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This 10-week programme will take you from complete beginner to a fully qualified Divemaster, allowing you to work at scuba centres and in the diving industry worldwide.
Project Age Limit
Minimum age 18, maximum decided on potential participant’s health Skills Requirement: See Individual Programmes for details.
Scuba Qualifications
There are ranges of different diving qualifications, some of which are pre-requisites before undertaking the next level of diving. The main qualifications are outlined below:
- PADI Open Water – this 5-day course gives you your basic license to dive anywhere in the world to a maximum depth of 18 metres. It consists of studying 5 academic modules, with 6 confined dives and 4 open water dives.
- Advanced Open Water – this course takes 5 days to complete, with certification allowing you to dive to 30 metres. You need to complete 10 dives, choosing from night dive, deep dive, underwater photography, underwater videography and more.
- Emergency First Response – this non-diving qualification is a pre-requisite course for all divers, looking to go beyond Advanced Open Water Level. It teaches you both primary and secondary care, which involves learning how to resuscitate someone, develop CPR skills, identify how to treat someone etc. This is a very important qualification to possess and takes two and a half days to complete.
- Rescue Diver – this 4-day programme requires you to complete 5 academic modules that enable you to be a competent rescue diver. You learn emergency management, how to identify equipment problems, ways of identifying diver stress and panic, and how to administer diver first aid.
- Divemaster – this professional qualification is the most sought after of all diving qualifications and a starting point for a scuba diving career. It allows you to work in a scuba diving school/centre and to work alongside Instructors, teaching real students. The course takes 8 full days (42 dives) to complete and covers a wide range of theory, practical instruction and dive mentoring.
- Instructor Development Course - this course takes 11 days and requires all students to have completed the modules/qualifications above. The course is split into 2 main parts; the first is the Assistant Instructor programme, where you help to train students in various modules and you assist the main instructor. The second part is the OWSI (Open Water Scuba Instructor) Programme. The purpose of these 2 different parts is to prepare students with business skills and all other necessary skills to work in and/or run a dive centre. The programme length and price will be dependent upon what experience/qualifications you already possess.
Dive Equipment
Included in your programme fee is a full set of your own diving equipment, which is very important for anyone looking to pursue a career in the diving industry. The dive equipment includes:
- Wet-suit
- Buoyancy Control Device (BCD)
- Regulator and gauge
- Kit bag
- Dive knife
- Safety Pack (signalling devices)
- Fins
- Mask and snorkel
The equipment is predominantly made by Aqualung, one of the leading brands in Scuba Diving equipment. If you already possess your own set of equipment, then the cost of this can be subtracted from the programme.
Health Requirements and PADI Indemnity Forms
All students looking to participate on this programme are required to have a medical examination at the start of the programme.
This is to ensure that you meet all of the necessary criteria to be able to scuba dive for an extended period and to ensure that any pre-existing conditions (or the medications used to treat them) will not be hazardous whilst diving. We recommend that you consult your doctor in the UK before joining the programme, however, this will not exempt you from the AS4005.1 diving medical that you will have on arrival, as Australian law requires this. The cost of this medical is AUS$60 approximately and is not included in the programme.
In addition to the medical requirements, it is also necessary for you to complete several PADI indemnity forms. This stipulates that you will follow all of the necessary codes of conduct and that you accept the inherent risks of partaking in a scuba diving programme. Failure to complete these forms will prevent you from joining the course.
Programme Support
Throughout your programme, you will have the support and supervision of our qualified Instructors and Dive Masters. Each are fully qualified and experienced, and are able to provide you with all the instructional and safety support necessary on a programme like this. They will also provide you with competent assistance and help you with any questions or advice you may need during your stay. The accommodation staff will be on hand throughout the day and the dive centre director will be available to you 24 hours a day if you have any serious problems or emergencies.
In addition, we will provide you with a 24 hour emergency contact number before you depart, so that you can contact one of our UK staff at any time should you need to.
Orientation
At the start of your programme you will receive a local orientation, to go alongside your predeparture handbook. This orientation will be conducted by our programme coordinator and will cover the following areas:
- Course Outline and Criteria: You will be briefed on what the course requirements are and what is expected of you at the assessment stage of each qualification.
- Byron Bay: An outline of the local amenities, places of interest and what to do in your free time.
- Safety: How to keep safe in the local area and how to ensure everyone’s safety whilst on the programme.
- After course options: Where the centre can help you find work, further training etc.
- Questions/Answers Session: An opportunity for you to ask any further questions.
Job Finding Assistance
Once you are fully qualified, the dive centre are able to offer assistance in finding employment in the diving industry all over Australia and in various parts of Asia.
This is a fairly informal service, however, the centre has a good track record in finding their students employment. This stems from their reputation for providing an excellent standard of service.
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