The choices, questions and concerns that come into play when choosing the correct PADI IDC Training facility to become a Dive Instructor in Thailand and how to go about finding your perfect match. Becoming a Dive Instructor in Thailand can prove difficult, when provided with too many choices. Here is my personal account and advice when choosing your dive school to become a Dive Instructor in Thailand with.
Unfortunately there isn’t a “Match.com,” “Tinder,” or “eHarmony.com” type of dating application available to match us with that perfect PADI IDC Training facility to become a Dive Instructor in Thailand. However, you still do need to make that list of things that are important to you. A list of your expectations, goals, what you want to get out of your training experience, what locations in the world you want to do your IDC training, the cost, the logistics, the lifestyle environment in which you will be learning, what PADI Dive Instructors and PADI Course Directors are going to be the best fit for your learning style, and much more… Here is my personal list that can and should cover everything and anything when doing your initial research into becoming a Dive Instructor in Thailand.
Become a Dive Instructor in Thailand with Sairee Cottage Diving
With the internet today, the advertising on all things PADI IDC on your Google search results are never ending and you can’t just randomly pick one based off a cool picture of a bunch of cute girls or boys partying on a dive boat. This is not realistic or smart when it comes to planning your future as a PADI Dive Professional. Unfortunately, there is a staggering amount of these types of advertising practices being used today by the entire Professional Dive Training marketplace. It’s sad to say that it has come to this, but it’s easy to see that this practice is over shadowing the real importance of dive training and why we are doing this in the first place. Thailand is a fantastic place to do your IDC, however finding the right dive center to begin your journey to become a Dive Instructor in Thailand is a difficult process.
There will always be that demographic of young and even old “Party Animal” dive professionals in our industry, but there are those of us young and old looking for something different, something real and something legitimate when it comes to our PADI Professional Training. The good news is that there are still several serious PADI IDC Training Facilities out there to choose from, but it’s still a difficult choice to make based on advertising and customer reviews alone. I will explain how I went about choosing my perfect facility and hopefully you can also use some of these things to help yourself in making that very important decision.
A little background on me first to help clarify what my concerns and questions where based on with my past experiences in life. I’m a 46 year old male who got the dive bug later in life. About 8 years ago back in 2008 I was on holiday in Cozumel Mexico when I did my first intro dive with an amazing PADI Dive Instructor, Anna Quinn. I was hooked instantly on all things scuba, but the most important thing that made the experience so special was Anna’s dedication to PADI Standards, her seriousness about training and education and her relentless yet extremely fun style of instruction. I literally came home from holiday to the freezing cold of Chicago and quit my job, sold or gave away just about everything I owned and went right back to Cozumel to continue my PADI recreational dive training. After completing my Open Water Certification I knew this was the job I was put on this planet to do. I wanted to be just like Anna and have that same drive, professionalism and enthusiasm she had with teaching me (and trust me, I was a hand full at first). I did a 6 month PADI Dive Master Internship with Anna. Obviously, this was an easy decision for me based on the friendship I made with Anna from the start of my dive certifications. A no brainer and sometimes this is all you need to make those decisions. (If you’re lucky enough to encounter that type of experience right from the start)
However, that wasn’t enough for me. I didn’t want to be one of those dive masters on a boat that didn’t look like they knew what they were doing and not have the respect of the customers onboard. So, I decided to do another 6 month PADI DM Internship purely for gaining more experience, learning from a different operation and working with a new Instructor. This is where I made my first mistake on choosing a random Training Facility. I was even warned by my Instructor Anna what I would experience at this location, but I had done my research. I emailed the PADI Course Director and explained to him what I was looking to get out of this training experience and he said yes to everything I was asking for and looking for and quickly wanted my deposit. RED FLAG #1 … when a PADI IDC Training Facility is more concerned with collecting your money before going into details about the program, having an actual conversation, covering expectations and training schedule / study material … be warned! This is a place that cares only about getting your money and will say “yes” to anything you ask and promise you as well. The reality of the situation was not what I was promised. The housing wasn’t right, the Course Director wasn’t even there for the first month, it was unorganized and none of the other staff knew what to do with me. It was a very bad experience and the only saving grace was a single instructor that saw what was going on and took it upon himself to do something about it. All the other instructors and dive masters at this place were not friendly, didn’t care and all they wanted to do was party in the town every night. It was what we call in the industry “a total shit show.”
So, rule #1 from this experience … Listen to your trusted instructors advice and recommendations! Rule #2 is, if a dive center is more interested in getting your money than having a real conversation about “how” your expectations will be accomplished and only use emails with out dated scripted information, stay away. I understand a template, but this is just so impersonal. Because there are some Diving Training Facilities out there run under these deceptive practices you really need to be on top of asking the right questions, knowing your limitations and what your expectations should be.
After working as a PADI Dive Professional now for several years under the tutelage of one of PADI’s best Course Directors, Larry Grayson in the Hawaiian Islands, I have made many friends, made great contacts, know how to network within the industry and have many resources to reach out to for questions. It was now time for me to start thinking about the next step in my PADI Professional Continuing Education Training (IDC Staff Instructor) and I wanted to do it in Thailand. But where do I start?
I knew what I didn’t want … I didn’t want a dive shop with rude unprofessional employees that acted like they were still in high school. I knew what I wanted so I made my list, contacted my dive professional friends and then started to research all the recommendations made by my networking.
- I wanted to learn in a relaxing environment not focused on partying every night.
- I wanted to do my PADI IDCSI training that had small/medium class sizes.
- I wanted to work with a PADI Course Director and have a “Mentor” type relationship / friendship to sharpen my skills and learn from his experience.
- I wanted a younger PADI Course Director to get a fresh approach to today’s teaching styles.
- I wanted affordable housing on the facility property.
- I wanted to be on one of the smaller islands away from the mainland.
- I wanted to shadow the first IDC to better learn and understand the role of the IDC Staff Instructor during this training program to better prepare me for when it was my time to participate in my first IDC as an IDC Staff Instructor.
- I needed a guarantee that this customized / “out of the norm” training I’m requesting can and will be done the way I want it and that it will meet my expectations.
- I wanted clear communication with my future Course Director on any and all questions and concerns.
- I wanted to be clear on what was expected from me as a student.
- I wanted training material and meaningful conversation before the topic of “You Pay Now!” even came into play.
- I wanted a PADI IDC Training Facility that was concerned with professionalism more than party time.
- I wanted a PADI IDC Training Facility with a friendly and family like atmosphere where everyone was a teammate.
- I wanted a PADI IDC Training Facility that was average busy.
- I wanted a PADI IDC Training Facility that held the same standards as PADI.
- I wanted a nice boat to dive from, not a huge cattle car filled with tones of divers and I wanted a dive shop that had good dive gear and a clean pool to train in.
- I wanted a facility with a new air / nitrox compressor on site and maintained.
When you pay to become a Dive Instructor in Thailand, why not select a dive center with first class facilities? I believe this is a very important factor in choosing your dive school to become a Dive Instructor in Thailand.
When choosing to become a Dive Instructor in Thailand, the recommendations, advice, names of dive centers and course directors came flooding in like crazy from all my traveling friends, dive friends, dive professionals, course directors and ‘Ohana. Thailand is a very busy and active place when it comes to diving. I had so many options country wide. But as I asked these questions to qualify or disqualify these recommendations my options got manageable until it came down to a few locations and choices. That’s when I really started to look into each operation, the staff, the location, the track record, talking to people who knew the course director and networked on social media asking former students about their experiences with those places I was looking into. YouTube also had some great traveler videos on the areas of interest as well. I got to see everything from different perspectives and that was a big help as well. My Facebook stalking skills came into play to just get a feel for the people, staff and atmosphere of each of my 3 locations left to choose from.
There was only 1 place that met and exceeded my wish list. That PADI IDC Training Facility is Sairee Cottage Diving on the beautiful island paradise of Koh Tao, Thailand. The PADI Course Director Marcel van den Berg has been and continues to impress me with his fun yet extremely professional style of teaching. His name came up several times from friends of mine in Honduras and Hawaii. Marcel has great communication skills, clear expectations, easy to follow program formats, gave me training material right away before I even paid. I actually had to ask Marcel when I should pay. He was clearly interested in me as a student and my educational needs and my expectations. I even saw this first hand when a person walked in off the street, right into the classroom and the two of them just talked shop, it was so refreshing to witness this kind of communication. Money wasn’t pushed, programs weren’t pushed … it was a very professional “meet and greet” with the focus on the client and what his needs were and what he wanted. You don’t see that much these days in any industry, let alone the dive industry where the majority of the focus is on “You pay now! Get the money!” I made the right choice with Marcel van den Berg as my mentor and now new Course Director.
OK, so what about Sairee Cottage Diving? To sum it up in one word … AMAZING!
I was picked up from the harbor as promised, my very clean Bungalow is close to the classroom and the pool, the staff is more like family and the professionalism is the best I have ever seen. These dive professionals at Sairee Cottage Diving are a winning team. They operate like a fine tuned Swiss Watch. The level of fun is at the same level of professionalism. We all like to have a beer from time to time and talk about the day’s dives and training, but boozing every night is not the focus here. It’s a mellow lifestyle, people working the next day are early to leave to get the needed rest you need as a dive professional. This is all part of living the lifestyle as a Dive Instructor in Thailand. I have seen some places here on Koh Tao, and this is defiantly one of the best ones. I am grateful to be a part of this training experience here at Sairee Cottage in Koh Tao, Thailand. It’s easy to see just how important it is in choosing the right PADI IDC Training Facility because there are so many wrong decisions out there (at least for me). As an individual, you need to make your list and qualify or disqualify your options to find that right match to meet your expectations, needs, wants and goals. If you don’t, it could be a very bad experience.
Dave Angelescu PADI MSDT and soon to be IDC Staff Instructor # 273870
Become a Dive Instructor in Thailand at one of the best dive schools in Asia and get your PADI Instructor certification after completing your PADI IDC program followed by the MSDT Internship at Sairee Cottage Diving. This is an eco friendly IDC program including free environmental lectures on topics such as ProjectAWARE and CoralWatch. Watch dive instructor videos on our YouTube channel.
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