[Seadog]

I'm curious if anyone here has spent any considerable time diving, or worked in a shop?

I'm thinking about going DiveMaster route, and maybe instructor. Not necessarily for a job, just for personal development and to be a better diver.

Where are the best places to do it? I know two acquaintances doing instructor, one guy it in Koh Tao, Thailand. Another in Gili Trawangan. Of the two I think Gili-T has a better variety of diving, and more interesting/deeper/possibility of tech dives. Koh Tao seemed more the production line of diving instruction. Easy diving, and volume ruled.

I'm curious where else is there that people know about? Basically just thinking a place to live for 2-6 months, great variety of diving, and of course decent enough place, some night life etc.

[scotian]

(07-04-2013 08:30 PM)Seadog Wrote:  

I'm curious if anyone here has spent any considerable time diving, or worked in a shop?

I'm thinking about going DiveMaster route, and maybe instructor. Not necessarily for a job, just for personal development and to be a better diver.

Where are the best places to do it? I know two acquaintances doing instructor, one guy it in Koh Tao, Thailand. Another in Gili Trawangan. Of the two I think Gili-T has a better variety of diving, and more interesting/deeper/possibility of tech dives. Koh Tao seemed more the production line of diving instruction. Easy diving, and volume ruled.

I'm curious where else is there that people know about? Basically just thinking a place to live for 2-6 months, great variety of diving, and of course decent enough place, some night life etc.

I think that Koh Tao would be a really good place to spend a few months, although you may get bored after a couple of months, you could get your DM certification in that time (6-8 weeks) then go somewhere else. I got my PADI open water there at Simple Life Divers and the instruction was excellent, a great place to dive and a good party atmosphere, its tame compared to other islands near by but the vibe is great, very chill.

There's some really nice places to dive in the Philippines as well, I dove in Malapascua, Dumaguete and Palawan (Puerto Princesa and Coron). Most of those places were small and without a huge party scene, especially Malapascua, which is quite small and remote, I liked Dumaguete and Apo Island because the city is a decent size (120K) and there's tons of cute Filipina students running around there. I guess it depends on whether or not you want to be surrounded by a bunch of foreigners (Koh Tao) or have a more local experience (Philippines).

I thought about doing my DM in Asia but realized that I didn't want to pay a bunch of money to be the dive shop bitch for a couple of months and have to be out on the water everyday. it sounds like fun but then I realized that the DM students had to be up at 5am everyday to do a bunch of grunt work like preparing dive gear, cleaning gear, etc and do it 2-3 times per day, 6 days a week. It turns a fun hobby into a chore, but the benefits are that you can work as a diver master or eventually an instructor and spend a few months each year working in tropical paradises surrounded by tourist pussy.

[SirAntony]

I was once in Recife, Brazil and the dives where great. It was very cheap, I've heard now is more expensive. I am not sure now. The place also is near a town port go galhinas (not sure about the spelling) where there are also very nice diving places. about the certification, I am not sure.

[Seadog]

I was under the impression that doing DM you could sort of pick depending on the place how much bitch work you wanted to do. Like in Greece last summer I saw a place that offered a 3 month internship for really cheap, but where you basically worked for free, but got your DM too. Compare that to a place I went to in Gili T, they said its about a grand, but you can do it in 3-8 weeks, on your own schedule. Dive as much or as little as you want, but get everything done. Part of DM I thought is things like basic instruction, and how a shop works, at least to learning it to the point of proficiency so I wouldn't have a problem doing that.

As great a time I had in Koh Tao, I felt it epitomized the poor backpacker type, the "willing to work 4 hours for a $6 hostel bed" type. Some guys I met and hung out with would literally eat the same crappy $1 rice and whatever meal every day. Got a bit old, but I think that's their demographic. So that's why I thought Koh Tao wouldn't be a good place for DM, because they're used to the ppl looking to slave away for 4 months and get it on the cheap.