Divemaster Scuba Thailand | Koh Tao Gap Year Divemaster Internship

Divemaster Gap Year on Koh Tao: PADI Divemaster Training + 5 Specialties

10 Weeks | 145,000 baht

Scuba internship includes:

PADI training from beginner to PADI Divemaster
Plus 5 Specialty Courses [Deep Diver, Enriched Air Nitrox, Equipment Specialist Course, Underwater Navigation, Aware Fish ID]
Full set of professional scuba diving gear
All course materials and PADI certification fees
Unlimited scuba diving - expect to log more than 100 dives
10 weeks accommodation

PADI Divemaster Scuba Internship: Introduction

PADI Divemaster internship Koh Tao Thailand

PADI Divemasters on Koh Tao lead divers on underwater tours of our tropical coral reefs and deep sea pinnacles, organising dive logistics and taking on a leading role around the dive shop. As expert scuba divers, PADI Divemasters offer guidance to new divers, giving dive briefings and assuring the safety and enjoyment of customers underwater.

Working as a PADI Divemaster in Thailand is a very enjoyable job, involving lots of interaction with people and plenty of time scuba diving to enjoy Koh Tao's amazing marine life.

Our 10 week PADI Divemaster internship provides training from novice through to PADI Divemaster, proceeding through PADI's dive courses in sequence.

You'll also complete 5 PADI specialty courses which further develop your dive skills and knowledge into specialized diving activities including deep diving, enriched air nitrox diving, equipment maintenance and more. If you're planning to seek paid gap year work as a PADI Divemaster in Thailand, taking these specialty courses makes you even more employable and sets you apart from the crowd.

Between dive courses you can take time and and enjoy some non-training 'fun-dives', exploring the Koh Tao dive sites together with a dive buddy.

By the end of this PADI Divemaster scuba internship you'll be a competent dive professional, properly prepared to work as a PADI Divemaster. You'll find that as you progress through your training building up more diving experience, you'll begin to take on more responsibility and become a valued member of the Simple Life dive crew.

Let's take a look at exactly what's involved and included in the PADI Divemaster scuba internship:

PADI Scuba Diving Training

PADI Divemaster scuba internships on Koh Tao

We'll work through PADI's diver education program step-by-step, building up your scuba diving skills and experience. Here's how the internship will run:

i) PADI Open Water course: Your first step is to learn the basics of scuba diving, getting to grips with how a set of scuba gear works and learning safe diving practices. After some scuba diving theory and a thorough shallow water skills session, under the close supervision of one of our instructor you'll make open water dives down to a maximum depth of 18M. Full details of the Koh Tao PADI Open Water course.

ii) PADI Advanced Open Water Course: Now we get the chance extend our exploration of Koh Tao's amazing dive site, expanding your skills and experience in the PADI Advanced course. You'll make 5 more training dives which will get you right down to a maximum depth of 40M, plus experience new diving activities such as underwater navigation, night diving, peak performance buoyancy, search and recovery and more. More on the PADI Advanced course in Ko Tao.

Play the victim during your Thailand Divemaster internship

iii) PADI Rescue Diver Course and Emergency First Responder: Up till this point your dive training has focused on making you a better diver. Now it's time to think about everyone else. After receiving CPR/First Aid training you'll learn to anticipate and prevent diving problems by recognizing diver stress and other detrimental factors. Then we'll train you to deal with scuba diving emergencies - control the situation, delegating roles and executing both surface and underwater rescues. Lots of fun! More about PADI Rescue Diver Courses in Thailand.

iv) DAN (Divers Alert Network) Oxygen Administrator: 100% oxygen as a treatment for diving related injuries can significantly increase the victims chance of making a full recovery, and reduce the possibilities of permanent injury. You'll be trained to deliver emergency oxygen to conscious and non-breathing/unconscious victims.

v) PADI Divemaster Scuba Internship: Now the best bit. You'll become a PADI Divemaster trainee and start to take a role in the running of the dive shop. With the assistance of our team of experienced dive instructors you'll be working through detailed scuba diving theory, underwater skills circuits, problem solving exercises and seamanship tests. You'll learn to guide certified divers on underwater tours, conduct scuba reviews for rusty divers and assist in the training of new PADI Divers. More on the PADI Divemaster internships in Koh Tao.

vi) PADI Deep Diver Specialty Course: Deep diving is very exciting. In the PADI Deep specialty you'll get certified to dive right down to the recreational scuba diving limit of 40M.

vii) PADI Enriched Air (Nitrox) Training: Enriched air / Nitrox is a blend of air and oxygen which allows scuba divers to stay at depth for longer, or enhance the safety of scuba dives. This is especially beneficial during multi-dive multi-day scuba diving, such as working as a PADI Divemaster. Some divers also argue that it also reduces tiredness from diving. This Nitrox Course will train you to scuba dive using nitrox blends containing up to 40% oxygen.

vii) PADI Equipment Specialist: Scuba diving gear is essentially life support equipment for breathing underwater. So obviously it's critical that scuba diving equipment is properly maintained. The PADI Equipment course introduces you to taking care of your scuba gear, performing basic maintenance and keeping your scuba equipment in good working order.

viii) PADI Underwater Navigation Specialty training: As a PADI Divemaster, part of your job is leading divers on underwater tours of Koh Tao's coral reefs, showing them lots of marine life and guiding them back the the boat at the end of the dive. Being able to navigate is very importance. This specialty will fine tune your underwater navigation, using an underwater compass, timing device and using observations to take advantage of natural navigation such as contour, depth, light or bottom composition.

ix) Project Aware Fish Identification Course: So you've taken a group of divers on an underwater tour, shown them Koh Tao's incredible marine life and the divers are all ecstatic. At the end of the day, out come their log books which you'll help them complete, filling in dive profiles, depths and times. Then they start asking the names of the fish they saw. After completing the Fish ID course you'll know the answers, and will be more knowledgeable about the coral reefs and marine life that you see during dives.

Scuba Diving Equipment

You'll get your own set of professional scuba diving equipment to keep. It's all brand named scuba gear and comes with full warranty:

Mask and Snorkel
Regulator Set
Buoyancy Control Device (or BCD for short)
Fins
Wetsuit booties
Shorty Wetsuit
Dive Knife
Underwater Compass
Safety Marker Buoy
Underwater slate
Whistle
Gear bag to keep it all in

PADI Dive Course Manuals and Certification Fees

This PADI Divemaster scuba internship also includes absolutely all the PADI materials and certification fees for you training. There are no hidden extras. Here's the list of what you'll be getting:

Open Water: PADI Open Water diver manual & Recreational Dive Planner Table
Advanced Course: PADI Adventures in Diving manual and slate
EFR & Rescue: EFR Manual, PADI Rescue Diver Manual and Diving Accident Management Slate
Divemaster Course: PADI Divemaster manual, Encyclopedia of recreational diving, PADI Diving Knowledge workbook, Divemaster cue cards, electronic dive planner - multi level version.
Specialty Courses: PADI Manuals and slates for each distinctive specialty

Koh Tao Accommodation for your Divemaster Scuba Internship

We'll sort you out with 10 weeks accommodation, close to the dive shop. This is in a comfortable resort used exclusively by Koh Tao diving professionals and long term interns. You'll get your own place with double bed, TV (with western channels), fridge, and bathroom with hot water shower.

The accommodation is safe and secure and everything you need is nearby - for more details see accommodation for scuba internships.

PADI Divemaster Scuba Thailand Testimonial

Name: Joe Moloney

From: South Wales, UK

Prior to the divemaster internship: Have been in education my whole life, graduated from university 5 days before leaving for Koh Tao.

Life on Koh Tao? Koh Tao is breathtaking, it literally is paradise.

When I first arrived on the ferry I remember thinking, wow, is that where i'm going to be spending the next 10 weeks. It is a palm covered island in the middle of turquoise seas, what more do you want!

Stop procrastinating, and do it! I guarantee you that you will not regret it. Time of my life

The diving on Koh Tao? Chumpon Pinnacles has to be the best - was always easy to get down to '30m' and the marine life was the most diverse in size and species. Still managed to miss a whale shark on numerous occasions though...! Once I was learning dive theory and the other I had just surfaced, got on the boat, and it was seen on the buoy line I was just on. Saw my fair share of turtles though so that made up for it.

The Divemaster course?I loved assisting the instructors. It was really rewarding watching someone go from complete novice to open water or advanced and knowing that you had a part to play. The more you do it, the more you learn to love. By watching the instructors also, you pick up things that the manual cannot teach you.

The Divemaster academics were tricky in parts but it was always good that you were never on your own completing your DMT so there was always someone else in the same position as you. If you ever got stuck though, the instructors were more than happy enough to help you out and give you an extra lesson if needed.

Personally, I really enjoyed the ‘stress test’. I found it a bit of a laugh having Jeff rip your mask out, whilst inflating your BDC, whilst ripping your reg out etc etc etc. It is all worth while though and does make you a much more confident diver.

Swim tests were OK. If you have the mentality to push yourself to get the highest mark you can, then you should have no problem at all.

Leading your first dive can be a little nerve wrecking, but once you get in the water all your worries go out the window and it all becomes second nature. You get taught really well through all your courses so you are 100% prepared for any scenario that you can encounter whilst bellow the surface. Trying to navigate for the first time if extremely disorientating and some people never get the hang of it (Brad), but once you learn how to trust your compass and not what you think is right, it all clicks into place.

Food & nightlife? The food on Koh Tao is fantastic. Know matter what you fancy, there is always something to suit every bodies taste. If you ask any of the instructors, im sure they will tell you our favourite place was Tiks, great local thai food and as fantastic prices (about £2 a meal). If you want even cheaper it is possible. There is a small place opposite the cabaret show, make sure you go in there and not the cabaret show, and you can pick up a pad thai for about £1, cant go wrong. Choppers also do awesome half price thai food on fridays which is always nice to go to when you come back from a dive.

The nightlife is amazing! Such a chilled out atmosphere if you want it or you can step it up a notch, and go hell for leather. If your trying to save some money, its always worth buying beers or spirits from a shop and just sitting on a step watching everything happen, or choppers is always a great place to start as it has live music every night. Lotus is awesome, fire shows every night, loads of women and literally on the beach, what more can you want. If you manage to make it down to A/C or cave, then you know you have done well.

I went to a full moon party within my first couple of weeks on the island, and my god, are they worth going to. It is honestly nothing like I have ever experienced before, and I thought university was mental. Imagine the biggest rave you have ever been too and then multiply that by about 100, i think there were 25,000 people there when I was. Bit of advice, when buying your buckets off the beach, make sure you see them pour them from a bottle that has been opened in front of you as they try and water down some bottles and go back to the same person time and time again as they will put a lot more alcohol in each time.

Funny stories? Far too many funny stories from Koh Tao, everyday was just unreal and have to pinch myself sometimes to make sure that it did all actually happen.

What next?I haven't done any diving since, the UK doesn't really have the same edge as Koh Tao!

Im off to do a Ski Season in France for 5 months. I hope to get some ice diving done whilst im over there wish should be fun. (I wasn't ready for a real job yet)

I thought university changes your personality to the max, but Koh Tao literally does bring out the best in everyone. You learn to relax, take things as they come and just slow everything down. Koh Tao has taught me that a career isn't all about the money, it is about enjoyment, and if you enjoy your job, the people you are with, and the place you live, then money isn't a worry.

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