It feels so good knowing that our IDC Candidate has a fantastic Job in Diving after Completing his Dive Instructor Course. It’s all about proper Training and Attitude
If you had asked me three years ago if I would ever live on a beach and not wear shoes, ever, I would have thought that you are crazy. It seemed like something so far out of reach for me that I never considered it. I was working in web developing, visual effects, compositing and multimedia in Melbourne, where I spent most of my day staring at two 24 inch screens hunched over my desk, wearing dark clothes, commuting every day, visiting the pub frequently and living for the weekends. I really enjoyed my work however and loved computers, but I realised that I am in the prime of my life and felt that something was missing. I wanted to be outside of my comfort zone. I lost hours into video games, but I wanted to live life rather than have just exist.
So almost three years ago, my girlfriend and I decided to “travel” a bit and then move to London. So we did it, we sold up everything, tied up all loose ends and flew out of Melbourne on a one way ticket to Singapore, where we began our 1-3 month backpacking adventure. That soon turned into a year of traveling. Over two years ago now, I walked past Sairee Cottage Diving on Koh Tao, Thailand, and was greeted by a very friendly Dive Instructor named Robyn. I signed up to do my Open Water course, where I met my other Diving Instructor, Neil. I had little idea that it was these two people that would change my life dramatically. By the time I surfaced from dive two of my Open Water Diver course, I was completely hooked and wanted to become a Dive Instructor myself.
Becoming a Professional Diver in Thailand
After more travel and much deliberation, I decided to do my PADI Divemaster course and enter the realm of professional diving. It was an incredibly fun course and I learned everything about diving from the fantastic mentors and senior Diving Instructors at Sairee Cottage Diving Koh Tao.
When I completed my PADI Divemaster training, I was pulled into diving more and more. I was working as a Divemaster for Sairee Cottage Diving for two years, where I climbed the ranks to being a head Divemaster and full time staff member. I never stopped thinking about doing my IDC as it was my goal to become a Dive Instructor since my humble beginnings as an Open Water diver. All this time I was very keen to continue my education as a professional diver. When Sairee Cottage Diving became a 5 star PADI IDC center, I knew it was time to take the next step and become a PADI Dive Instructor by doing my IDC.
IDC (Instructor Development Course) at Sairee Cottage Diving
The two week IDC at Sairee Cottage Diving was of the highest quality. There is a reason that I went from Open Water student to Master Scuba Diver Trainer all at Sairee Cottage Diving. The quality of training and facilities are phenomenal. Sairee Cottage Diving is like a family and all the staff are exceptional at what they do. It is incredibly inspiring, and an honor to become a part of that family and try to become the best Diving Instructor I can be. At Sairee Cottage Diving IDC we prepared very well for the Instructor Examination, but not just that. On top of that Marcel van den Berg, our Course Director, shared a ton of real life teaching tips & tricks that he has collected while working as a senior PADI Diving Instructor for many years. We were only 5 candidates, which was a great group size and also had the pleasure of working with Flavius Sleutelaar, a Dive Instructor who has over 10000 dives on Koh Tao, and Shannon Durrant, who has done some technical diving. We got more than what we needed and were super prepared for our IE by the end of the IDC. We all passed with flying colours and were soon celebrating at the pool bar and looking forward to our MSDT and Internships. Now I have completed my MSDT and have come full circle. I hope to inspire many more people and introduce them to our amazing ocean underwater world.
I am very excited to start a new career as Dive Instructor and cannot wait to get stuck into it! Come say hi, I will be more than happy to chat to you about quitting your job and chasing the dream.
By Lionel
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