Overview
PADI Dive Master Internship and Marine Conservation Training in Mexico

This 6 month long scuba diving internship starts with a 10 week marine conservation expedition to develop your understanding of marine conservation and to further or establish your scuba diving skills. You will learn how to live and work with a research team in a remote environment and attain base skills essential for your subsequent 12 weeks work placement. During this placement you will be based at a PADI dive centre where you will undertake your PADI Dive Master course, further advanced training courses, shadow Dive centre staff and help the dive centre with all its commercial operations including; taking clients diving, equipment maintenance and marine conservation lectures. These diving internships are a fantastic way to enter the world of professional diving or for just a real life changing experience. At the end of the 6 months placement qualifying participants may either be offered paid or unpaid work with GVI or with one of our local partners.

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This program will allow you to gain an great amount of certifications and experience. Not only you will become a confident and experience PADI Dive Master after seeing how the day-to-day operations of a dive shops for 12 weeks, but you will be able to experience what is like to be a volunteer on one of our Marine Conservation Expeditions, learning about Coral Reef ecosystems and how expeditions work.

Daniel Ponce-Taylor, GVI Mexico, Country Director, 2009

Highlights

Developing your personnel management, leadership, marine conservation and professional scuba diving skills. Living and working on a remote jungle base with incredible wildlife; waking up to the deserted white-sand beach and turquoise Caribbean sea; learning about the reef and how to identify the fish or coral you see; participating in monitoring dives to explore different sites along the coast; being the only people diving in the biosphere reserve surveying the deserted reefs under GVI’s special research permit; chancing upon mega-fauna such as dolphins, sharks and manatees; searching the beach at night for turtles laying eggs; learning some Spanish; joining sea and cenote fun-dives, enjoy cultural visits to Mayan ruins.

Skills And Qualifications Received

• PADI Coral Reef Research Diver Distinctive Speciality


• PADI Advanced Open Water


• PADI Rescue Diver and PADI Dive Master certifications (excluding PADI professional
  fees)


• First Aid & CPR training (Emergency First Response Certification)


• DAN O2 delivery course and Biological Survey Techniques BTEC Course


• Coral reef ecology, Turtle ecology and monitoring protocol (seasonal)
• Introduction to TEFL and Diving compressor training workshop with practical experience


• Environmental Education


• Interpersonal skills and leadership skills

See Requirements And Training page for more information

Location

GVI run a number of research bases on the Yucatan Penisula ranging from remote jungle bases in the heart of the Sian Ka’an (Mayan for ‘Where the Sky is Born’) Biosphere Reserve at Boca Paila to the tranquil Northern coast of the Mayan village of Mahahual, just north of the Belize border. Your internship will see you based at one of the two locations depending upon research requirements. The second part of the internship is spent with a local dive centre on the Mexican Caribbean coast. In between your expedition and work placement there will be a two week break giving you time to explore this beautiful part of the world.

See Life on the course page for more information

Field Conditions

When working at a field research base interns will stay in very basic cabana accommodation, with bunk beds (approximately six people per room) or tents. Conditions are basic and all freshwater comes from a well and is restricted, so interns take bucket showers. When undertaking the 12 week work placement and PADI divemaster training accommodations are of a higher standard, sharing with other participants.

See Life on the course page for more information

What's Included

All food(for the first ten weeks) and accommodation; airport transfers; PADI Advanced Level diving courses, PADI Rescue Diver and PADI Dive Master certifications (excluding PADI professional fees), First Aid & CPR training (Emergency First Response Certification), DAN O2 delivery course, Biological Survey Techniques BTEC course, an ‘Introduction to TEFL’ workshop; all training materials, technical dive equipment (whilst on the GVI base) and science equipment; 24-hour in-country support and a 24-hour emergency phone line.

See Book Now page for more information