Divemaster internship - Sharm

[vickyl]

I am looking to my divemaster internship in Sharm later this year and have been looking at doing this course with Oonas divers or possibly Pirate divers in the bay. Could anyone give any feedback or comments if they have done the course what they thought etc . Any information/advise would be welcome

[Sakara Drinker]

Hi and Welcome. Does it have to be Sharm? I did mine in Dahab up the road. Had a great time.

Phil

[ScubaSue]

Originally Posted by Sakara Drinker

Hi and Welcome. Does it have to be Sharm? I did mine in Dahab up the road. Had a great time.
Phil

Me too - I love Dahab, much quieter and more laid back - that doesn't make the course any easier though, believe me.

Vicky

I'm assuming you have dived with both the centres mentioned, and you are basing your initial choices/options on what you have already experienced?

However, you may want to consider others that have a pretty good reputation that are also up and down the Red Sea in all the main resorts if you are looking to stay on there as a DM.

[John N]

Did mine in Sharm with Emperor Divers and had a great time. They had some fantastic instructors there at the time although I haven't dived with them for a while. Very professional.

I've dived with Oonas and they were a great bunch. Never heard of Pirates though.

Personally, I would probably choose a centre with a decent reputation.

As for advice, find somewhere cheap to live early on. Some centres have limited accomodation for DM interns.
Maybe spend a week in a hotel then move further out of Sharm to where the dive guides tend to live (like Hadaba or maybe Delta Sharm) as it is a lot cheaper.

Do as much preparation before you go as you can. Get the materials and learn them. Find out what the scored skills are and practice them until you know you can get a good score. If you know somewhere where you can do pool nights then get an Instructor to run you through the Open Water skills.

Spend as long out there as you can. Besides being a better learning experience, it is great fun.

I've seen it done in two weeks (not good), a month is OK but the longer the better.

Also, different Instructors have particular skills. Some are better a dealing with customers, teaching, briefing dives, guiding etc.
Find out who is the best at each and learn from them.

I like Dahab, but being able to dive at Tiran or Ras Mohammed most days is difficult to beat.

[Sakara Drinker]

Yep. If you do all the knowledge reviews and revision before you go then you can just have a great holiday as well. Ras Mo is fantastic but I still prefer Dahab because of the atmosphere. I was at Poseidon Divers and had a great time. Have you already got the 60 dives in Vickyl? If you havent then you will just be doing a large number of local dives just to get the numbers in. Dahab is shore diving so it is easier. Sorry but I am a little biased here. I love the place.

Phil

[John N]

Shore diving isn't necessarily easier - how hard is it to drop off the back of a boat?

It really depends what you want to do with the qualification.

Do you want to work in diving? Abroad? Have you done any research on how easy it is to get a job or how much you could earn?

If you want to work in a particular place then it's best to do the intership there because you will be familiar with local sites and procedures.

If you definitely want to do it in Egypt then consider what skills you will need. Sharm doesn't have much shore diving - in the bay mainly. It does however have a lot of boat diving and procedures for running boat dives are very useful indeed. Making sure all the kit and divers are on board, logging divers in and out, briefing and kitting up divers in time to get in when you arrive and so on.
In Dahab you won't be exposed to those skills but then you might not need them.

It all depends what you will do after you are qualified.

[Sakara Drinker]

[quote=John N]Shore diving isn't necessarily easier - how hard is it to drop off the back of a boat?
QUOTE]
I was just meaning that to rack up the number of dives, after the normal diving day has finished, it is less hastle to walk out the front of the dive centre and throw yourself in for an extra dive than it is to sort it for the boat to be out longer.
Phil

[Angus]

Originally Posted by Sakara Drinker

I was just meaning that to rack up the number of dives, after the normal diving day has finished, it is less hastle to walk out the front of the dive centre and throw yourself in for an extra dive than it is to sort it for the boat to be out longer.
Phil

"Rack up the number of dives" and then at the end of it you are known as a "PADI Professional". Hmmm that really is food for thought!

[Sakara Drinker]

Yep, but that is the system they have in place. Rack up the dives and pay the cash, next please.

[John N]

Originally Posted by Angus

"Rack up the number of dives" and then at the end of it you are known as a "PADI Professional". Hmmm that really is food for thought!

Here we go again.

The minimum no. of dives is 60 for DM.

Doing dives for 20 mins at a time to get the numbers is crap.
Doing all the dives for 20 mins in Stoney Cove is crap.

Fortunately most people are more sensible.

If you do an intership for at least a month you will dive most days, at least two dives a day.

Since you were a Rescue Diver with at least 14 dives and normally a lot more, you will easily get 60 dives. You don't have to 'rack up dives'.

I've heard good things about Poseidon Divers and I would be very surprised if that was their attitude. Just because one person trained by them thinks it, doesn't make it true.

Being professional isn't about meeting minimum standards. It's about taking responsibility for your own skills and experience. Making sure that you are confident in looking after yourself, before you look after other people.

People that think that doing the minimum possible is acceptable should be doing something else.