West coast, then start looking for a good diveshop (plenty of those on either side)

 

[Bowmouth]

Just one more thing: The Perhentian Islands off the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia also is a very nice place to do your DM course.

 

[Arizona]

Mike,

This is meant respectful, but this question is getting a bit old in this forum. Try the search engine as many have posted on this topic. You need to consider many factors (time of year and personal preference) and that would be a good starting point. I did mine out of Koh Samui. If you want PM me.

Arizona

 

[El Orans]

A search for "Divemaster" and "course" in the Thailand forum should indeed give you a long list of threads...

Here are just a few.

• http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/th...d-august-dmt.html?highlight=divemaster+course
• http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/th...hip-mermaids.html?highlight=divemaster+course
• http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/th...aster-course.html?highlight=divemaster+course
• http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/th...ster-koh-tao.html?highlight=divemaster+course
• http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/th...ple-together.html?highlight=divemaster+course
• http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/th...ience-advice.html?highlight=divemaster+course
• http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/th...-help-please.html?highlight=divemaster+course

 

[Ex-Aquanaut]

Hi Mike, congrats on making the decision to move up to Divemaster. I looked up your other posts and it seems it’s been about exactly a year since you got certified, so you certainly do seem to have the diving bug!

As you suspected, Thailand is a terrific place to come and spend some time doing a divemaster course. The prices are so much lower here that many people, like us, can offer long (2-3 month) internships for the price a short DM course would cost in Florida. (I was living in Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach and used to trek down to Boynton Beach to go diving. What a pain!)

Plus it’s beautiful and warm and fun here in Thailand and, as you also surmised, it’s a big dive market with a lot of certifications. In fact, Thailand is Southeast Asia’s largest dive market.

As such, there are a lot of choices for divemaster courses and ample choice for Internships. You mentioned one, Mermaid’s Dive Center, but that is certainly not the only one. I’m from Aquanauts Dive Centre, about 20 minutes away from Mermaid’s and we also offer a similar Divemaster Internship, but one with significant differences.

Probably most apparent is size. We are a small, boutique-style program that focuses on individual instruction and small groups. Most classes are 1-on-1 (at no extra charge) and the largest class is 3 people. Our overall enrollment is kept under 30. Compare that to the Mermaid’s-type environment where there are more than 130 interns banging around at any one time. We believe our smaller size allows us to give students maximum time with their instructor. It also makes for a cozier internship, where everyone not only knows each other’s names, but work together as a team and celebrate graduation, birthdays and the like.

Probably the next thing you’ll notice is that this Personalized Training actually comes at a significantly lower price than Mermaid’s. Depending on your current certification, Aquanauts divemaster internships are $960 - $1,050 less expensive! That’s a pretty big consideration.

But while you pay less at Aquanauts, you actually get more. We are the only dive center in all of Central Thailand with two in-house course directors with more than 45 years of professional experience. We are the only internship in Thailand to offer a choice of 2 different base equipment packages. (And if you own your own gear, we offer a credit that is 50% more than Mermaid’s.) We also are the exclusive Asian training center for the Professional Emergency Response Training organization, which can certify you as a professional emergency/rescue/public safety diver. In fact, we offer an exclusive integrated PERT / PADI Divemaster internship.

Finally, there’s the issue of jobs. If you are at all interested in working in the dive industry, than Aquanauts is your best choice. We are the only dive center in the world (really) that owns and operates a separately incorporated, full-time scuba diving industry job placement company. Called Jobs4Divers, we operate the www.jobs4divers.com website which today has more than 620 diving jobs listed. In addition, we employ a full-time staff right here in Pattaya that helps our students get their resumes and cover letters online and then can query our database of 6,500 dive centers worldwide. We think no one else matches this commitment to helping our grads find work.

There’s a number of other things that make the Aquanauts program unique. See the website at www.divinginstructortraining.com for a “Top 10” list of the best reasons to join us and explore the site to read more about our two Divemaster internships, our Jobs4Divers service and much more. Then feel free to use our toll-free number – 866-995-5959 – to chat with us more about our program.

 

[DevonDiver]

My only advice is to STAY AWAY from any dive centre that would blatantly self-advertise on a forum.


Koh Tao is a good bet if you want to be around young people and enjoy a great quality of life and social scene during your course. There is a massive dive industry on Tao, meaning you'll get lots of hands on experience. Depending on your objectives, stay away from the bigger schools though, as they are more 'party orientated' than 'diving orientated'. There are nearly 50 independent dive shops on Koh Tao...and they all accept Divemaster interns for training. Come to the island and shop around until you find a shop/manager and staff that you like and who represent the type of diving you aspire to. The west coast is slightly more expensive, but has better quality of diving IF you go on a liveaboard.

 

[Arizona]

I thought that was subtle for Aquanauts For what it’s worth, they should include a name with their advert. It would make it look more personal, rather than a form letter.

In all seriousness, good training can be had all throughout Thailand. IMO one needs to find an instructor you can work with in an area you want to be in. Seasons and personal preference should guide your investment in your future. I dive whenever I can and found good diving on both sides of Thailand. You should visit if you can and check things out in person.

 

[DevonDiver]

I thought that was subtle for Aquanauts For what it’s worth, they should include a name with their advert. It would make it look more personal, rather than a form letter.

In all seriousness, good training can be had all throughout Thailand. IMO one needs to find an instructor you can work with in an area you want to be in. Seasons and personal preference should guide your investment in your future. I dive whenever I can and found good diving on both sides of Thailand. You should visit if you can and check things out in person.

That's good advice....allow yourself a few weeks to actually travel Thailand (it's quick, cheap and easy to get around here)...and evaluate your options in person. There is no substitute for actually visiting the dive stores - seeing how they tick and meeting the instructors in person. Narrow down your choices and then do some fun diving with the dive centres that you are interested in.

A good or bad DMT programme will have profound effects on your employability and future development as a diving professional.

 

[scuba_walter]

first decide where you want to do it east side or west , then search the internet for all the divecenters email them all .
then you go to thailand travel around visit your favorite divecenters from the email reply's
talk to the instructor or instructor's who are gonna teach you the course and then make your choice .
greetings from koh phi phi
walter