Scubadiving Shop

[Froggy]

Hi!

Is there some people who knows if the scubadiving domain is a good opportunity of carrier in Thailand?

I'm working since 15 years in a scubadiving shop to sail the equipements, fill breathing air tanks(divers,fireman,police,army), visual inspections for these tanks and a lot of other things.

I have a Open Advanced Water and Rescue Padi cards.

I would prefer to work in a scubadiving shop than work as Divemaster on an island!

If someone knows where I can find this kind of job, it will be appreciate to let me know!

Thanks!

Froggy

[Pepe']

You've just got to check around. There are lots of dive shops in Samui and Phuket and all over the south.

I thought it was interesting that many of these shops on Samui were run by Scandanavian guys.

Pay is bad but the benefits great

[Sadayu]

There is lots of competition for Dive Shop jobs here in Thailand.

You'll need to pay a shop to at least earn your Divemaster, and then probably have to get your Instructor before you get much paid work. Then the pay is still bad, most people I know rarely earn more than 20,000 / m.

There are plenty of Thai staff who do operations / maintenance / sales for the shops, you probably wouldn't have a chance unless you new someone. You get to know people by doing the above ...

And yes, I guess the benefits are great though, if this is your lifestyle thing.

I also don't know of anyone legally working in a dive shop here in thailand, so everybody's got the visa run issues and risk of barred entry.

s.

[digibum]

There is lots of competition for Dive Shop jobs here in Thailand.

You'll need to pay a shop to at least earn your Divemaster, and then probably have to get your Instructor before you get much paid work.  Then the pay is still bad, most people I know rarely earn more than 20,000 / m. 

There are plenty of Thai staff who do operations / maintenance / sales for the shops, you probably wouldn't have a chance unless you new someone.  You get to know people by doing the above ...

And yes, I guess the benefits are great though, if this is your lifestyle thing.

I also don't know of anyone legally working in a dive shop here in thailand, so everybody's got the visa run issues and risk of barred entry.

s.

I'm not sure I totally agree with Froggy. I have a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer certification and used to teach in the US as a hobby (I still do but I quit taking students every weekend from the local dive shop and only work with friends and friends of friends now). Once you get to the Dive Master level you are considered a professional (i.e. you can sell your services) and PADI has a special area on their website just for professionals. One of the features they have is a message board where people can post jobs or jobs wanted. Thailand seems to be a spot with a lot of recruitment going on.

I do agree with the others in that the pay will be for sh*t but believe me, even in the US a dive instructor is lucky to earn little more than what s/he would make flipping burgers. On top of that you have annual PADI membership dues which average several hundred a year and you must maintain liability insurance which is another few hundred. I've heard one instructor joke, "Spend thousands and thousands to become a dive instructor where you can make hundreds and hundreds of dollars."

But, don't take the above the wrong way. I love teaching. I just could never afford to do it as a main source of income. Now that I teach friends I just tell them to cover my bar tab at the end of the day and we're square. Also, you couldn't pick a better office location. Sixty feet below the surface with the most amazing view in the world.

Several dive shops in Phuket run instructor training courses. You can start from any cert level and go through the IDC (instructor development course) and eventually sit for the IE (instructor exam). Obviously, the lower down the PADI cert ladder you are the more it's going to cost and the longer it's going to take. That might be your best shot at getting employment. If you can get them to commit to offering you some seasonal work as part of your package you might just get a taste of what you're getting yourself into. Go pick up Rodale's Scuba Diving and check out the IDC ads. You can do your IDC in the US or pretty much anywhere.

Now, why would they hire you over a Thai? Because you speak English. You're farang and tourists often feel uneasy while learning and being a farang can be a selling point for the dive shop. A lot of that has to do with:

1) You can explain the technical terms of diving better in your native language. I think it would be difficult for a Thai to explain physics and physiology to an English speaker. Not impossible but you run into a lot of terminology you probably won't encounter in your standard English class.

2) Once you start teaching this will make more sense to you but people are literally putting their lives in your hands. They are much more likely to relax and learn if they trust you. And the fact of the matter is, people tend to trust people who speak their native language more than someone who speaks broken English.

You'll also increase your marketability if you can also speak French or German.