“We operate sailing and diving trips around the Whitsundays and Great Barrier Reef. Over the last while we have employed a number of Dive Instructors from Dive Otagot. These are the type of people we need in our company.”  Fraser Yule, General Manager, OzSail
 

Chris Garraway - Diploma in Professional Scuba Instruction 

"All of this was made possible by the dedicated crew at Dive Otago who opened the door to our underwater world, and a life less ordinary"

"Hey guys! I've been instructing in Australia now for nearly 4 years and want to say a big thank you for your help in getting me here in the first place. I've worked in Airlie Beach, Cairns and now an amazing island called Lady Elliot where I've dived with Manta Rays nearly every day for the past 2 and a half years. In over 1200 dives I've seen Tiger Sharks, Hammerheads, hundreds of turtles and many other amazing marine creatures. Last year I dived the President Coolidge in Vanuatu, getting down to 60m in the process. All this was made possible by the dedicated crew at Dive Otago who opened the door to our underwater world, and a life less ordinary. Thank you so much.."

Matt Pearson - Diploma in Professional Scuba Instruction 

"One of the best decisions I have ever made." 

At the start of 2010 I thought that I needed a little excitement in my life so I decided to enrol in the 36 week Diploma in Professional Scuba Instruction course at Dive Otago in Dunedin. This turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made.

I entered the course having zero experience at all; I was even almost afraid of the sea and had only ever been snorkelling a few times in my life. Within a few weeks from the start of the course I had already racked up over ten open water dives and had achieved my first certification as a PADI Open Water Diver and loved it! Over the next few months we gained experience in all types of diving, among my favourites were the night, deep and wreck dives.

During the course we were taken on a weeklong diving trip to Milford Sound. We did 3 dives a day everyday among some of the most amazing underwater scenery on earth, there were sharks, fish and such a variety of aquatic life that each and every dive was completely awesomely different.

There were dolphins that came and checked us out for almost half an hour at one stage, there was a crazy amount of crayfish in the cracks and under rocks (some of which were lucky enough to become dinner) and during our surface intervals we went free diving and spear fishing to find some tasty fillets for tea.We were taught all about the diving hardware and how to maintain and service most of it; First Aid right through to the level of a First Aid Instructor; Rescue diving and under water navigation; these among others were only some of the skills that greatly enhanced my confidence and abilities to dive as well as standing out from the others when I eventually applied for a diving job in the Whitsunday islands of Australia. 

Within 4 weeks of graduating as a PADI Open Water Scuba Specialty Instructor I had acquired a job taking people out on 3 or 4 day sailing cruises taking clients diving all through the world renowned Whitsunday Islands and Great Barrier reef – DREAM JOB – Doing nothing but diving in 30 degree water with turtles and huge tropical fish while hanging out with a whole bunch of different exciting new people.

If you are looking for a change then head to Dive Otago and sign up for the Instructor Course. I highly recommend it! 

May 2011  

Dmitry Sharomov - National Certificate in Diving (leadership)

"Every year we make amazing expeditions to the different corners of our planet"

Since I left NZ on the sailing boat Pangaea I am working as a photographer for Pangaea project with Mike Horn. Every year we make amazing expeditions to the different corners of our planet. Not long time ago I come back from our expedition to the Gobi desert. Now we are preparing to the next expedition to Kamchatka - land of volcanoes, geysers, hot springs and brown bears.I am going their next Monday for one month! So,my life is very exiting :)

We did many dives during our ocean adventures. Most spectaculars dives we did on the Andaman Islands ( Indian Ocean) and Marians Islands on the way to Japan.

Many thanks to all your team for teaching me how to dive! 

If you want to find out how you can train for jobs like these order your free DVD and Info Pack today!

Anthea Ibell - Diploma in Professional Scuba Instruction 

Australasian Rolex Scholar 2011/2012

I am currently on an experienced based underwater scholarship called the Rolex Our-World Underwater Australasian Scholarship (owussaustralasia.org). The scholarship emphasizes breadth of experience, aiming to give me the broadest range of opportunities possible.  I aim to undertake a multitude of projects within the marine biology and underwater archaeology fields. Prior to the scholarship I completed my PADI Open Water Instructor Diploma at Dive Otago in 2008. Since then I instructed part time while studying toward a Bachelor of Science in Zoology at Otago University, with a Minor in Archaeology. 

Lauren Bawden - Diploma in Professional Scuba Instruction 

2011 Graduate

I am currently working for Pro Dive Cairns as a 5 day instructor. I spend two days based in cairns where I teach the theory ow sessions and the confined water pool sessions. After the two days in pool and classroom I spend three days/two nights on a liveaboard on the outer great barrier reef. In those three days we teach the open water sessions and also offer the adventure course with deep and night adventure dives along with another adventure dive of there choice. Along with instructor duties on the boat also help out with deckhand duties such as mooring the boat, driving the rescue tender etc so I have learnt a lot of new skills as well.

The diving is fantastic each dive seem to find something new. Often see on a regularly bases turtles, grey reef sharks, whitetip reef sharks, barracuda, moray eels, stingrays and nemo of course. Some of the other instructors have been lucky enough to see manta rays. It is just start of whale season with our skipper spotting a humpback on sunday. They also tell me minke whales come in very close to the reef as well. Water temp is a tropical 25 deg, when i started in feb it was 27 deg ( i think i am getting a bit soft 25deg is starting to feel a little cold, who would of thought!). Viz on average is 10-20 meters.

Pro Dive is a great company to work for  they teach course all year round, so the work is consistent. They have a very strong reputation and maintain a high standard of safety. When I started in february i was very new to the industry so they paired me with some of the experience 5 day instructors and i got to shadow them for a while helping out with ow courses and advanced courses, which was a great way to get into it.

Overall I am having a blast teaching people to dive, enjoying putting the skills I learnt at Dive Otago to use.

If you want to find out how you can train for jobs like these order your free DVD and Info Pack today!