The interviews do not intend to insult employers or damage the reputation of their dive centres. They merely try to provide an honest picture about the working conditions in diving destinations all around the world in order to provide young and aspiring professionals with a helpful overview.
If you like to contribute an interview yourself, please contact us under mail(at)lifendive.com[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_gmaps link=”#E-8_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” size=”250″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Age:
30 (Information is from 2009)
Nationality:
German
Languages:
German, English, Greek, French & Spanish
Number of Dives:
150
Where:
Rhodes, Greece
Type of contract:
Seasonal
Position:
Underwater Videographer & Divemaster Intern
Salary Range in US$:
500-1000 US$
Board / Accommodation?:
Not provided, has to be organised and paid for by yourself.
Duty and free time:
Sundays, but during high season you could also work extra shifts and get 50% more salary[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Medical care facilities and staff:
Fairly well, but quite a bit expensive
Visa Runs:
Not necessary with a European passport
Government administrative duties:
None that I would know of, it’s Greece, you know ;-))))
Lifestyle:
We shared a flat among some employees directly in front of a beach just outside of Rhodes city. The flat was simple but amazing and the landlord provided internet for free. He even changed the location of the WiFi-router to make it possible. The lifestyle as a diver/divemaster/instructor on Rhodes is simply awesome. There is party going on pretty much every day during high season and since we were off on Sundays, we could take full benefit.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Type of operation:
Dive boat, used for daily trips
Size of operation:
Boat capacity around 100 persons
Location of operation:
Independent operation with a small organisational office and operations carried out from aboard the vessel
Job characteristics and/or special duties:
The employees were divided into different teams, mainly the operational team on the boat and the sales team in cars that went from hotel to hotel
Main diving courses tought:
The main business were DSDs, but occasionally also OWDs and AOWDs were tought
Mode of operation:
The DSDs were conducted from the large boat that was attached to a floating platform, but the company also offered dives by car to other locations around Rhodes
Average # dives per day:
in my case this is difficult to say, as I basically stayed in the water for up to 4 hours in a row at depths between 3-5 metres[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”1216″ border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”400×300″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”1211″ border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”400×300″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”1198″ border_color=”grey” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”400×300″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Your opinion:
My time on Rhodes was physically demanding, but very rewarding. The team spirit was simply awesome, which was in large parts due to the management who made quite an effort to keep everybody in a good mood. From dinners, to hypnotic shows in pubs, BBQs and private Halloween parties we enjoyed many great times together as a team.
The morning usually started with a strong coffee and about half an hour of walking to the dive excursion boat, sometimes we were also fetched up by car from one of our colleagues. Arrived at the boat we filled it with humongous amounts of tanks that had just arrived by car. If the team wouldn’t have been so large and motivated, we’d have taken half a day carrying tanks.
After the tanks were loaded and all the guests arrived the boat would leave the harbour to its little secluded bay. The journey took about 45 minutes and was spent on briefings for the guests. Once arrived at the bay, the team would get ready, dress up, prepare their gear and eventually start to rotate DSD groups of around 4 guests through the water. During high season there were even 2 groups simultanously.
Each group consisted of a dive leader, usually a highly experienced divemaster, an additional divemaster in dive gear, 2-3 surface guards in snorkelling gear and me, the videographer. The teams worked like a fine tuned clockwork. The groups of guests were prepared by the platform crew and equipped with suits, weights, masks and dive gear. Each group of guests stayed around 20 minutes in the water, before the team guided the next group. When there were two groups rotating simultaneously, I never touched the platform other than to change my tank, and rotated inbetween groups taking footage of exactly 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
During the lunch break, our instructors would go around and ask the guests whether they wanted to make a second dive in the afternoon, if they wanted to buy pictures and/or the video. After my colleague and I knew which groups we had to film also during the second dive, one stayed in the editing room, while the other was taking the remaining shots. Before the ship reached the harbour, we usually had everything ready.
On top of this amazing work experience, one must never forget that I entered this season as a fairly inexperienced OWD with 150 dives and ended it as a certified divemaster with more than 500 dives. Retrospectively, this time is certainly among the best times of my life. I made great friends, I met even more, gained invaluable experiences, earned little, but learned to cope with it and ultimately simply felt like a better person afterwards.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_facebook type=”box_count”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_tweetmeme type=”vertical”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_googleplus][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_pinterest type=”vertical”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
