GVI’s award-winning internships offer you the opportunity to add the PADI Coral Reef Researcher Speciality certification (a qualification that’s exclusive to GVI programs) to your Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) qualifications. And if you volunteer on one of GVI’s marine conservation programs for two weeks or longer, the Coral Reef Research Diver Distinctive Speciality course is automatically included.
This exclusive course offers GVI participants an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the skills and knowledge, planning and organisation, and procedures and techniques required for coral reef research diving.
You’ll start with knowledge development sessions that will introduce you to coral reef research diving. You’ll also learn about the skills and techniques you’ll need to perform underwater surveys of coral reefs. Following this, you’ll get the opportunity to put theory to the test with two open water training dives. During these dives, you’ll be assessed on your ability to:
- suit up correctly,
- perform a pre-dive safety check and a buoyancy check at the ocean surface,
- identify common coral and fish species,
- discuss the need for regular checking of depth and air pressure throughout your dive,
- and identify the importance of effective buoyancy control and weighting when performing a safety stop.
Here is a selection of programs where you can become a PADI Divemaster with GVI.
Forget about closed shoes and mainland clothing for a while. Instead, suit up in scuba gear and live your dream of becoming a certified professional diver by joining a marine conservation internship in one of the world’s best dive spots. And you needn’t worry if you’re not yet up to speed on your PADI certifications. This internship allows you to land your PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certification before moving onto your PADI Divemaster certification course.
Once you’ve arrived on Mahe Island in the Seychelles, it’s easy to see why the Seychelles was once the perfect pirate hideout. The archipelago is tucked away in a secluded part of the Indian Ocean. The ocean waters twist between 115 different islands and waves roll up to greet the nearly 500 kilometres that make up the Seychelles’ coastline.
As the biggest island in the Seychelles, Mahe is the perfect place to get exposure to the ocean and the marine life within it, while adding to your scuba-diving qualifications. After mastering the theory of your PADI Divemaster certification course, you’ll be placed with a reputable dive centre in the Seychelles. You’ll get to contribute towards marine conservation efforts and lead recreational dive activities out in the open ocean.
Still need to achieve your PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certification before signing up for a PADI Divemaster internship? No stress. This is another one of those internships where you can start with your PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certification and walk away with your PADI Divemaster certification at the end.
Take your time upping your diving knowledge and practice during your training on Mahe Island in the Seychelles. You’ll revise your diving knowledge while swaying in the ocean tide, and conduct coral surveys with the warm waters of the Indian Ocean streaming over your wetsuit.
Then, you’ll fly to Thailand and start working in the field in a dive centre placement in Phang Nga province. You’ll consolidate your newfound diving and marine conservation knowledge in a professional setting. You’ll get involved in marine conservation research, coral reef surveys, and plan and supervise dive activities that include spotting some of Thailand’s marvellous megafauna – like oarfish and whale sharks.
Why not travel to Fiji and Thailand as part of your PADI Divemaster certification?
This internship sets you up with an intensive training period on the island of Caqalai in Fiji. Skirting this small island are the warm waters of the South Pacific Ocean. Enjoy the start of your scuba-diving training surrounded by the 1,200 species of fish found here. You’ll also get involved in coral reef research that contributes to global marine conservation efforts.
Once you’ve gained all the skills and scuba-diving training you need, travel to Phang Nga province in Thailand and put your newfound skills to good use with your dive centre placement. Working as a dive shop employee on a shoreline along the Andaman Sea will give you all the experience you could hope for.
Fill your days planning dive activities, scouting for the best dive spots and assisting with the day-to-day activities of the dive shop. You’ll share the ocean with many endangered marine species – like dugongs, devil manta rays and four different types of sea turtles. You’ll even get involved in marine conservation efforts that could land you a qualification in Biological Survey Techniques.
Add to your scuba-diving qualifications while on a PADI Divemaster internship in Mexico. Find out how to identify different fish species and conduct surveys on the world’s second largest coral reef system – the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System – while scuba-diving in one of the most sought-after dive sites in the world.
Once your training is complete, you’ll be placed with a popular dive centre along the coastline of Puerto Morelos. Find out what it’s like to work in the diving industry while catching glimpses of the great barracudas, yellow stingrays and bottlenose dolphins that call the coastal waters of Puerto Morelos home.
Make Fiji’s Caqalai Island the birthplace of your professional diving career. Start off with a marine conservation expedition that tackles the diving concepts you’ll need to know to earn your PADI Divemaster certification. Take a dip below the water and spot the sea snakes that slither in the crevices between coral outcrops.
Then move over to your work placement at a Fijian dive centre where you’ll work as part of a team and assist with the daily tasks of a dive shop. Prep dive boats and dive gear, plan and lead recreational dives and monitor marine environments. You’ll also learn more about the culture of Fiji from the local staff and community members you’ll interact with every day