Koh Tao Diving Internships: Beginner to Divemaster + Underwater Video
3 Months | 195,000 baht
Paid Gap Year Internship Includes:
- PADI Dive Courses from beginner to PADI Divemaster
- Underwater Videography Training
- Paid Underwater Videography Internship
- Your own set of professional scuba diving gear
- Rental of all underwater videography equipment
- All PADI course materials and certification fees
- Unlimited scuba diving - you'll log well over one hundred dives
- 3 Months accommodation
Underwater Videography + PADI Divemaster Internship: Introduction
This Thailand diving internship combines PADI dive courses and underwater videography training to make a challenging, exciting and rewarding paid gap year program.
Underwater videographers on Koh Tao earn money by capturing footage of Thailand's coral reefs and marine life, editing the footage together with music to produce a high quality video then screening their scuba diving movie each evening for appreciative divers.
In this dive internship you'll be trained to shoot high definition (HD) underwater footage, to edit the raw footage using a high performance PC and video editing software, producing professional scuba diving movies.
Once your underwater videography training is complete you'll join a paid gap year internship, where you head out to film real customers, working to deadlines and getting paid for your efforts. You'll build up an impressive portfolio of HD underwater footage and will get a real buzz out of screening your movies for real customers.
In order to be able to shoot quality underwater footage and dive safely with the slightly cumbersome camera, it's essential that you have excellent buoyancy control and be a competent, experienced diver.
To bring you up to the required standard, prior to the underwater videography training you'll work through PADI dive courses from beginner right through to PADI Divemaster. You'll log many dives and will be trained to work as part of the Simple Life dive team, assisting in the training of new divers, organizing dive boat logistics, and guiding certified divers on underwater tours of Koh Tao's coral reefs. You'll become an expert level diver and will be sure to have a fantastic time along the way.
Let's take a look at exactly what is involved and included in this Thailand scuba diving internship:
Part 1: PADI Scuba Diving Training
PADI Open Water course: Learn to scuba dive, running through important diving theory such as how a set of scuba gear works and safe diving practices, making a shallow water skills session to get comfortable using scuba gear, then making dives in the ocean down to a maximum depth of 18M.
PADI Advanced Course: Expand your scuba diving skills and experience in the advanced course, making 5 more training dives which introduce you to new diving activities. This includes the deep dive right down to 30M, night dive where you can see barracudas hunting, underwater navigation dive where you'll lead your instructor around the Koh Tao dive site and more.
Emergency First Responder: All PADI dive professionals must have current CPR and First training. This one day course involves theory, a practical session and a short quiz to test your understanding.
PADI Rescue Diver Course: Then we apply problem solving and accident prevention to the scuba diving environment. You'll learn to recognize diver stress and alleviate fears, anticipate and prevent dive equipment related problems, and execute both surface and underwater rescues including dealing with tired, panicked and unconscious divers. You'll also learn overall scene management include delegating roles in an emergency situation.
PADI Divemaster Internship: Now for the first professional level in scuba diving. During the PADI Divemaster internship you'll learn to guide certified divers on tours of Koh Tao's dive sites, organize diving logistics including giving briefings, coordinating student diver flow and preparing equipment, plus you'll be assisting instructors in the training of new divers. This is your chance to take on real responsibility, become a valued member of Simple Life's Koh Tao dive team and get real hands on experience.
Part 2: Koh Tao Underwater Videography Training
Properly prepared as an expert level diver, you'll join up with our videography team for 2 weeks of intensive underwater videography training. You'll be learning mostly one-to-one with one of our very experienced underwater videography trainers - these guys have been shooting underwater videos for many years so you'll be learning from the best.
Training will include:
- Assembling an underwater video rig, maintenance and care
- Making a dry project, learning video skills on land
- Safety considerations for underwater videographers
- White Balance and focus
- 'Winning' shots, clip lengths and filming techniques
- Creating a story line
- Using a high performance PC & video editing software to edit your HD underwater footage
- Selecting and applying an appropriate soundtrack
- Screening and selling your movie
You'll get lots of feedback and constructive advice throughout your training, and will have many hours of shooting and editing underwater footage under the close guidance of your mentor.
Part 3: Paid Gap Year Underwater Videography Internship
Time to apply what you've learned in our exciting paid gap year opportunity. You'll be assigned to work for real customers, producing HD underwater movies, screening and selling your films.
You'll head out to film the last two dives of PADI Open Water courses here at Simple Life Divers. The idea is to capture the open water student's Koh Tao dive experience on film, showcasing all the amazing marine life which they saw and giving them a lasting souvenir or their diving course.
Each day you'll be up early, prepare your camera gear and scuba equipment, then head down to the dive shop to meet the PADI instructor that you'll be working with and greet the PADI open water students. Then it's out to the dive boat. You'll film the group during dives three and four of their open water course, getting everyone's smiling faces on film and capturing footage of all of Koh Tao's incredible marine life.
During the afternoon, it's back to the office to edit your underwater footage into a professional movie. You'll apply music to the movie, add a stock intro and outro sequence and include subtitles offering extra information on the Koh Tao dive sites and marine life.
You'll burn your movie to DVD then by early evening head to one of Koh Tao's beach bars, ready to screen your movie on a projector and loud sound system. It's really rewarding showing your movie, watching the reaction of the divers as they're amazed by the marine life caught on camera and enjoy seeing themselves scuba diving. As the movie finished and entire bar gives you a round of applause, you'll give the divers the opportunity to purchase a copy of the underwater video.
For each copy which you sell you'll be paid 500 baht, which more than covers your daily living expenses. On many occasions you'll be able to sell multiple copies, making the underwater videography internship a lucrative paid gap year opportunity.
Scuba Diving Equipment for your Dive Internship
You'll get your own complete set of quality, brand named scuba diving equipment:
- Mask and Snorkel
- Open Heel Fins and Wetsuit Boots
- Regulator Set (Primary, Alternate Air Source, 1st stage, console and low pressure inflator hose)
- Buoyancy Control Device (BCD)
- Dive knife, underwater slate, compass and safety marker buoy
- Gear Bag
Plus the scuba internship includes rental of all underwater videography equipment. You'll be using HD cameras with robust Gates and Aquatica underwater camera housings, plus high performance PC with Adobe Premier to edit your films.
Dive Course Materials and Fees
Again, the underwater videography internship includes everything you need with no hidden extras:
- PADI Open Water manual and Recreational Dive Planner Table
- PADI Adventures in Diving Manual, and Advanced Open Water skills slate
- Emergency First Responder Manual
- PADI Rescue Diver manual and emergency management slate
- PADI Divemaster Manual, Diving Knowledge Workbook, Encyclopedia of Diving, Divemaster slates and first years PADI DM Membership fee
- Underwater Videography Course Manual
Gap Year Internship Accommodation
For the 3 months of your paid gap year diving internship you'll be staying within close walking distance of Simple Life Divers in our internship accommodation.
You'll have your own place with double bed, electric fan, television (with movie, sports and news channels in English), refrigerator and bathroom with hot water shower.
Everything you need is nearby including shops, restaurants, ATMs, internet access and the beach itself.
The resort is used by people working in Koh Tao (Divemasters & dive instructors) plus long term internship trainees same as yourself. The resort is well located, safe and secure and peaceful.
Paid Gap Year Thailand Testimonial
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