The first thing you need to know about a diving internship is how the money you pay will be spent, so let's briefly examine what happens to the money you hand over.
The expenditure breaks into three main sections
1. Course costs
2. Equipment costs
3. Living costs and accommodation
All costs are based on a rate of US$ 1 = 30 Thai baht
Course costs:
In Pattaya these vary from 300,000baht to 450,000baht. Except for Real Divers all dive centers demand the total cost of the course up-front and non-refundable.
Why don't we follow the herd? Simply because we have learnt that there will always be students who are unable to complete the course for scores of different reasons.
The most obvious one is that they discover on the first course that diving simply is not for them. Another reason that can crop up is that family problems mean that the student must return home and another is that students have accidents that are unrelated to diving. This usually involves riding motorbikes around Pattaya.
Because we are aware of these eventualities Real Divers believe that it is not reasonable to ask students to gamble the entire cost of the internship before they even know if they will enjoy diving. So we offer a "pay-as-you-go" internship which means students pay for each course individually.
Because Real Divers internships are on a pay-as-you go basis you are able to influence the total amount you will pay to become a PADI Instructor, but as a guideline think in terms of a total of around 370,000baht. About 130,000baht of this will be spent on essential PADI training manuals and materials, the Instructor Development course, the Instructor exams and Emergency first response instructor exam.
2. Equipment costs: After you have completed the Rescue course, where you really learn all about different dive equipment you should start considering owning your personal scuba gear so you will become totally familiar with it.
As an instructor candidate you are required to have: mask, snorkel and fins; regulator set; BCD (Buoyancy Control Device); weight belt or integrated system, whistle and dive knife. You might want to buy a wetsuit if you feel the cold (average sea temperature is about 28c). You will also need a timing device, a dive computer is not required by PADI standards but most instructors consider it a "must."
At Real Divers during your training you will have the chance to try out different brands and models of scuba equipment but to help you choose equipment that suits your needs we will put you through our special equipment seminar.
To guide you on how much you will need to spend a full set starts at about 60,000b; the middle range is 80,000b and the top end in excess of 100,000baht.
There's a fourth category of equipment. It can look quite good, but is produced really cheaply to be used as rental equipment. As a Real Divers student you are able to select your own equipment and avoid the cheap and nasty stuff.
Living costs and accommodation: Many of the dive shops in Pattaya include accommodation in their internship package. In some cases the shop owns the accommodation in others they earn commission.
All of that to one side Real Divers think that most people would prefer to choose their own accommodation - somewhere that suits their needs and wallet and doesn't lock them into a six month agreement.
What we suggest is that we book you for a few days into one of the nearby hotels where our dive customers often stay. After you get over jet lag, start to acclimatize to the heat and generally relax we will take you on a tour of local accommodation so you can inspect rooms and their facilities and make up your own mind on where you will stay and what you will pay. A standard room in Pattaya will cost 5,000 Thai Baht a month, a condo and swimming pool 12,000 Thai Baht a month.
In general terms living costs in Pattaya are about one third of the cost in Britain. Travel is much cheaper and you can hire a small motorbike if you know how to ride one. It's not a good place to learn, but there are some excellent international hospitals.
PADI's diver courses require students to fill in a medical questionnaire before starting, but when you turn pro on the Divemaster course you need a "fit to dive" full medical. You can get this done in Thailand far cheaper than in the UK but as a preliminary check we can email you one of the PADI medical questionnaires and that should alert us to any potential health matters that could affect your ability to dive.
