Scuba Internships Thailand

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Taking a Scuba Diving Internship with Simple Life Divers Koh Tao

Simple Life Divers is a vibrant, exciting PADI Dive Resort on Koh Tao's popular Sairee Beach, and is a great place to take a scuba diving internship and enjoy a few months.

Here are some of the things which make Simple Life special:

Medium Sized Dive School

Dive schools come in all shapes and sizes, especially here on Koh Tao which has become one of the top destinations for scuba diving in South-East Asia.

Simple Life Divers is a medium sized PADI dive school, and is in the best position to give you a fantastic time during your scuba diving internship.

We're busy and have a constant stream of certified divers and PADI students coming through the shop, so you'll be sure to meet lots of people from all over the world, have the opportunity to take on real responsibility and get lots of hands-on experience of working as a dive professional. Once you qualify as a PADI Divemaster or Dive Instructor, if you plan to stick around and work on Koh Tao many openings for paid work are available in the shop (see post-dive internship options in Koh Tao), and we have a policy of trying to employ our best ex-trainees.

Simple Life has a friendly and fun atmosphere with lots going on and a great social scene, plus the continuing success of Simple Life Divers means we've been able to reinvest in developing great facilities (see below) and offer a wide range of training.

On the other hand we're not too big. Our experienced western instructors stick to teaching in small group sizes (see below), and we make sure everyone learns lots and has a great time diving on Koh Tao.

PADI 5 Star IDC Status

In recognition of our achievements and development, Simple Life has been accredited as a PADI 5 star Instructor Development Dive Resort. What that means is that Simple Life operates to very high standards laid out by PADI, and is able to provide all training from beginner right through to PADI instructor and beyond.

During 2009, Simple Life Divers was recognized in PADI's annual member awards, as a finalist in the Diver Acquisition Award category, marking our commitment to the scuba diving industry. Fingers crossed there'll be more to come next year...

Great Location on Koh Tao's Sairee Beach

Simple Life has a perfect location, near Sairee Village in Koh Tao's most popular area - Sairee Beach. Everything you need is within close walking distance - many bars and restaurants, shops, ATMs and internet cafe's and of-course the beach itself.

Most short term tourists choose to stay on Sairee Beach, so there's a lively atmosphere, exciting nightlife and plenty to keep you occupied.

Experienced Western Instructors & Small Group Sizes

At Simple Life Divers we have team of experienced team of PADI scuba diving instructors, most of whom have many years of teaching experience behind them. We stick to running courses in small group sizes which means everyone who takes PADI dive training with Simple Life will learn lots, and qualify as a safe and competent diver.

The is especially important for our Thailand scuba internships - you'll get lots of contact time with the Simple Life instructors and will be learning from people who have done the job for many years.

European Owned and Managed Dive School

Simple Life Divers operates with the same western management as the day we opened back in 2003.

Simple Life is committed to high standards of service and safety, demonstrated through our excellent safety record. Since opening we've trained tens of thousands of divers and have never hand a serious diving related incident. The dive shop is consistent and smooth running, and we have proper systems in place to control all important aspects of our operation.

Excellent Scuba Diving Facilities, Equipment & Resort

Since opening the dive school way back in 2003, we've gradually grown and improved our facilities to the high standard we've reached today. Simple Life now boasts:

Dive Boat: Our custom built dive boat is one of the best on the island - large and spacious with onboard compressor (so no carrying heavy tanks!), working deck for gearing up and upper sun deck for relaxing on the way to dive sites and during the surface interval.

Swimming Pool: At Simple Life resort we have our own swimming pool, perfect for shallow water training. Especially when you get to the professional training phase of you dive internship (Divemaster or Instructor courses) the pool is ideal for working on your scuba diving skills, getting them up to demonstration standard.

Bar-Restaurant: Even before the dive shop was formed, more than 15 years ago Simple Life first opened as a bar restaurant, and became one of the best spots on Koh Tao to spend time. Times change and things have progressed from the 'simple' shack on the beach - but the important thing is that Simple Life still retains the values which made it popular in the beginning. Our bar restaurant serves great Thai and Western food, and has a mouth watering BBQ each evening. It's a great place to hang out, socialize and enjoy a few beers with the other divers and is an important part of the Simple Life experience.

Rental Equipment & Servicing Area: We have 30 sets of well maintained scuba diving equipment for rental day-to-day customers and over 100 scuba cylinders out on the dive boat. This is all quality, brand named equipment (Aqualung, Technisub, Seac Sub and Saekodive, with Luxfer and Catalina cylinders). All our scuba gear is maintained by our properly trained staff, in our specially built servicing room.

We also have a spare compressor at the shop, which we use to cope with demand at busy times of year, plus to blend nitrox (enriched air) for nitrox certified divers. Whilst you're here you'll have the opportunity to both learn to dive with nitrox, and you can even take the DSAT Gas Blender course and learn how to mix breathing gases yourself.

Safe, Fun & Friendly Scuba Internships

Staying safe is the most important thing when scuba diving, and we'll make sure that you clearly understand all the PADI training that you receive and act as a safe and responsible diver.

But we also remember why people get into scuba diving - to have fun! The tone of both our dive internship programs and the dive shop in general is to enjoy ourselves whilst staying safe.

Social Atmosphere and Koh Tao Nightlife for Scuba Internships

Our team of PADI instructors, Divemasters, interns such as yourself and day-to-day customers makes a great social crowd where there's always something fun going on.

Once you get to Koh Tao for your dive internship you'll be sure to settle in quickly, make lots of friends and become part of the Simple Life team.

During the daytime we're out on the boat scuba diving, or are busy working through other parts of your internship such as shallow water skills sessions or diving theory.

In the evenings Koh Tao comes alive - sunset beers and tasty Thai food, late night partying on the beach - there's always something going on [see Koh Tao nightlife].

Thailand Scuba Internships Testimonial

Name: Chris Kroll

From: Melbourne, Australia

Prior to the divemaster internship: Before Koh Tao I was working in a call centre in Melbourne as well as diving whenever I had holidays.

Life on Koh Tao? It doesn't get much better than Koh Tao. The weather, the beach, a great community of people, cheap and relaxed lifestyle and of course the diving.

Whether you want to chill out or party, Koh Tao has what you are looking for.

Definitely do it while you can! The time I spent doing my Divemaster Training on Koh Tao was probably the best 3 months of my life. You will not regret it.

The diving in Thailand? On a clear day it’s an amazing place to dive. So many fish and a good chance of seeing sharks. Special mention goes to Shark Island - one afternoon on our way to South West Pinnacle, our boat captain Namchai received a call on his radio telling him that there was a Whale Shark at Shark Island. We quickly changed course and were lucky enough to get there in time to see it. The only other sharks I saw were some baby Blacktips at Aow Leuk, where we had a Whale Shark swim with us for 45 minutes.

And Twins – had a very memorable dive there following an Eagle Ray for about 30 minutes with fellow DMT's Lee, Sophie and Naomi.

The Divemaster training? First time leading divers was great. Having the confidence to lead others through the water and knowing you are trained to handle almost any situation was an awesome feeling. My navigation was generally ok, although I do remember one dive I made with James (fellow DMT) at Chumpon. We swam out into the blue looking for sharks and then I took an incorrect bearing back to the pinnacle and we ended up about 200 metres away from the boat in very deep water. After a very long surface swim we told everyone that we had seen a Whale Shark. No one believed us ha-ha.

Physics and Physiology were definitely the trickiest of the exams. Luckily we had Jeff (course director) to guide us through and knowing you can fail and repeat if necessary was comforting! The rest of the academics were fairly easy with not much study required.

For the underwater equipment exchange, after practicing several times with Lee beforehand and failing every time under no pressure, we somehow managed to complete the test successfully under pressure when it actually counted. I can still remember Steve (instructor) hovering above me like a shark before we started. After all the trash-talk we had exchanged beforehand, I knew I was going to cop it from him. The test lived up to it's name, but it was a lot of fun and worth it.

The Divemaster swim tests were challenging but a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed the 100M tired diver 'push' with Andre haha. 5 points mate.

Assisting the instructors was one of the most rewarding parts of the DM internship. Being there to help new divers and offering them advice and tips was great. Seeing each instructor's different teaching style and method and taking different aspects from each of them was also very beneficial.

Food & nightlife? The food on Koh Tao is great - very cheap and very good for the most part. The best Thai food can be found at Tik's, the best pizzas are at The Brother and they have awesome sandwiches at Zanzibar. If you're feeling like something a bit more up market, Papa's Tapas and Morava are also very nice.

Nightlife in Koh Tao is awesome. There are people out every night of the week and plenty of places to go. My favorite place to drink was The Brother. There were always people there that I knew and a regular spot for the Simple Life staff and customers. Lotus and Choppers were both also good places to go.

I didn't visit the full moon party on this trip to Thailand, although I have visited it before. Definitely something that everyone should experience at least once. It can't really be compared to anything else in terms of size and craziness. A lot of fun, but probably not something I'd do twice.

Funny stories? Too many to mention all of them. The ‘Snorkel Test’ night was definitely a standout (especially Lee's performance). Messing with each other underwater, Andre assaulting me with a giant log. Also playing drinking games with my first Open Water /Advanced assist group. Fun times.

What next? Since leaving Koh Tao, I spent a couple of weeks diving in Sipadan – Malaysia. And just a few days ago I got back from a week on a live-aboard diving in the Red Sea, Egypt. Both were awesome holidays and it was great to put my diving training into use again.

Right now I am working and living in London - saving money for my return to Thailand in April next year.

Leading, assisting and the whole course up to the Divemaster certification has definitely given me a lot of confidence, not only as a diver but also in aspects of leadership and to an extent in day to day life.

As far as career prospects go, I have since decided that I want to return to Koh Tao to work as a Divemaster, which will most likely be followed by the IDC at some point and from there, who knows.

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