My daughter is considering completing her DiveMaster training and certification on Koh Tao. Right now she has gotten information from Buddah View, but I am wondering if there may be better choices. Any ideas are helpful. Thanks
Good DM course and shop on Koh Tao?
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DevonDiver
N/A
I think her selection is going to revolve around two primary factors:
1) Personal rapport with the instructor/center concerned.
2) Her intended goals upon qualification.
The first factor favors a process of in-person interview/selection. In essence, travel to Koh Tao and personally inspect the dive shops available (or a short-list of them created in advance).
The second factor determines the short-list. Most of the dive shops in Koh Tao run DM courses as a 'backpacker experience', rather than as a serious industry qualification course.
The "experience" operations tend to offer a lot of fun, the chance to meet and socialize with other young people...and generally exposure to a lot of diving. They are generally of finite, or relatively shorter, duration and do not focus as much on strong diving skills, significant development of a larger breadth of diving experience. They do, however, give some responsibility and a bit of hard work to be done - a good 'maturity test' for youngsters (some do fail that maturity test...). However, those "experience" courses tend not to receive the highest levels of credibility from the wider scuba industry. They are less beneficial on the resume if searching for dive industry employment outside of Koh Tao/Thailand.
A more serious "industry qualification" course will be of longer duration, a true "internship" (overall job performance, rather than course tick-box based). They aim to create a credibly experienced divemaster, whose scope of training will exceed the bare requirements of the DM syllabus. There will be a strong focus on excellent dive skills and leadership ability. The training will consider a broader industry appeal, rather than just the processes of that shop/that island. The DM candidate/student will work, and act, like a fully integrated team-member, rather than a 'customer'. The end product will be something tangible on a resume, rather than just a plastic card.
There's plenty of schools on Koh Tao that couldn't, or wouldn't, offer a serious "industry qualification" course. Other centers may presume students want a more "experience" than an entry into the scuba industry... but will provide a more 'industrial' qualification if that is communicated to them.
It's been a long while since I was on Koh Tao, so my knowledge of individual dive shops/instructors is probably quite out-of-date. I'd recommend Master Divers as a starting point though..
1) Personal rapport with the instructor/center concerned.
2) Her intended goals upon qualification.
The first factor favors a process of in-person interview/selection. In essence, travel to Koh Tao and personally inspect the dive shops available (or a short-list of them created in advance).
The second factor determines the short-list. Most of the dive shops in Koh Tao run DM courses as a 'backpacker experience', rather than as a serious industry qualification course.
The "experience" operations tend to offer a lot of fun, the chance to meet and socialize with other young people...and generally exposure to a lot of diving. They are generally of finite, or relatively shorter, duration and do not focus as much on strong diving skills, significant development of a larger breadth of diving experience. They do, however, give some responsibility and a bit of hard work to be done - a good 'maturity test' for youngsters (some do fail that maturity test...). However, those "experience" courses tend not to receive the highest levels of credibility from the wider scuba industry. They are less beneficial on the resume if searching for dive industry employment outside of Koh Tao/Thailand.
A more serious "industry qualification" course will be of longer duration, a true "internship" (overall job performance, rather than course tick-box based). They aim to create a credibly experienced divemaster, whose scope of training will exceed the bare requirements of the DM syllabus. There will be a strong focus on excellent dive skills and leadership ability. The training will consider a broader industry appeal, rather than just the processes of that shop/that island. The DM candidate/student will work, and act, like a fully integrated team-member, rather than a 'customer'. The end product will be something tangible on a resume, rather than just a plastic card.
There's plenty of schools on Koh Tao that couldn't, or wouldn't, offer a serious "industry qualification" course. Other centers may presume students want a more "experience" than an entry into the scuba industry... but will provide a more 'industrial' qualification if that is communicated to them.
It's been a long while since I was on Koh Tao, so my knowledge of individual dive shops/instructors is probably quite out-of-date. I'd recommend Master Divers as a starting point though..
lord khram
Contributor
Personally If your daughter wishes to follow a career in diving I would recommend that the training is done in stages at differing locations. That way she will learn different things, gain a broader base of experience by interacting with a variety of instructors / DC's at different locations. I am not a fan of single location internships, having a number of times as a day boat diving customer been assigned to the supervision of 'professionals' that are the end result of such courses, and many times (but not all) been less than pleased with the service provided.
If she simply wants something to do on holiday with a group of likeminded people, and have some fun on the way, then simply pick the cheapest course you can find on KT. A large percentage of people who do such courses never go on to work in diving, and indeed many never even dive again.
If she simply wants something to do on holiday with a group of likeminded people, and have some fun on the way, then simply pick the cheapest course you can find on KT. A large percentage of people who do such courses never go on to work in diving, and indeed many never even dive again.
I've worked for a few dive shops on koh tao & while some are a "dive factory" most offer well structured DM courses & its true that most new DM's will probably never work in the industry. Most, if not all, DM courses can be done in a time frame to suit the customer.
Best advice is to come here first & look at few dive shops as Devon Diver says, spend some time with each to get a feel for the atmosphere of the shop as well getting know the staff a little better & talk with other DM trainees before deciding, & Sairee has the greatest choice of shops as well as more things to do in the evening. As you're going to spend a lot of money & time its worth spending a few days on this as she will work & socialise with the same people for several weeks.
If she wants to work afterwards even for a short time she will need to show her enthusiasm, work hard & be a genuine person & a little luck also helps should a position become vacant. If she completes the course in high season she might pick up extra work the existing DM's are unable to take.
As for recommendations I have my own shop so I might be biased.
Best advice is to come here first & look at few dive shops as Devon Diver says, spend some time with each to get a feel for the atmosphere of the shop as well getting know the staff a little better & talk with other DM trainees before deciding, & Sairee has the greatest choice of shops as well as more things to do in the evening. As you're going to spend a lot of money & time its worth spending a few days on this as she will work & socialise with the same people for several weeks.
If she wants to work afterwards even for a short time she will need to show her enthusiasm, work hard & be a genuine person & a little luck also helps should a position become vacant. If she completes the course in high season she might pick up extra work the existing DM's are unable to take.
As for recommendations I have my own shop so I might be biased.
OP
Devon, Thanks for your reply. She is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Marine Biology at James Cook University in Townsville, AU. and was looking for DM to add to her dive qualifications. I also had personally looked at Master Diver, and liked what I saw, but did not have any references.
---------- Post added October 21st, 2013 at 11:13 AM ----------
Hi Lord Khram, Thanks for your reply. She is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Marine Biology at James Cook University in Townsville, AU. and was looking for DM to add to her dive qualifications. I am not that familiar with the dive "scene" on Koh Toa, but had the usual types of questions for the various shop courses, e.g. rigour, quality of instruction, etc. I am sure all will have plenty of dives, and that KT will be a lot of fun. In my experience I have found a significant variation in the "depth of material" covered, even with the same course syllabus. Thanks again.
---------- Post added October 21st, 2013 at 11:13 AM ----------
Hi Lord Khram, Thanks for your reply. She is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Marine Biology at James Cook University in Townsville, AU. and was looking for DM to add to her dive qualifications. I am not that familiar with the dive "scene" on Koh Toa, but had the usual types of questions for the various shop courses, e.g. rigour, quality of instruction, etc. I am sure all will have plenty of dives, and that KT will be a lot of fun. In my experience I have found a significant variation in the "depth of material" covered, even with the same course syllabus. Thanks again.
FettSolo
Contributor
Master Divers is a great op. While I never worked with them, I have worked with Big Blue, Phoenix, and Roctopus, and so I was around for a number of friends working on their DM courses at those respective shops. I think they would all be good prospects, though (out of those three) Big Blue might be the best bet. As the largest of the three, they seemed to enable a DM student to be exposed to more types and levels of diving than the other two. Feel free to PM me if you want to ask more specific questions about them (or just Koh Tao questions in general).
lord khram
Contributor
The PADI DM course is really the stepping stone to becoming a PADI Instructor, yes any dive qualification would enhance such a CV, but you may find more suitable things out there for a Budding Marine Biologist. PADI and other organisations offer all manner of opportunities to volunteer divers, for example (Volunteer - Coral Cay Conservation).
The Marine Conservation Society do a lot in the UK, I am sure there will be an Austrailian equivalent, good luck with what ever you decide on.
Why not just do the DM in Townsville? You can dive the the Yongala wreck, probably the best wreck dive in the world, right on her doorstep. She could probably fit the course in around her studies.
Why leave the GBR to fly to an island with a rep for bad training and average diving?
OP
Ste Wart, true true, I think that she and her diving friends are also looking for a change from T-ville for their semester break.
Yeah towns has got little going for it. But koh tao? You couldn't pay me to dive there after being on the GBR. From oz why not try Bali? Vanuatu? PNG even Borneo?
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