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Be sure of the value of your dive internship

Mermaids Learn in Asia, Pattaya, Thailand has been offering scuba dive training internships since 1999/2000 and have really honed the program to make the wheels turn smoothly. Mermaids are the original dive internship operator in Thailand/Asia leading the way.

The logistics involved to operate a smooth professional dive training internship are incredible. Training schedules have to work, spare staff always need to be at the ready. Supply of materials needs to be smooth and/or large stocks held. Different activities need to be planned each month to maintain interest in diving and away from diving. Unique courses need to be offered to allow the interns to be considered "special" on completing the intern training. Dive boats must be privately owned and in good operational order. The PADI dive center ideally needs to be a CDC (Career Development Center) in order to assure you of the highest possible quality - to maintain this status is really quite difficult.

Before enrolling in a dive internship you really need to be able to ask the following questions:

• Is the program really ALL Inclusive?

  • Beware of additional costs and "surprises" that often occur. This could be that the manuals are not included. Maybe the basic dive equipment is provided but not the equipment that is required to become a PADI Scuba instructor - hence you have to buy more etc. Is the dive equipment new also? We newly supply the full dive equipment that is required by PADI to become a professional dive instructor.

• Are ALL of the PADI fees included?

  • These are not cheap and in many cases the PADI IE (Instructor Exam) fee is not included - this is the best part of $500 alone. Check that all of the PADI fees are included.

  • Ensure that if there are bonus courses that the fees are all included also - Mermaids offers 100% free bonus courses.

• Is the Dive Operation and IDC or a CDC?

  • Both are good and both will get you trained but why not go to the highest award if you are serious about your career. An IDC is authorized to make instructor training where as a CDC is authorized to conduct "Career Development Programs". Mermaid's is the ONLY CDC from Bangkok to Cambodia.

• Does the diver program offer you Specialty courses?

  • Specialty courses as standard within the dive internships. Having 2 course directors we offer Specialty Instructor Ratings on request. We can easily offer this as a CDC (Dive Career Development Center). Mermaids is proud to offer such courses as the distinctive Advanced Search and Recovery, PADI Dry-suit diver, Full-face mask diver and other interesting areas.

• Does the Dive center run it's own it's dive boats?

  • Generally things run smoother when the dive center uses a boat. Sharing is good but on a day-to-day basis more control is held when a sole center runs the day. If dive schools share boats this can compromise the days training and smooth running of the days activities. With so many different dive instructors from different dive shops making different requests it causes confusion on the boat. Mermaid's are the only dive centre in Pattaya that runs and captains all of it's own boats and DOES NOT share with any other company. We have no freelancers or other dive shops - only Mermaids customers are on the Mermaids dive boats. Mermaids is the only Pattaya dive center to privately own/lease and operate 4 dive boats daily – (own 3 - permanently lease 1). We do not allow any other companies or freelancing instruction personnel on our boats – why extend your day unnecessarily? We have 4 boats so that all of our trips go to different destinations and divers can enjoy smaller groups, more supervision and better diving. This also gives all of our interns the chance to help in supervising dive trips. There is no substitute for the real life experience you get at Mermaid's LIA.

  • By having full control of the boat all of the days activities can be planned prior to the trip.

• Do you gain Medical and response training as standard?

  • Mermaids Dive center offers the EFRI (Instructor level) program with all dive professional internships. This allows you not only to be proficient in first aid skills but also be able to teach them! Care for Children is standard. The DAN (Divers Alert network) 02 first aid for diving injuries course is also offered as standard with all pro-internships.

• Does the dive center enjoy healthy business?

  • Imagine being an intern for a dive training facility that has no substantial business...Sure, you can take your open water, Advanced and other courses but what will you do when there are no other students that you can assist with their training? What will you do all day if 2 or 3 days per week there are not enough "customers" to take the boat out? - Will the dive shop hire a boat or take out their boat just for you? Or will you find yourself spending time on the beach or dawdling about not getting the diving that you require? Mermaids CDC have a healthy amount of varied divers training and diving through our programs. Personal one-to-one dive tuition is readily available on request but operating a healthy business ensures that the boats go out daily (and I mean EVERY day!). With this also you get to see all levels of training on a daily basis increasing your overall experience. You can see how we run our dive intern mentor program here.

  • You can check immediately to see all of the interns that we have had since January of 2004 here (Dive interns photos) - there are testimonials also. Also from the photos page - you will be able to check ALL of the IDC's and IE's run by Mermaids www.learn-in-asia.com since January of 2005. Ask your intern center how many interns they have had over the last year and ask for references - many dive centers are now offering dive internships but yet to have a participant - this will not have allowed them any time to evolve or errors to learn from and run a smooth internship - as mentioned, the logistics are extremely complicated.

  • Can 1-2-1 tuition be had? - yes of course. If you'd rather have one-to-one dive tuition then this can be gained at Mermaid's too.

  • Ask how many IDC candidates the dive center has had and the pass rate - Mermaids enjoys a very high pass rate - the highest percentage pass rate n the eastern seaboard of Thailand.

• How highly trained are your instructors / dive center staff?

  • To have PADI OWSI (Open Water Scuba Instructor) members of staff train you is superb - ensure that all of your dive instructors hold the credentials of which they state. ALL of our full time instructors are trained to a minimum level of "PADI Staff Instructor". This basically means that they are all at a level where they can teach "Instructors" how to instruct to pass PADI examinations. The divemaster level is the first rung on the professional PADI ladder. Then you have OWSI, then MSDT (Master Scuba Diver trainer), and then "Staff Instructor". Our course directors are very hands-on. So as an open water diver you could find yourself taught the Advanced or Rescue by a course director - this is impressive. We have several PADI Master Instructors on staff also.

  • Be sure that the person that you correspond and gain advice from is qualified. Be sure to take advice from qualified and experienced dive professionals. It always amazes me how an Advanced or Rescue diver with no industry experience can correspond with budding dive professionals and offer advice and direction on dive careers! How would they know? Gain advice from someone that has paved a career and achieved success in this area.

• Do you have small class sizes and personal training from a Course Director? - check here.

• Is it a standard dive program or is there any "unique" benefit to make you stand out form the other newly certified instructors? Is the Dive Center Innovative?

  • There are a lot of dive instructors world wide and even more produced weekly. The dive industry is vibrant with growing amounts of dive jobs and scuba vacancies due to huge growth in this sport. However, once you are trained as an instructor you are really back at the bottom of the food chain so to speak. What does a certain dive facility's program do to ensure that you are not just another number but make you highly desirable and employable within the diving industry? We here at LIA (Mermaids CDC) give hands on experience of day to day logistics of running a busy dive center operating 4 boats. You are a customer and not expected to work but can gain as much experience as you wish to immerse yourself in. Over and above this we offer very unique packages ensuring that every intern has distinctive specialties. We offer courses such as the PADI Specialty outlined Full-Face mask diver (Full Face Mask) and the Self-Sufficiency Diver certifications and ASSET program that can ONLY be offered by us within Asia. All of our interns are automatically upgraded as standard to the National Geographic Diver Status also - all of these things add up! The National Geographic was acquired as soon as it came onto the market - we did not need to wait a year to make an application to PADI. The IAHD (International Association of Handicapped Divers) instructor training (Handicapped instructor training) brings very much value to an instructor. Then there are such demanding courses as the ERDI (Emergency Response Diver) program to separate the men from the boys:-) (For this training innovative hardware has been introduced such as the 'submerged car'). For those returning to cooler climes we have the PADI Dry Suit Divers Course to ensure that you are prepared for the cold. For the environmentally aware the Reef Check Study will open the eyes. Continuously expanding our range of courses to assist employability must go to show our commitment to your dive training. We have a reputation of producing 1st class instructors and dive masters with unique training and intend to maintain this record.

  • As standard in the Mermaids professional packages is the EFRI (Emergency First Response Instructor) course including instructor manual - all paid for. This is essential for all dive professionals actively teaching. Care for Children and DAN (Divers Alert Network) 02 diving first aid are also offered as standard.

  • You can check our CDC and National Geographic status immediately by searching for Mermaids Dive Center in Pattaya Thailand on the PADI web site.

• What happens after the training - is there an active dive job placement service?

  • It's all very well being trained to high standards but now that you are a qualified divemaster or instructor what are you going to do now? We offer a fully pro-active dive work placement service to all of those that wish to find dive jobs. We have an excellent track record of assisting new dive instructors into new dive careers. In the past three years we have been successful in assisting with placements 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.

  • Mermaids CDC has an EXCLUSIVE partnership with Diversjobs.com allowing all of the very best scuba diving work to be offered to our divers first and foremost. This cannot be beaten. We have worked very hard to ensure the very highest chances of dive employment. Mermaids have placed as much importance and emphasis on your scuba diving jobs placement as any other part of the dive program. After all - we're training to become dive professionals and gain dive jobs right? Give yourself the best possible opportunity!

  • To compliment the Diversjobs.com assistance program the Mermaids internal diver forum board is really gaining interest. With many Mermaids dive masters working and dive instructors working with employers - many times we get approached for further dive staff. Dive employers contact us to see if we have working dive masters or dive instructors for the seasons and maybe longer.

• Are ALL of the PADI manuals included?

  • If the PADI scuba diving course Materials are not supplied with every PADI course then PADI standards are being broken for starters. All PADI student divers are required to own the intended PADI materials for each diver course. If they are not supplied this might indicate a certain disrespect to the PADI system and in effect to your dive training. Any unrealistically priced dive internship might not be supplying the required materials from PADI and other agencies. - If they are not included in the program as standard, request the cost of all as this will have to be included.

• Can the program be run at any time of year?

  • This is a very important question as if you are heading for a seasonal dive area - what will happen when you are half way through your program to discover that the waves are now too big for the boat to leave port - how do you continue to train? We are fortunate to be sheltered from the monsoon season here in Pattaya, Thailand and hence enjoy a 365 dive day season. (see the dive guide right here for all year diving in Pattaya) - No matter if you join in mid July or December you can complete your dive training in one session. This makes it extremely convenient to run around your preferred schedule and dates.

• Is it really unlimited diving and costs?
  • Ensure that you do not have to pay for tank air fills. ALL diving at Mermaid's, whether you take 100 or 300 dives are FREE - you DO NOT pay for regular Air. (If you decide to take the PADI Enriched Air Diver Course - all air is free also)
• Can you assist with other diving destinations?
  • Yes. Mermaids dive center has a huge network of divers both working diving and recreationally assisting in shops that we can gain you great recommendations any where. In Thailand we have affiliate shops offering diving in Krabi, Koh Chang, Koh Kood, diving Ao Nang, diving Krabi, Koh Samui, Phuket, Khao Lak, Koh Lipe and of course Similans live aboard trips.

The above is just a short list of things (believe me there is more) to watch for in a dive internship program. We have been making the internships since 1999/2000 as mentioned and have had a lot of trial and errors on the logistics - I will not hesitate to hold my hands up to that. We have successfully been running a very smooth diving intern operation that goes from strength to strength for a very long time now. Unfortunately to the "un-trained" eye and the potential candidate that has little or no experience of the scuba dive industry - it can be all too easy to sign up for a dive internship that really does not deliver exactly what it promises, and invariably does not - do your homework first - please contact Mermaids with any questions or diver references..

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