Who has a better job? The Divemaster or the Dive Instructor? Anyone working in the dive industry will have no doubt at some point in their careers had this very argument. Ask a Divemaster, and they’ll give you the opposite answer to if you ask a Dive Instructor, every single time. So who is right? Which is better? Let’s look at the facts right here:
The Divemaster
So what exactly is the role of a Divemaster? The truth is…pretty much every role needed to run the dive centre!
Here at Big Blue Diving, the Divemaster on land is responsible for organizing the boats, signing up new divers onto the relevant trips, assigning instructors/students to the correct vessel whilst also deciding which dive sites they’re going to, and ensuring the correct amounts of dive equipment are on the boats ready for the students to use. This seems like a lot, right? That’s because it is! The Divemaster is essentially running the whole dive center, and without them, the place would fall apart very quickly indeed. They also act as the intermediary between the ground staff, captains and management, and are expected to be able to quickly fix any problems that arise in a collected, composed and calm manner.
The land role of the Divemaster, therefore, isn’t the greatest part of the job at all. Quite stressful at times, many decisions need to be made very swiftly whilst knowing in the back of your mind that just one small error could make or break someone whole dive experience.
The reason why the Divemaster job is regarded as one of the best in the world is obviously not for the land-based role, but the underwater part. With most of their work being done underwater, every day they are lucky enough to lead certified divers around the best sites, with their safety and enjoyment being of particular importance of course. Whilst guiding underwater their chief role is to find incredible marine life (that most divers wouldn’t be able to spot themselves) and…point at it!
Yes, that’s correct – pointing at beautiful things for a living. What a tough life they lead…
You can see now why so many divers aspire one day to become a real-life Divemaster, after all, it’s being paid to look for cool stuff just as we do when we’re on our holidays diving for fun, the only difference being that we have to point at it too! It also means that we’re not diving with beginner divers like the instructors, so we don’t have as many depth limits and are encouraged to use features like swim through’s and play with currents to excite and challenge the divers we’re leading. As the best Divemaster in Thailand (true fact, my mam told me) I know my heart would be broken having to dive our best deep sites like Sail Rock, Chumphon and South West Pinnacle but stuck at 18 meters as I’m teaching an Open Water Course, or every other day diving our shallow beginner sites at such dizzying depths of around 8 or 9 meters maximum – this simply doesn’t happen to us DMs!
The Instructor
After reading all that about us lovely Divemaster’s there’s no way that the Dive Instructor role can be worth going for…or can it?
I think it all comes down to what sort of person you are, and what you’re hoping to get out of your diving. The Dive Instructors are there at the frontline of diving, taking new, nervous Open Water students and turning them from crying/bolting to surface/ripping out regulator divers and (in just days) transforming them into safe, competent and confident Gods of the ocean, gliding around the reefs without a care in the world. This obviously leaves a huge sense of reward for the Scuba Diving Instructor, and I’ve no doubt that the majority of us would love that feeling of accomplishment when we’ve completed something challenging and created these wonderful new divers – it’s a feeling that’s not always easy to come by in life and it’s right here every single day for the Dive Instructor.
I also think that the instructor role is a lot more simple than what the Divemaster must do (but I’m sure lots of Dive Instructors may argue with me on this one) as they have it all wonderfully laid out for them. The boats are organized, the equipment packed, tanks provided and dive sites chosen – all they have to do now is be a damn good instructor, and they’re a winner. The Divemaster however absolutely must find amazing things underwater, or they’ve failed and their divers will surface unhappy – I know just how worrying it is halfway into a dive when you’ve found nothing special!
Oh, and did I mention that the Scuba Instructors get paid a hell of a lot more than the Divemasters, who make just enough to get by on?
So what’s the answer to the Divemaster or Dive Instructor question? Well, the best is what you believe to be the best. If you thrive under a bit of pressure and only want to dive the sexiest deep sites and not have to deal with problems associated with first time divers than Divemaster is definitely the choice for you. If you want to come back from your dives feeling rewarded, having been directly responsible for changing someone’s life for the better, than maybe it’s time for that SSI Instructor course!
Interested in becoming a Divemaster? Read more about what our Divemaster training course offers then head over to our booking page to get yourself signed up!
Think that being an instructor is more your style? You’ll still have to do your Divemaster training course first, but check out what you’ll be learning on your Instructor Training Course. It’s an intense course, but it’s a big bunch of fun too!
No matter what level of professional training you’re aiming for, you’ll be spending more time on Koh Tao than the average tourist. Want to know a little bit more about the island you’ll call home before you commit? Check out the Koh Tao Complete Guide for information on all the wonderful things this tiny paradise has to offer.
