Divemaster Internship at Island Divers Hawaii

If you are interested in a Divemaster Internship at Island Diver Hawaii we welcome you to explore this page and determine if it will be a good fit for you.  This page is not a sales pitch.  An intern become an integral part of our operation, and we need you go in eyes wide open if you decide to take it on.

There are a number of things to consider

• Divemaster internship result in SSI Divemaster certification
• There is no staff housing or transportation available
• We require that you have a personal set of dive equipment
• Living in Hawaii is not inexpensive

Still interested?  Please go now to the SSI Divemaster Course page and educate yourself there, then come back here and continue.

How much does the Divemaster Internship cost?

$1500 USD plus 4.712% HI sales tax.  This is the only fee we will collect from you assuming you have met all the course prerequisites.  It includes your digital learning materials for Science of Diving and Dive Guide, as well as your dive briefing slate, so SSI pro swag, and your professional registration fee.  It is non refundable and yours to keep.

If you still need some course prerequisites we can do them before the internship starts for normal fees, or we can consider a custom plan that extends your internship and has reduced fees for courses.  Contact us for custom packages.

Insurance

We will require you to get the Master Plan or similar from Divers Alert Network, currently $42 a year plus $35 a year for the DAN membership.  Which will cover medical expenses if you are injured while diving.  Next, we are going to recommend using H2Oinsurance.com to insure your cell phone.  If you are doing the long version of the divemaster internship with free additional diving, you will be taking it underwater on almost a daily basis to take pictures. If you make a mistake one day with the underwater case – it can be expensive.  Therefore, insurance is recommended.

Professional Liablity Insurance is provided by us under a group policy if we hire you after the course is complete.

Gear

You only other cost will be the purchase of dive gear if you don’t already own it.  We will work with your budget on this, but even for used gear you are looking at $800.  New gear on the inexpensive end would be around $1500, and professional quality high end equipment about $3000.  We will apply 20% of of a gear package purchased at retail to offset your training cost.   So if you do make a $1500 purchase the credit of $300 will reduce your course fee.

Hawaii vs elsewhere

There are quite a few places worldwide that you can do divemaster internships.  Hawaii will not be the least expensive if that is the primary concern or goal.  Hawaii is pretty awesome though, especially Oahu, which has all the 1st world amenities.  It also has a pretty awesome underwater environment.

We will ask you to prove that you do have the financial means to support yourself while you are in your internship.  If you are just looking to complete the course, we can have you done in two weeks.  If you are going to extend the course by taking advantage of the free diving in return for taking pictures, you still need money to live and eat.

You earn your free diving by contributing to the guest experience during your internship period.

What will I be doing during my internship?

First, you get first hand experience working with guests and get very familiar with the dive sites.  There really is no substitute for experience.  You will have days with great divers that are a breeze, and you will have days with people that struggle with basic skills during courses and intro dives.  And every day you will be able to observe and work with full time professionals.

If choosing the DMCi option, you will enrich the experience of our guests by taking pictures of them diving.  This is what pays for the extra diving.

In addition, you will do everything that someone in an SSI Divemaster Course will do.  Again, you need to be familiar with that.  Go read that page now if you just skimmed it before.

Here is a list of things in likelihood of assignment that you might be asked to do if you are choosing the DMCintern path:

• Go diving with guests and use the computer smart phone app Fotaflo 2 to deliver images to guests.  This is the primary function of our interns, and a smart phone is a DMCi We provide the underwater case.  There will be training involved.
• Crew a boat.  Primary responsibility would be getting divers in and out of the water, assisting in vessel mooring, acting as a lookout, and supervising snorkelers if present. This would be surface supervision and boat handling.  Not common, but if you are DMCintern then you might get asked.
• Assist with boat maintenance.  This will never be a primary task, but the people responsible can often do the work a lot faster with a second pair of hands.
• Guide a snorkel tour. You will definitely do this, but dive is a Divemaster internship, not a snorkel guide internship.  Again, you are expected to be willing.  A watersport professional should be familiar with guiding snorkeling, which is 10x more common than a scuba tour.
• The random thing.  Things come up.  Whatever it is, you are part of the team and are expected to help if you are taking the DMCi route

Your assigned mentor will be tracking your progress.  You’ll need to be posting photos to our service in most cases to receive credit.  It is worth noting that in the case that you are participating in direct Divemaster requirement training, you can still be posting pics and getting credit.

Professionalism

Behavior

This can actually be a little tricky. Not so much because we have a hard time getting interns to be professional, but because of the relaxed, easy going nature of our operations.  What can happen is that you begin to forget that you are representing the business -and then you tell that off color joke.  Or, you start discussion about last night’s party in front of the guests and how X did something crazy.  Or you are annoyed at one of your classmates and you snap at them in the shop. Finally, while we do not forbid dating within the company there are absolutely not discussions about personal relationships or showing of affection during work hours.

Non of the above is acceptable.  The shop is open from 7am to 7pm, and as long as you are on premises your are expected to conduct yourself in a professional manner.  If it becomes a problem, you will be asked to leave.

Drugs

Additionally, there is no tolerance for the use of any drugs besides alcohol and nicotine. Your momma probably told you shouldn’t smoke, and she is right. We reserve the right to report your smoking to her.

Customer Service

Finally, we are in the customer service business.  Here is a story I tell all my incoming staff. “The divers may not remember what they saw on the dive in a couple of months, but they will remember how they were treated by the staff forever”.  You can’t control the conditions, and marine life is finicky.  But we can absolutely can control the guest experience by making an effort to make people feel welcome every day.  We learn their names, what they do, where they are from, and where they have dove.  And then we are excited about the dives we do with them.  Presto, new dive friends. This is who we are, and that needs to be you if are an intern here.  Rudeness, snappiness, or just plain ignoring our guests will result in the termination of your internship.  That is the way it has to be.  Good news here: it is not that hard to be nice.  It is a little harder to be nice EVERY day.

How long is a divemaster internship?

Well, if you are doing DMC quick, a couple of weeks full time.  If you are doing DMCi (intern), then you are streching it out for gaining experience and “paying” for your extra boat dives by taking pictures of our guests and sending them to them.  Some weekend only interns have taken as long as 6 months.  At some point we’d like to graduate you and start using you as paid staff if you are going to stay around.

What will I learn not directly related to the divemaster program?

• Filling tanks
• Picture delivery training.  How we deliver guest photos.  You’ll learn this from your assigned mentor almost immediately, you can’t finish your internship without posting.
• Boat crew orientation and some seamanship basics.
• Introductions to Fareharbor (booking software), so you can see when you are assigned to a boat, and DiveShop360 (point of sale software), so you can help a customer with a simple purchase if needed.
• Answering the phone and greeting guests.

Can I get a job after my divemaster internship?

Probably.  But most of the work we have, such as training divemaster candidates, requires an instructor level certification.  You may get the occasional dive guide work if all of the full time instructors are busy.

It is not uncommon for divemasters to fall in love with the job.  To really work full time in the industry you are going to need to take the next step. Instructor. You are also going to have to hold a legal US work permit to actually get paid in the US, which is not the case for an internship.  Another option is working in the shop as shop staff, combined with divemaster work.

All inclusive cost for the course Assistant Instructor, Open Water Instructor and Instructor Examination is $3500 plus HI sales tax.

Let’s say your internship is over and you want to stay involved.  You can stay on and enjoy the benefits of diving, by simply volunteering your time once a week.  Many of our divemaster graduates have full time jobs, and come out on weekends and help as needed.  Our customer base is a mix of island visitors and locals, and we have an active dive club.  We can always use a hand on weekends.  Attention military:  earn your DM with us, we will use you on weekend boats!