Divemaster - what can I do?

[Fiji Dave]

If you can afford it then why not go abroad for 6 moths but don't work? Use the 6 months to do the dives YOU want to do. If you're instructing or DM'ing, then is there not a very good chance you'll spend a lot of your time in in pools or shallow training sites, and not out on the good dive sites?

I spent 6 months in Australia a few years back, at the time several of my friends were also out there. I had no plans to work, and spent the time seeing the sights I wanted to see and managed to explore a vast part of Oz. Several of my friends decided to try to find work in order to fund further travelling. However, all that happened was they spent a year working and saw very little of the country outside of the city.

Six months really will fly by and my advice would be to cram every minute of that time doing what you want to do, not what the boss of a company you'll be working for wants you to do!

[Allan Carr]

Diving in the Bahamas is great if you like sharks - they are everywhere and come quite close to you without causing too much hassle. Visibility in Grand Bahama where we dived was incredible - absolutely gin clear. There is a wreck called Theo's Wreck in 130 feet of water and it's 294 feet long. From the surface you could see half the length of it.

Dived Florida once, years ago. I'm afraid I wasn't very impressed although this wasn't the Keys.

[Kirstie]

Originally Posted by Fiji Dave

If you can afford it then why not go abroad for 6 moths but don't work? Use the 6 months to do the dives YOU want to do. If you're instructing or DM'ing, then is there not a very good chance you'll spend a lot of your time in in pools or shallow training sites, and not out on the good dive sites?

Six months really will fly by and my advice would be to cram every minute of that time doing what you want to do, not what the boss of a company you'll be working for wants you to do!

The plan is to save like mad (ha!) between now and when we go, so that we don't have to work and can do as you say, enjoy the diving. However, we need a contingency plan in case the money starts to run out!

We're going into this with no experience of travelling whatsoever, so any help or tips would be much appreciated. At the moment it seems rather daunting, but if gap-year kids can manage it, I'm sure we can!

[Andy M]

Originally Posted by Kirstie

We're going into this with no experience of travelling whatsoever, so any help or tips would be much appreciated. At the moment it seems rather daunting, but if gap-year kids can manage it, I'm sure we can!

If youre going to Indonesia I must recommend

http://www.wakatobi.com/homepage.html
http://www.eco-divers.com/tasikria.html
http://www.eco-divers.com/kungkungan.html

Best diving in the world so far for me, and I've been most places. Truk and Palau are coming in October though, so this opinion may get revised

Wakatobi are always looking for new staff, but its very remote. All supplies have to come by air. The diving is stupendous though, cant see any bare reef...

[greekbird]

Originally Posted by Kirstie

The plan is to save like mad (ha!) between now and when we go, so that we don't have to work and can do as you say, enjoy the diving. However, we need a contingency plan in case the money starts to run out!

We're going into this with no experience of travelling whatsoever, so any help or tips would be much appreciated. At the moment it seems rather daunting, but if gap-year kids can manage it, I'm sure we can!

Try getting info from companies that specialise in gap-year travelling.
Taking a sabbatical from work seems to be rather popular these days so such companies can give youmost of the info that you need to do something like this... my ex-housemate with his girlfriend arranged 3 months off with sta travel

[tonytheteal]

I'm looking at doing a similar thing, so have done some reading, and these are only my opinions - before I go upsetting anyone . For "nice" diving (clear waters & lots to see) I'd suggest going to a coral reef area - they can only survive in warm, clear water & you get the greatest biodiversity here.

As a general rule to where the best reefs occur;

1.Indo-Pacific including Red Sea.

2.Proximity to a large landmass. I'd personally avoid small islands in the middle of nowhere (e.g. Hawaii).

3.Not too far from the equator.

4.Away from major rivers.

I'm a big fan of the Red Sea for their do not touch/do not feed policies (I hate that about other locations). Australia, SE Asia (Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia) would also be good bets too.

Doing the DM course out there would be a good idea as someone said. But the Rescue I'd suggest do here. My EFR I did in Egypt was a bit of a joke (covered in about 2 hours).

Hope this helps and send us a postcard!

[Kirstie]

Thank you for your help, everyone. Paul and I have got a lot of thinking and researching to do over the next few months, by the sounds of things!

[diverdan]

Kirstie

If you find out that you can cross over from BSAC Instructor to PADI whatever could you please drop me a note as I am Scotsac Instructor and would maybe go down that route.

[Kirstie]

Originally Posted by diverdan

Kirstie

If you find out that you can cross over from BSAC Instructor to PADI whatever could you please drop me a note as I am Scotsac Instructor and would maybe go down that route.

I know it is definitely possible to cross over because Paul has asked about it before - it costs a fair bit though. It might be worth contacting your local PADI centre to find out more - we only made very tentative enquiries so don't really know much about what it involves.

[diverdan]