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Become a fully qualified Divemaster in just 10 weeks in the stunning Australian coastal town of Byron Bay. After studying at our Scuba Diving Academy, you’ll join the elite ranks of the diving professionals, allowing you to work at scuba centres and in the diving industry worldwide.
Not only will you learn the skills necessary to pursue a career in the dive industry, you will also acquire valuable transferable skills including the confidence to remain calm under pressure and to communicate effectively with others.
This programme is perfectly suited to diving enthusiasts who wish to develop their own skills as well as anybody who is interested in joining a fun outdoor programme during their travels in Australia.
Divemaster Programme
This programme is designed to take you from novice to Divemaster in just 10 weeks of training. The overall structure is less intense than other courses, allowing you to gain enough dive experience, while leaving ample time to savour the laid-back environment of Byron Bay. It is vital that Scuba Diving courses are not rushed and take you thoroughly through the theoretical and practical elements of each stage, so you gain a real understanding of the concepts involved.
You will reach the level of Divemaster through structured instruction in both the swimming pool and open water and through classroom tuition. To achieve Divemaster status, you will need to complete the following courses:
- PADI Open Water
- Advanced Open Water
- Emergency First Response
- Rescue Diver Course
- Divemaster Certification
Your qualification status will be recognised worldwide, with PADI considered to be the main international diving standard. As a result, you will be able to work in dive centres and anywhere else where a Divemaster qualification is applicable.
Scuba Qualifications
There are different ranges of diving qualifications, some of which must be achieved prior to tackling the next level of diving. The main qualifications are outlined below:
- PADI Open Water – this 5-day course gives you your basic licence to dive anywhere in the world to a maximum depth of 18 metres. It involves 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 become 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 acts as 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
As part of your project fee you will receive a full set of your own diving equipment, which is essential 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.
Project Age Limit
The participants on this programme may be of a broad age range. Maximum age decided on potential participants’ health.
Skills Requirement
See Individual Programmes for details
Health Requirements and PADI Indemnity Forms
All students looking to participate in 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 taking part in a scuba diving programme. Failure to complete these forms will prevent you from joining the course.
Accommodation and Meals
During the course of the programme you will be staying in a hostel-style lodge at the dive centre. For the first two weeks you will stay in an 8-bed Dorm room before moving into 4-bed dorms for the remainder of the project. The lodge has all modern amenities including a kitchen, washrooms, TV room, and BBQ facilities. It is run by the dive centre and is exclusively for the use of scuba academy students.
Meals are not included in the cost of the programme.
Programme Support
Throughout your programme, you will receive the support and supervision of our qualified Instructors and Dive Masters. Each are fully qualified, experienced professionals who are able to provide you with all the instructional and safety support necessary on a programme such as this. They will also be on hand to answer your questions and offer any advice you may need during your stay. The accommodation staff will be available to you throughout the day and the dive centre director will be contactable 24 hours a day if you have any serious problems or emergencies.
In addition, we will provide you with access to our 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 accompany your pre-departure 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 introduction to the town including a guide to 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: Potential work placements, further training etc.
Question/Answer Session: An opportunity for you to ask any further questions.
Job Finding Assistance
Once you are fully qualified, the dive centre is able to offer help in finding employment in the diving industry all over Australia and in various parts of Asia. This is by no means a formal service, however, the centre has a good track record of finding its students employment. This stems from its reputation for providing an excellent standard of tuition.
Previously qualified divers/Other Course Options
Even if you have already completed some of the PADI qualifications, you are still able to join this Divemaster programme. Our Scuba Academy is able to start your training from the point of qualification and will provide you with refresher training if you have not dived in the past 12 months. If you do not want to train to Divemaster status, we can also offer you a course. It is possible to do the following:
Programme Length
Advanced to Dive Master (already qualified to Open Water Level) 9 Weeks
Rescue to Dive Master (if you are qualified to Advanced Open Water) 8 Weeks
Open Water to Rescue Diver (no qualifications held) 4 Weeks
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