Sport Diving

[Huntingtons]

Right. So im sitting here doing some late night browsing, trying to avoid going to bed while watching Robin Williams standup.

I was recently in Thailand and fell in love with diving, like proper love. At first i was scared of it since im facinated and frightend by water. My first course was going shitty, i was insecure about it and shit and my first dive as certified was a night dive in stormy weather where my buddy never descended.
On the end of my trip i was on a Liveaboard to the Similans for 3 days and there it enchanted me completly. I realized that i wanted to become an instructor so i could live off diving. Became so envious of those instructors who lived on the boat and just had to wake up every morning to perfect diving. Part of it was probably the rush from diving and the vibe, but i know part of it is real.
Anyway im just browsing around checking prices and possibilites to get it paid for by a school (dont seem alot offers the course in exchange for work) and getting psyched!
Any of you guys dive or done a dive master course?

 

[old.Tohtori]

I was recently in Thailand and fell in love with diving, like proper love.

You cheeky monkey

Just waiting for all the wankers from the WWF thread come and say "It's not a sport!" while waving their fingers in the air, proper nerd like.

Always meant to get to diving, though i've always liked the idea of free-diving more.

Only problem is that i don't particulary like swimming, which is kind of a prequisite i think

 

[Helme]

I had a friend who did it once, I always thought he had major problems surfacing because his hair looked like a sponge.

 

[Job]

Yup ,BSAC sport diver (cough..proper standards).

Quite a few guys made it from the club as instructors around the world, though it's 90% personality that gets you those jobs, but that 'Dive instructor Barrier reef' T-shirt they wear all the time that gets them endless chicks.
Learning in bad conditions is good, it can only get better and you won't panic when a good dive suddenly turns nasty.
Don't bother with commercial, I heard nothing but 'At least the money is good stories' and two guys died .
The memories from great diving will stay with you for ever, like looking over a 2000ft drop in Malta at hammerhead sharks circling below.

 

[rynnor]

I have a mate who goes diving in Thailand every year.

A guy he used to work with left his job in IT to go become a dive instructor out there about ten years ago. My mate leaves his gear out there which saves the hassle of dragging it out on flights.

It does sound like a fine life - go for it.

 

[DaGaffer]

Yup ,BSAC sport diver (cough..proper standards).

BSAC snob. Typical

Been thinking about doing Dive Master for a while, but now I have a nipper I'll need to do it here in Ireland, which when its good its great for diving, but when its bad...jeezus.

Its a nice dream (when I was travelling I seriously started looking into buying into a dive school - Fiji was the option when I was looking a few years ago -forget Thailand and places like that, too much competition), but certainly not a lucrative one. The guy who taught me to dive (on Koh Tao) was my age, just gave up a management job in London one day and got on a plane, he said he had no regrets (and he had young girls all over him like flies on shit), but I wonder if he'll get into his mid-40s and start to wonder if it was the right move. I think it would be a great lifestyle...for a couple of years.