Diving Work-for-Certification
In recent years, work-for-certification programs have become quite popular in the diving world. Not only do they offer a more affordable way to get certified, but for those who want to enter the dive industry, they also provide valuable hands-on experience and a window into how a dive shop operates. For both dive shops and divers alike, "dive work-for-certification" has become a mutually beneficial new model of learning.
It's not just in Taiwan — dive shops all around the world offer work-for-certification programs. These range from entry-level Open Water Diver certifications all the way up to dive instructor level. The duration can vary from a few days to several months depending on the country and region. If you're considering a work-for-certification program, it's worth evaluating what makes the most sense for you, asking the dive shop plenty of questions, and making sure you have a contract in place before you commit!
A Pampered Diver
Unlike many experienced divers, I haven't been diving for very long. By the time I earned my Divemaster certification, most of my dives had been completed in Southeast Asia. Warm waters, without much experience leading dives or looking after divers — one instructor called me a "pampered diver." Not because I was high-maintenance, but because I had always been diving in very comfortable, forgiving conditions.
When I decided I wanted to become a dive instructor, I was honestly a little scared. Beyond feeling that my experience was lacking, I also doubted my ability to handle underwater situations. So I started looking into an instructor development course that included an internship component.
In some regions, instructor development courses offer not just the curriculum itself but also the opportunity to teach students after graduation — essentially an in-shop internship that lets new instructors get familiar with the dive industry alongside experienced shop instructors. Programs like this exist in the Philippines and Thailand, and they cost slightly more than a standalone instructor development course. After a few days of research and reaching out to various dive shops, I discovered that a dive shop in Australia offered a work-for-instructor-certification program!
Their website laid out in detail how long you'd need to work, what your duties would be, and any potential out-of-pocket costs. I happily wrote to them and received a reply quickly.
There's a funny twist of fate here: not long after I first got my dive certification, I bought a book called Paradise Diver. I read it and left it on my shelf for over a year. Then, at a dive expo in Singapore, I got chatting with a veteran diver. When he found out I was planning to do a work-for-certification program in Australia, he told me, "That's the very dive shop where the author of Paradise Diver did her work-for-cert!" I went home and re-read the book straight away.
ITP (Instructor Training Program)
The company offering the work-for-instructor-certification program is called Divers Den, and they call the program the Instructor Training Program (ITP for short). According to the program outline, working for them for 45 days would earn you an instructor development course. At first I thought my English must have gotten rusty — 45 days for an instructor development course was so different from the "several months" I'd previously understood to be the norm! (Looking back, I think it's because wages in Australia are higher than in other countries, so fewer days are needed to offset the cost.)
I wrote back with all my remaining questions and received a warm, thorough reply. On the agreed date, I bought my plane ticket and flew to Australia to begin my ITP internship.
Before the formal internship began, the ITP coordinator checked all my relevant certifications — my Divemaster qualification, dive liability insurance, dive medical insurance, and a dive medical certificate (a medical certificate confirming fitness to dive appears to be a Queensland requirement for all diving professionals). Then they arranged a three-day trial period living aboard the boat.
I think that three-day trial period is extremely important. Working for your certification here is no walk in the park, and the trial is a crucial opportunity to find out whether the program is really right for you. I was seasick and vomited on the very first day of my trial — but after carefully assessing myself, I decided I could still handle it. I've heard of Divemaster candidates who came for the trial and gave up after throwing up for three consecutive days. The trial system is a fair way to avoid wasting both the dive shop's time and your own.
After the trial period, I met again with the ITP coordinator to confirm I wanted to proceed, and then signed a contract. She went through every clause with me and explained my responsibilities during those 45 days, as well as exactly what training I would receive. All of this training was listed item by item in a training manual, with set milestones each week. Once completed, a supervisor would sign off on each section. At the end, I would take that signed manual and exchange it for the instructor development course textbooks!!
The internship manual you receive after signing the contract
Once all the signatures are collected, you exchange the manual for the instructor development course textbooks
Life on the ITP
And so my 45 days began, from the moment I signed the contract.
Work took place either on the day boat or the liveaboard vessel. Duties included cleaning, snorkeling guiding, scuba diving guiding, filling scuba tanks / cylinders, organizing equipment, standing watch, recording dives, and deck crew work, among other things. Learning seamanship was the most unique part of the entire internship. We had to learn how to tie mooring lines so the boat could be secured properly at each new dive site, and how to connect two vessels so that passengers could transfer from the day boat to the liveaboard. We also learned to operate the tender (small boat), which was useful for ferrying supplies from the day boat and, in emergencies — for example if a diver drifted too far — could be used to go out and retrieve them.
The crew's daily schedule ran from 5
a.m. to 8 p.m.From the morning equipment checks through the morning call, dive briefings, getting in the water with guests, and finally cleaning the dive equipment area and signing guests' dive logs — every crew member had these routines down to a fine art. We came from different countries, and working alongside so many people from so many different places was a genuine first for me, and truly something special.
The day always started at the equipment station
During the afternoon break, the Divemasters would seize the chance to sneak in a dive
Just like the author of Paradise Diver, I got lost underwater a few times in the beginning. I also struggled to fully get the hang of certain deck duties and wasn't quite sure how to manage my divers — I lacked confidence because I had never really worked as a Divemaster in any official capacity. But with patient guidance from the supervisors and instructors on board, by the time my internship ended I had become a capable, self-sufficient crew member.
One memory that really sticks with me: I was never very good at handling the tender, so several instructors took turns taking me out on it to practice. We drifted, spun, and zoomed around on the open water. I never imagined that I'd turn out to be a better boat driver than a car driver.
Over those 45 days I also learned how to connect with guests. A few times I received genuinely kind feedback from them, which was a huge encouragement. When I was dive guiding, I sometimes felt I hadn't done a great job — like I hadn't pointed out enough interesting things. But divers would surface, shake my hand, and tell me they'd had a fantastic time. These passing guests shared their stories with me; I met travellers from all corners of the world, and their positive energy kept appearing throughout the working day. Even when I was so tired I fell asleep the moment I hit the pillow, I still felt I had made a truly wonderful decision. I was also very lucky that during those 45 days I happened to be there during Australia's whale season, and got to take part in two weeks of Minke Whale trips! (For more details about the Minke Whale trips, see this separate article.)
This American grandpa-and-grandma couple were my favourite guests. Health issues meant they couldn't scuba dive, but after snorkeling with them day after day, I found myself drawing so much energy and inspiration from them as divers
Besides myself, there were 8 ITP participants in my cohort — all from different countries. Sometimes we doubled as translators, so on the boat there could be dive briefings delivered in 3 or 4 different languages. These fellow ITP interns eventually became my classmates in the instructor development course, learning together and goofing off together.
The Divemaster interns we did the program with
A Few Reflections
Honestly, I don't think a work-for-certification program is necessarily the most financially economical way to get certified. Once you factor in flights and the fact that accommodation and meals outside of time spent living aboard the boat are your own responsibility, the total cost may not end up being that much less than going to the Philippines or Thailand. A friend of mine once pointed out: "Wouldn't it be better to earn an extra month's salary in Singapore and then go get your instructor cert in Thailand in style?" When I think about it, that's a pretty solid argument. That said, I genuinely believe that doing an internship aboard a liveaboard to earn your certification is a truly special experience. I grew so much throughout the process — in diving technique, seamanship, and communication — so I'd still recommend this kind of internship program (purely a personal opinion).
As of now, I'm a week and a half into my instructor development course and my instructor exams are just around the corner!!!
If the opportunity arises, I'll share more about the instructor development course here.
A quiet corner of the boat
When a particularly beautiful sunset appeared, the whole crew would race up to the top deck and have dinner watching it
About Work-for-Certification Programs in Australia
While writing this article I did a quick search, and for Divemaster-to-dive-instructor level, the only program I'm aware of is Divers Den. If you're a Rescue Diver looking to work toward your Divemaster, there are quite a few shops that offer this kind of internship — for example Cairns Dive Centre, Down Under Cruise & Dive, Byron Bay Dive Centre, and Whitsunday Dive Adventures, among others. The number of days required and the conditions vary from shop to shop, so if you're interested, check out their official websites or write in to ask. (If you have detailed internship information about any dive shop that you'd like to share, please let me know and I'll add it here!!)
One final reminder: read the contract carefully and make sure you fully understand the working arrangement with the dive shop before you sign — it'll save a lot of potential headaches later.
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