Divemaster Internship vs paid Divemaster Course

[@AzulUnlimited]

Get stoked to sign up for your Divemaster Course soon! Consider all of these points before deciding on the location and dive shop for your training.

[@AzulUnlimited]

@John Hey! Thanks for writing to us! The Divemaster Course is one of the most fun and transformative diving courses out there. As for your questions, you typically find a room wherever you are doing your course, although some programs include housing as part of the course. The shop typically won't pay you, but you can do a kind of internship working in the shop and getting the course in return. Normally people save up and just focus on the course for those three months since living in most of these countries is not all that expensive. If you would like some more in-depth information about our course in Komodo, Indonesia, send us an email at [e-mail]

[@Film_Shots_World]

How was the salaries in Scuba diving instructors

[@AzulUnlimited]

@@Film_Shots_World we have another video that talks about it, sorry for the sound but that was our first video for the channel: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKGqqHefeNuKf80 There we explain the average kind of salaries as a diving instructor and the few different combinations for getting paid.

[@nitroxo2821]

Can't tell you how much I appreciate this video! I want to become an instructor, but I wasn't sure which route to go. You not only answered the questions I were thinking of, but also gave me insight on areas I never thought about before. Thank you! :)

[@AzulUnlimited]

You're very welcome! If you have any other questions or want to know about our Divemaster/Instructor courses, just send us an email at [e-mail]. We're happy to help you :)

[@krisdeaglephotography4539]

The dive shop I’m interning at is both. You pay for all of your courses (this takes you from no diving experience at all to a DM) but what you get with the internship is free dives (to clock up your dives for your DM and obviously have them logged, as well as the experience doing the non-dive stuff that one needs experience in to do the actual job (shop based stuff, boat based stuff etc)

[@inspiredvideoproductions5898]

Thanks for the great explanation, in my experience most dive shops will try and persuade students to undertake an internship because it gives them cheap staff. Plus some of us are not able to take months on end away from our families, so it’s paid education all the way for me. Thanks again, great little video.

[@AzulUnlimited]

Thanks for checking it out! Yeah, that's a very common practice. It works for some businesses and clients, but we've just never been interested in it. Hope you're staying safe and healthy right now!

[@SvenVoelk]

depending on your location you may be able to work out an internship schedule with a local dive center that works for both of you. just be prepared that it takes longer. in the end it will benefit you. even if you just look for an opportunity to part time work with a dive center in your area in exchange for free diving etc. - they will always go for the ppl that have some real live experience versus the paid for my course, did it, got a DM card person.

[@CaseyKlaus]

Really great info and SPOT ON! I have no affiliation with Azul or Sarah (love the Cassio calculator watch) but am a DM and what she is sharing is totally consistent with my experience. Great channel.

[@AzulUnlimited]

Hey Casey! Thanks for the feedback (and the Cassio love 😂) Where did you get your divemaster cert?

[@CaseyKlaus]

@@AzulUnlimited Certified SDI/TDI through my local dive shop in northern suburb of Chicago. Our diver's playground isn't nearly as nice and your location. Would love to visit some time...another item on my list of dive locations.

[@SvenVoelk]

good video. some things i like to add from experience. shops i managed/ DM students i brought in to dive centers always paid the course fee (yes even as interns). however, at this point they have a contract with me/ the instructor assigned to the student. i am a huge supporter of DM internships. But, you paid - we have a clear contract what you will receive for the money. you have scheduled classroom and pool sessions with the instructor(s) assigned to you - no excuses. at the same time (it's an internship, remember!) you work in the dive center. and nope you usually don't get paid, but you get commissions as the regular staff as applicable, you are part of tip sharing (whenever i was mgr. of a shop or just the dive/ instr. team i pushed for a shared tips system for regular fun dives. doesn't matter you are instructor, boat captain, deck hand, doing an internship. you work as a team, you share the tips as a team...equally. you learn valuable lessons from selling and upselling (not my fav's). you sell equipment, you get your commission as everybody else... you are assigned this day to filling tanks, you are there with an instructor who has the license to teach nitrox and above filling. it will be tossed in in the end as freebie, because you earned it with endless hrs. filling the tanks and a couple more in the classroom (keep in mind that's all just specialty cards at this point, once you decide to go for instructor you can easily upgrade them to specialty instructor ratings). as far as it concerns me and my approach, yes you pay. but at the same time you will earn money back during your internship. we usually also paid (even not obligated to do so) DM students later on in the program some money. but the huge thing here, you get the full inside what is actually going on at a dive center in real live, compared to pay the course and get thru with it quick as possible. You learn it all, boat handling, selling, being a DM in real live... you see what the instructors actually do (or not, cause they have you LOL), you deal with clients easy and complicated, you fix and maintain equipment, compressors, boat engines, cars... you wash and polish them as well. in a good shop you will do all that with the rest of the team, not been used as the free labor. once again, research and talk to the shop where you might intend to take that step carefully! in the end you will have earned not only your DM card (and many useful skills around it), but you will have a very good idea if continuing that line of profession any further is what you really want to do. so, my opinion - if you have the time go for the internship with a good dive center!

[@mellamodiego8458]

thanks for your awesome words

[@AzulUnlimited]

Thank YOU for watching!

[@CrazyDivers]

I did my dive master internship in Malta and looking back I would have set up a proper paperwork cauz I only got 5 days off in my 4 month of training. Yes I loved any moment of it, but I was hammered afterwards. You are talking about resumes, could you do a video about what you look in a Diver resume and / or how to build it?

[@AzulUnlimited]

Totally! Glad you had a good time doing it. It definitely works for some people. We have that topic planned for the future for sure. Stay in touch or if you have specific questions just message us directly!

[@SvenVoelk]

generally you put your resume/ cv together as for any other job. there is not really a 'secret sauce' for dive professionals resumes. in fact, don't even try to make it diving only. you may have many other 'qualities' that could get you a job. from mechanical knowledge, webdesign, hospitality experience etc.. jobs in the diving industry are as diversified as it can get, depending on location, position, needs of the operation...

[@unclemilton815]

I wish I had seen this before I paid for my Dive masters course.

[@AzulUnlimited]

What happened? Did you not get a solid course?

[@unclemilton815]

A got a course all right, but not to the quality that you are indicating.

[@AzulUnlimited]

@@unclemilton815 Shoot... Sorry to hear that! There is a wide range of quality out there. Hopefully your next courses (if you decide to do more) will be more worthwhile. You can email us with any questions you have about training ok?

[@SvenVoelk]

@@unclemilton815 hope that didn't put you off! just one more pointer to do your research before you take courses. in an ideal world it wouldn't matter, unfortunately the world isn't ideal! for the future also, always establish a contact to the instructor you will actually be 'working' with on your course. take your time, establish that the two of you are on the same 'wavelength'!!! from divemaster up (at the latest) it will be important that you have a good relationship to make sure you get the most out of your course.

[@ebytheaquaman1674]

Thank you for your explanation...I get more information for you.......

[@AzulUnlimited]

Your welcome! Let us know if you have any other questions abut Divemasters programs around the world.

[@gastonice5203]

Glad to see this video! any spot available for july?? thanks in advance

[@AzulUnlimited]

Hey there! Thanks for watching! We are still waiting to see what will happen in regards to visas and travel restrictions so we haven't opened the Divemaster Course just yet for this year, but why don't you send us an email at [e-mail] and we can give you more details about the course 👌🏻

[@TheArbelast]

Hi ... I'm indonesian, i wanna ask you is you ever heard about divemaster intern proggram especially SSI in labuan bajo or bali or somewhere in that area? ... Honestly i wanna be a commercial diver but while waiting that commdive start ... I think to take divemaster intern first. Thank you god bless you all

[@AzulUnlimited]

I don’t know of a lot of SSI shops, but you might be able to find a PADI shop to take you on in Labuan bajo. You would just have to plan to stay and work for a little while.

[@Crowellnoob]

What prices should one expect for such course? Is it common that they can help with looking for an accommodation? Many touristic places consider

[@AzulUnlimited]

Prices really vary on the type of logistics (dive sites are close vs very far away) and what is included with the course (number of dives vs unlimited diving). For example, our course costs 22,000,000 IDR if you bring your own equipment (24,000,000 IDR using our rental equipment). It is common for shops to give you suggestions on finding accommodation, but going and looking at each place will typically be up to you. I'm not sure what you mean by the last sentence, feel free to explain it and I'll try my best to answer! Thanks for checking out our video!

[@Crowellnoob]

@@AzulUnlimited in some places where I lived for 3-6 months it was a nightmare to find an accommodation. Instead of getting prices like locals I.e. 200 usd/months, almost all treated up to 6 months as vacations i.e. 30usd/night. Thanks for the answer, I'll keep you in my mind if I'd decide to follow this path in the future :-)

[@AzulUnlimited]

@@Crowellnoob oh dang... I mean, it's normal to pay a bit more for being a foreigner, but I haven't personally experienced that kind of price gauging. That's crazy! You are very welcome :) We are here to help out with any doubts you have about courses, diving, etc. Just email us at [e-mail]

[@Crowellnoob]

@@AzulUnlimited I don't think is foreigner specific, people from the same country were treated similar, it's simply tourist industry. For few months you come recreational, if you come for work it's usually 6 months up, has sense.

[@SvenVoelk]

@@Crowellnoob some dive centers have the 'luxury' to put you in places they own or have good relationships with the owners. others will help you (within reason) to find a place that's affordable. from my experience it is not always possible and you need to find your own place. this days having option like airbnb etc. it shouldn't be to bad. even in palm beach, florida (where i worked a long time) it wasn't really rocket science. first week or two you spend some more money, but usually it wasn't to bad to find an affordable place after that. see it also as your first challenge in ppl skills - meet the 'locals' and make your point about getting a decent 'pad' to stay for money you can afford. there is usually only ltd. help available anyway! the room one person is happy with for the time is what sb else considers a 'dump'.

[@lucasfanning9049]

Great video and you have me very excited! Will shoot you an email enquiry from your website! Cheers \m/

[@AzulUnlimited]

Oh nice! Stoked for you to go down this path 🤙

[@nujiyuji]

Hi Sera ! Thanks for great video. I heard Komodo island is shut down now due to covid-19. Hopefully you are doing fine! Btw I'm thinking to go pro and get the dive master & IDC courses next year. I'm thinking to take the courses between Kotai in Thailand or Bali/Komodo in Indonesia. Personally I would like to take courses in Indonesia but one of korean instructor working in Kotai said people who got their dive master in Bali didnt learn properly.... so I'm very careful to decide which shop that i wanna go with. Kotai might be good for someone wanna be very senior instructor but I think it's good to have dive master somewhere have more diverse environment to experience current, macro dive, etc. Do you have any idea how different is between choosing Thailand and Indonesia for dive courses?

[@AzulUnlimited]

Komodo is currently shut down, but planning to reopen at the end of May... We can't wait! It's definitely a good idea to do your research because the divemaster course is a long one and if you don't know what you want and what different dive shops are going to offer, you may get disappointed. The only experience I have with Thailand is that I did my divemaster in Koh Tao and I didn't learn much. I don't put that all on my instructors, but the diving just didn't challenge me in the way I should've been challenged. I don't know how the divemaster programs are in Bali (Komodo is actually off of Flores Island). The courses here in Komodo are really interesting because of the conditions. You really learn a lot about the ocean by diving in Komodo. I just answered your other comment, but again, feel free to email us if you have more questions about becoming a dive professional. [e-mail] Thanks for watching!!

[@FaisalAlbaheth]

I got my dive masters course in no more than 2 weeks :/ 6 working days max, too bad I am certified now but I dont Im not even conformable to be a guide .

[@AzulUnlimited]

Pfff... yeah that happens a lot unfortunately. Do you have diving near where you live? It would be good to go diving with friends and practice guiding with them. I felt the same way when I finished my course and it just took some extra practice with other divers to make me feel more confident.

[@eng.caiocunha]

Great Video, Thanks! I am a Portuguese, Spanish and english speaker.. I am doing my Dive Master course right now, which courses do you recomend me to boost my chances to get a job ? thank you

[@AzulUnlimited]

Hey! Thanks for checking out the video. As for other courses, it really depends on what you're interested in. I always recommend developing your online skills either with working on websites/SEO or social media. However, if you don't enjoy those things, you will want to go another route like more marine biology or other types of diving (tech/cave/etc) depending on the area where you are interested in working

[@austingode]

Curious … you are a Spanish speaking dive shop in Indonesia ?

[@AzulUnlimited]

We were! The new owners don’t have Spanish speaking staff at the moment

[@austingode]

@@AzulUnlimited I was looking to finish divemaster … I started unofficialy in Koh Lipe , went to Utila and ended up in a pirate operation and walked away with rescue done and a lot of other stuff as i was there 5 months , but utila was fantastic however the ‘ center ‘ was not .

[@AzulUnlimited]

@@austingode Unfortunately, pirate operations are pretty common in this industry. If you want Spanish speakers, you could try Neren in Komodo or join Dive Ninja Expeditions in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Good luck!

[@austingode]

@@AzulUnlimited thank you 🙏 for your quick replies…. I speak English and Spanish , I was just curious about your Indonesian center . Do you guys still have a dive shop?

[@AzulUnlimited]

@@austingode The operation and boat are under new ownership. You can see what they're all about here: azulkomodo.com/

[@gearbow]

What video editing program are you using? 🤔

[@AzulUnlimited]

Hey Mike! We use Final Cut Pro. Slowly learning more fun tricks for our videos 🙃Do you edit videos?

[@Scxbah]

The biggest challenge I personally face is financing. I graduated university last year with an honours in Marine Biology and recently got my open water certification. I'd love to do a volunteer programme that incorporates a divemaster internship and a form of marine conservation but the courses are both very expensive and I couldn't afford to take time off work to do it but reading the curriculum for such courses honestly sounds like a dream. Especially the idea of travelling somewhere completely different both in terms of the climate, marine life, and culture but that same point takes me away from my responsibilities such as looking after my dog and family. Does anyone know of courses like I stated that can alleviate any of the issues? I'm based in the UK

[@AzulUnlimited]

Totally get it. Hopefully someone can guide you in the right direction

[@harrodharrod5239]

Why on earth does everyone have their tank so low. Can you, in clear conscience tell, that you will be able to reach your valve when needed?

[@AzulUnlimited]

Thanks for your concern 👍

[@ClayWhite94]

Does a shop like yours often hire the dive masters they train?

[@AzulUnlimited]

There are a lot of places that do hire straight out of their Divemaster Candidate groups, however here in Komodo, we can only hire local Divemasters. It's a way of protecting jobs for the local community. If you're looking for that, just ask each dive shop if that is a possibility after the course. That being said, we have hired Instructors straight out of our IDC programs, but it all depends on job openings

[@latokartikowibowo2257]

Sarah, do you stay in Labuan Bajo?

[@AzulUnlimited]

Hi Lato! I will get back to your email soon, but unfortunately I'm not in Bajo at the moment, anyway, Labuan Bajo doesn't have any wreck suitable for recreational diving. If you are in Indonesia, Tulamben and the Liberty wreck is an amazing spot for the Wreck specialty! Let me know if that's something doable for you and I can give you some more info. Safe dives!

[@dronefilmmaker]

How can I join your group as a student?

[@AzulUnlimited]

You can email us at [e-mail] to get more information. We also like to have a whatsapp or skype call with prospective students so that we can see if our program is a good fit for you. Looking forward to hearing from you!

[@ewaz6196]

I have a MAJOR question that is extremely urgent.......I am SUPER worried that my PADI Boat Diver specialty certification is about to expire and I need to make sure it's refreshed.....who can I POSSIBLY go to that would be qualified to teach me what I need to refresh my skills on?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? ;-) **sarcasm intended if you couldn't tell***

[@AzulUnlimited]

hahahaha pay me $200 and I'll get you taken care of 😆

[@ewaz6196]

@@AzulUnlimited thank GOD! I can never find a good PADI Boat Diver instructor, I really want to do the master boat diver class.....maybe even the "technical" boat diver class. I want to really up my boat diver skill set. I always love to show off my PADI Boat Diver cert card, people are always wow'd by it. :)

[@AzulUnlimited]

@@ewaz6196 😂💪

[@aymenem5304]

Looking for place where to do mine

[@AzulUnlimited]

If you are interested in coming to the Komodo National Park, we have Divemaster spots opening up in March 2020! You can email us at [e-mail]

[@aymenem5304]

Thankyou i live in america And im looking for dive shops in the usa

[@AzulUnlimited]

@@aymenem5304 Fair enough. good luck and enjoy your course!

[@fantasticbrothers6332]

hello all hope all of u good and safe and all ur family i have a Q if i been dive master scuba diver how much the member ship every year will cost me? amd in example if i be a dive master scuba dive and i have been three years without pay for padi do they give me fine? or i will just pay for one year to be back or.....?

[@AzulUnlimited]

The Divemaster annual fee is very commonly dropped. A lot of people do the course, pay to get certified, but then are not actively working so they stop paying PADI a fee. If you want to renew after a few years of being inactive, PADI usually just has you pay for the next year which is usually a couple of hundred dollars, but there may be some updates involved.

[@fantasticbrothers6332]

awsome awsome thxxx alot alot for the replay that help me alot 🥰🤝

[@AzulUnlimited]

@@fantasticbrothers6332 no problem! Any time :) Keep diving!

[@bittu6437]

i already mail n whats you... plz reply

[@AzulUnlimited]

Hey, we've been off for a few days so I'm sorry about not getting back to your whatsapp quickly. I don't believe we've gotten an email from you. You can try [e-mail] thank you!

[@bittu6437]

[e-mail] my mail id

[@ss-cu2jz]

TV

[@AzulUnlimited]

Thanks!

[@andreasbakkers2210]

The difference between a Pizza and a diving instructor is? A Pizza feeds the family!!! Don't do it !!

[@AzulUnlimited]

I'm sorry if diving carrier didn't work for you. Thanks for your comment!

[@krisdeaglephotography4539]

You don’t become a dive instructor for the money...