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Scuba Internships
| Thailand
Scuba Summer for Students, Gap Year Divemaster
Courses |
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PADI
Dive Resort (S-36338)
BSAC
Centre of Excellence (No. 484)
Scuba
Schools International (Dealer No. 9377)
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Scuba
Diving Internships
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Koh
Tao Thailand; Diving
News |
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Getting a
Visa for your Scuba Diving Internship
in Thailand
Lets now take a
look at the visa regulations in Thailand & how to get the best possible
visa for your diving
internship,
plus discuss some frequently asked
questions:
If you make no prior
arrangements & fly straight into
Thailand you'll be issued with a 30 day 'Visa On Arrival'. Since the duration of the
internship is several months you'll make 'visa runs' in order to remain in Thailand.
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This
means crossing the border out of
Thailand, then re-entering to receive
another 30 day tourist visa. It takes
one and a half days of constant traveling
to get to Burma and back and costs
around 2,000 baht. This is ok, but
there is a cheaper and easier way
of doing things.
Much better is to
apply for a one year Non - Immigrant
B education visa. This allows you
to remain in Thailand for 90 days
at a time, only making a visa run
every three months. The best way
to get
this is to apply for it at a Thai consulate in your country of origin. |
You'll need a
couple of documents from us (which
we can fax or e-mail to you). There
is an application fee but it works
out much better than going down
the 'visa on arrival' route. You
need to contact your local Thai
consulate for the exact fee, but
expect it to be a little over 100
US dollars.
Our advice is
don't leave things till the last
minute - sometimes these things
take a while to organize so be
proactive.
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Scuba
Internship Frequently Asked Questions
Other than the dive
internship fee what else should you
budget for? How much spending money
will I need?
Not
much! Your main expense will be
food and drinks, which are exceptionally
cheap in Thailand.
A decent meal
costs between 40 - 200 baht depending
on whether you want Thai or Western
food. A beer cost 50 - 70 baht.
As a rough guide I tend to average
about 400 - 500 baht per day (about
10 USD).
If you're determined,
you can live for a lot less than
this, but this amount is comfortable!
I would also recommend keeping
a few hundred USD in reserve.
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What Do I Need
to Bring with me to Thailand?
Everything
in Thailand is cheap, and you can
get everything you need.
Keep it
minimal. Clothes, camera, sunglasses,
flip flops - what more do you
need?
Remember, at the
end of the scuba
diving internship you'll have a bag full of scuba
diving equipment & diving manuals
to take back.
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I'm
on a Summer
Break & don't have
a full two months available -
what can I do?
The courses can
be completed faster, so if you
had say only 10 weeks we can still
get you through the internship to PADI Divemaster.
This is easily
do-able - you won't be 'flat
out' but you'll have to keep moving
along at a steady pace.
The best thing
to do is contact
us and we can
discuss your individual case.
If you're concerned
about having too much to do out
here [and want to take it easy]
you could complete some of the
theory work whilst you're still
at home. We can mail some of your
diving manuals to you - this allows
you to maximize your time in the
water here on Koh
Tao Thailand.
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Is
the Thailand friendly towards lone
female travelers?
Very. Koh
Tao has an enormous volume of travellers,
so there is no problem.
In terms of people
taking diving
internships here
in Thailand we tend to get
a fairly even male/female mix.
Also there are
many girls living and working on Koh
Tao, Thailand so you won't
feel left out!
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Do
I have to undertake a medical examination?
How fit do I need to be for the
gap year
/ scuba diving internship?
At the end of
your courses, to be signed off
as a PADI
Divemaster you do need
a dive medical.
But don't worry
it's quick and easy [costs only
around 150 baht]. You can do it
here on Koh
Tao.
You need to have
basic general fitness to enjoy
the internship, but don't need
to be an athelete. Obviously you
can't take part if you have any
serious medical conditions e.g.
bronchitis, lung disease, pneumothorax,
drug abuse heart disease etc. If
your not sure, check with your
doctor.
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What
vaccinations do I need? Is there
a risk of malaria on Koh Tao?
Again,
best to get in touch with your
doctor. There's not really anything
exotic here so you just need the
typical vaccinations for travelling.
There is no malaria
here so there's no need to take
malaria tablets. |
What
is banking like on Koh
Tao - are
there ATMs? What's the best way
to bring money?
There are lots
of ATMs and a few bank plus money
exchanges on Koh Tao, so access
to money isn't a problem.
Check out what
charges you'll incur with your
bank - I'd either use the ATM or
travellers cheques.
For large payments
[i.e. the internship fee] it's
probably most economical to make
a direct transfer.
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What
if for some reason I'm unable to
complete the diving
internship?
We'll
work out the percentage of the
internship that you've done and
recaculate your bill based on that.
Everything
is straightforward, plus we have
experienced, competent instructors so are confident that you'll have
no problem proceeding through the
diving courses. |
Koh
Tao is a
very busy diving
resort, so there
are always lots of employment opportunities
- you just need to apply yourself.
You won't get
rich working as a Divemaster, but
if you work full time should be
able to afford basic living expenses
[and will have a great time].
Another option
is to check out our Underwater
Videography Internship Add On -
this is a paid
scuba diving internship - you get 500 baht for each DVD
that you produce & sell. Again,
if you apply yourself you can do
well from this.
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Do
I need to arrange travel insurance?
Does DJL Diving have a policy to
cover scuba
diving?
DJL has a policy
with a company based in Thailand
[called Hyperbaric Services of
Thailand].
If you do injure
yourself diving and can be sorted
out on Koh
Tao, there is no charge.
If you suffer a serious injury
which requires recompression treatment
[extremely unlikely], you'll be
evacuated to Koh Samui. For this
a percentage of your treatment
is covered by the shop - you or
your own insurance has to pay the
remainder.
It's prudent to
get normal travel insurance [i.e.
for personal belonging, sickness
etc]. Try to get one which covers
normal scuba
diving to 18 or
30 metres. |
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Check
out the DJL Diving Promo Movie;
See footage of Koh Tao Thailand
diving. |
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