Scuba Diving Internships FAQ's - Page 2

Scuba diving internship frequently asked questions continued. Please do also feel free to mail me personally any time for expansion on these answers and answer any further questions that you have.

Dive Internship FAQ's - Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 - Page 4 - Page 5 - Page 6

Q. When is the start date of the diving life program?

A. The "Diving Life" program is a continuously running dive program that can be joined at any one of three dates every month. We have dive students that are attending college with set holidays and semesters, gap year students, ex-forces re-settlement divers, trainees that are working overseas jobs, Gap year divers, world travelers, MBA students that are required to be away every 6 weeks, dive interns from the forces that have set time frames etc - we have to be flexible on the enrollment date and this is to assist you. The start date of any of the dive trainee programs should not be a factor for anyone as they are only 10 days apart. If a start date is inconvenient for you then we can receive you any other day with prior planning.

The weather does not affect the dive intern program in Pattaya as we are sheltered from the monsoon to a very large degree and are lucky enough to have a 365 day dive season. The main bulk of the rain is from May - Oct but this again does not interrupt the program - the boats still go out daily. This is superb as it allows any dive trainees to arrive and complete their dive training in one sitting if they wish instead of having to carefully plan when they arrive and/or having to go to another area to complete. It tends to rain for an hour or so and then you'd not know that it had been raining. The chart below is a very general guide - it can get a lot hotter here in the months of Dec - April.

As you can see from the chart above (courtesy of our good friend at Asiadivesite) - we have GOOD diving conditions ALL year around - coupled with the diverse training sites that we have make it perfect for hardy intern dive training.

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Q. How successful is your scuba dive job assistance program?

A. In the entire time that Mermaids Dive Center have been operating the dive intern program (1999), we have been able to assist all qualifying divers that wished to gain dive jobs in Thailand, Cambodia or Vietnam for diving jobs. We now have contacts in Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, Crete, Egypt, Honduras, Belize, the Bahamas, Greece, The Cook Islands, Cyprus, Crete, Mexico, North America, Canada, Malaysia, UK, Spain and Portugal. I for one appreciate that this is one of the most important questions.

I actually was introduced to scuba diving by Mermaids Dive Center in 1999 by taking the scuba diving instructor internship. Although it was not a "diving life" trainee package that we have now Mermaids found me dive work within 10 days of becoming a PADI dive instructor. This was my entrance to the diving industry and a diving career. The quality of dive training that we give ensures that we produce excellent and employable PADI dive instructors. With our contacts and some effort on your behalf, dive work can easily be found.

NOTE: October 2006 - Diversjobs announced an exclusive partnership with Mermaids Career Development Center, Pattaya, Thailand. Partnered with the best dive employment board in the dive industry and receiving an exclusive service from them - scuba job hunting has never been so swift. We have taken more steps than any other dive center to ensure that what you are training for i.e. a dive job is absolutely achievable. You will not be trained and then left in the cold - you will have full assistance in finding a dive job that suits you. Once a Mermaids diver the job service is for life! Use our resources and partnership with Diverjobs any time a dive career move is required. There is no better service to start a scuba diving career.

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Q. What money does an instructor earn in Thailand working and teaching scuba diving? What about in other countries?

A. This is the most commonly asked question and quite rightly so as a trainee diver needs to know what to expect once qualified as a professional diver and working in diving. Mermaids can offer the very best opportunity for scuba diving employment with a fantastic diver jobs service. Obviously dive work offers a fantastic "life style" of living in a beautiful tropical country and working your passion for a living - but that's just it - YOU DO NEED TO MAKE A LIVING!!! I know some instructors that earn $500US per month and are happy with that as they are on a pension and do it as a hobby. I also know some working diving instructors that earn $1500++US per month - it's down to you and how hard you are prepared to work. Bare in mind that you'll be whistling on your way to work also.

The average beginning dive salary in Thailand has been observed at $1000 per month.

Mermaids have seen a trend in western countries that the starting salaries tend to begin approximately 30% - 50% higher than Thailand's industry. Dive salaries will increase with dive employer loyalty and experience.

It is observed that MSDT's (Master Scuba Diver Trainers) and PADI Staff instructors can command more on entering a diving job than freshly certified Open Water Scuba Instructors.

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Q. Can I stay at your dive centre for more dive experience after the internship is complete?

A. Of course you can and we try to actively encourage it without any pressure. The reason being that you are much more attractive to a dive employer with a little experience. Mermaids being an active Dive Career Development Center offers the MSDT (Master Scuba Diver Trainer) program and PADI Staff instructor rating - These professional dive programs are designed to allow maximum experience prior to finding dive work. This experience is not essential but has been seen to assist in dive employment.

If you are a new scuba instructor from elsewhere then you are more than welcome to join us for a short 1 month or 3 months internship providing you with many certifications and specialties taking you to Master Scuba Diver Trainer or Staff Instructor rating. This will allow you within a traineeship to gain teaching dive certifications with students whilst learning and honing many more dive skills.

As a Mermaids dive intern you are welcome to stay diving with Mermaids for free after the internship for a couple of weeks. This allows the diver to wind down pleasure diving and staying with friends.

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Q. I have some family and friends coming out and / or I would like to return home for Christmas etc - is this a problem?

A. This is not a problem in any way. It is very common for dive interns to have family over visiting them - or maybe the intern wishes to return for a mother's birthday or Christmas etc. Simply take all of the time that you need and then return to continue from the state of training where you left off. All of your lockers and dive equipment will be stored awaiting your return.

Due to the length of the programs it is almost expected that a diver shall need time out at some stage - as long as we work together then there is no problem.

If any of your family or friends would like to gain scuba certifications or take day trips here (hey, you could lead them!) then they receive an automatic 20% discount on all regular scuba diving courses and dive trips.

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Q. Can I have references from passed and ongoing students?

A. Why, certainly you can. All you need to do is mail me and I can supply you with a few recent and older dive students/candidates so that you can hear it from the customers point of view. You can also check out Mermaids scuba diving intern references! If you require any further diver email addresses to contact and correspond with passed and present dive students - please do ask. There is no better impartial advice that you can receive!

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Q. As an OWSI (Open Water Scuba Instructor) what shall I be able to teach in scuba?

A: Great question. The certification named OWSI (Open Water Scuba Instructor) is a little misleading as some believe that you can only teach the PADI open water course. This is not true.

As an Open Water Scuba Instructor you shall be able to teach diving in:

Please note that if you take a Mermaids Dive internship then you shall be able to teach the EFR also as the EFRI 9instructor) level comes as standard.

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