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]]>Taking your IDC or Dive Instructor Course is a life changing step. Gone are the days of commuting, offices and general dis-satisfaction of everyday life in a modern world. Enter a life of living in the worlds most amazing beach resorts, a genuinely rewarding job and qualifications you can use to earn a living anywhere in the world. Hello complete freedom.
We offer three different IDC packages to suit most candidates’ needs. However if any of the packages below don’t fit exactly what you require please let me know and I can put together a bespoke package.
Please note in order to do your IDC you will first need to become a Divemaster, if you’d like a Zero to hero package we can put one together where you will need to complete your Philippines Divemaster or alternatively you can complete your Divemaster in another country before transferring to the Philippines. Thailand is a popular option to do this just talk to us about your options.
Where will I stay during my IDC?
You will here in our newly built dedicated GoPro Lodge. This is situated on the resort only a 2 minute walk to our private beach. Built with you in mind, they are comfortable, simply furnished and with a shared bathroom. They are also on site 1 minute from classroom and diving.
When is the best time to come?
Malapascua is blessed with great diving all year round so any time is great! Please see our website schedule setting out our dates for 2013.
How do I get to Malapascua?
It’s really easy! Cebu, the neighbouring island, has a major international airport and from there it’s around a 3 to 4 hour journey to catch the short ferry ride to Malapascua. We can arrange private transfers from Cebu if you wish.
Is there anything else I should know?
You will need to have a current medical certificate completed by a doctor to confirm that you are fit to dive. As there is no resident doctor on the island I would recommend that you obtain this before you come. We can send you the appropriate form in your chosen language for you and your doctor to complete. It must be completed no more than 12 months prior to your Instructor Exam.
Please note that the new Divemaster curriculum, which has been taught in many places since January 2011, has a different level of theory than the old curriculum and one which falls short of the level required for your IDC. Please note that, apart from our pre-IDC prep days, dive theory is not taught as part of the PADI IDC.
If you are not sure which Divemaster course you took, it’s easy to find out – if you took 8 exams then this is the old curriculum, and if you took only 2 exams then this is the new curriculum. If you took the new curriculum, or maybe it was a long time since you took the old Divemaster course, we can give you some tips and suggestions to enable you to study and get your theory in shape before the IDC.
The whole IDC program takes 16 days, which includes the EFR Instructor course and prep. This might be a day or two longer than other IDCs but means that the days are short and relaxed, giving you plenty of time to prepare your own presentations, go diving, or relax in our resort.
The main reason you are choosing to start your career with PADI is no doubt because you love diving, and here we expect you to dive as much as you can throughout your course – all for free!
Other Costs:
We do not include the PADI IDC Crewpack and EFRI Manual as many people prefer to bring their own materials. Also, we want to give you the best available deal and this might mean buying your own materials back home for a better price than we can acquire them in the Philippines. However, if you prefer, we can order the materials for you at a price of approximately Php 28,000 (this is subject to change due to the prevailing exchange rate) for the IDC pak and Php 5000 for the EFRI manual. If you have any questions about what materials are required, please ask me.
There are also some application fees which you will need to pay directly to PADI, not to us. These are all priced in AUS$ and are 2012 prices where these are available:
There will also be additional PADI fees for the MSDT and Speciality Instructor applications, if you choose the IDC Gold option.
It is a requirement of PADI that you have a full set of equipment. However if you don’t want to bring your bulky items you can rent this from us. The rental cost is Php5,000/month and includes BCD, regs, wetsuit, mask, snorkel and fins.
We have IDC’s running most months please contact us with your available dates and we will tell you availability.
The dates above are for the IDC Course This assumes you have already reached Divemaster level. If not you will need to add this to your booking. The Divemaster taks a minimum of 4 weeks.
“This is by far the best dive resort i have been visiting all over my years holiday in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. See more reviews here.”Rod Simmons
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Training to become a Dive Master with Xtreme Gap means living on exotic places with lots of amazing dive sites and a great social life. If spending several weeks on a gorgeous tropical island, diving some of the most interesting dive sites in South East Asia sounds like some much needed travel therapy, then doing your Divemaster Malapascua, a small island, located not far from Cebu, is the right choice for you!
We work with an extremely professional dive school on the island. One of the most established, they are credited with discovering the Thresher shark several years ago and are the only National Geographic Dive Centre on the Island.
We run five dive boats and are one of the busier dive schools in Malapascua. This means there are always a lot of options to dive different sites, loads of variety and plenty of customers to assist – which is an important part of getting your dive master.
The real beauty of doing your dive master here is the Thresher shark. These are sharks with a distinctive long tail that they use to thrash the water, hence the name Thresher. No where else in the world can you see these majestic animals. Usually they live well beyond the reach of humans at around 300 metres below the surface. For some reason not yet understood, they gather off Malapascua all year and head to the top of the Monad Shoal Pinnacle, at around 23 meters. Besides that you can also see huge Manta rays swoop past and even occasional a Hammerhead.
When completing your open water course, you can expect the open water course diving course to last between 3 –4 days. The time scale usually depends on how quick you and your group are to using the equipment. You will start with a short swim test: it is a requirement that you can swim before undertaking your open water scuba diving course. The first couple of days will be spent in the class room and swimming pool. Furthermore you will learn about the safety aspects, about the equipment and the physics of diving. This will be under the watchful eyes of your scuba diving instructor and an assistant Divemaster.
After the classroom and pool modules are completed and you have demonstrated that you are able to complete various open water diving course skills correctly (such as recovering a regulator, clearing your mask) you will be ready to continue your open water diving course in the sea! The open water diving course consists of 4 scuba dives. During these dives you will practice skills learned in the pool and get used to the underwater environment, whilst diving with incredible fish in a beautiful underwater setting. To pass the open water Scuba Diving course, you must complete an exam at the end of the course, this is not hard to pass, but you must study, or risk failure!
The PADI Advanced Open Water Certification is a natural progression once completing the PADI Open Water Course. This course is scheduled over 2 days and consists of 5 Adventure dives from the list below (2 of which must be Deep and Navigation). On completion of this exciting course you will be awarded with the “Advanced Open Water Diver” certification, which allows you to dive down to a depth of 30 metres.The real beauty of the advanced course is that it enables you to dive deeper to 30 metres. At this depth you can see more species. It also improves your confidence and builds on the fundamentals. If you plan to dive as a continuing hobby, then the advanced course is highly recommended.
When completing your advanced open water course, you can complete your Rescue diver course. The rescue diver course lasts about 2 days. You also need to complete your EFR (emergency first response) course during this time.“Challenging” and “rewarding” best describe the PADI Rescue Diver course. Building upon what you have already learned, this learns you how to prevent problems, and how to manage them if they occur. If you are serious about your diving, take this course and have confidence leading dives.
On the PADI Rescue diver course, you are trained how to look out for the danger singes of distressed divers. The rescue diver course also teaches you how to rescue distressed divers and search for missing divers using specific search patterns. You are also taught how to safely recover an unconscious diver from the sea bed, and administer first aid both in and out of the water, this includes giving mouth to mouth resuscitation in the water.
The rescue diver course is a pre-requisite for the Padi dive master course, however even those not considering going professional, should consider this course, especially if they are intending on diving as an on going hobby. This is a great place to do you rescue diver course, with a tropical paradise island full of divers, you will meet like minded people making the learning experience great fun.
You will be assisting a qualified Divemaster or Instructor on guiding dives. Every day you will be diving (if you wish) and learn more about the dive sites, different fish and diving skills. There are usually different departure times for dives daily. There is also the occasional night dive as well. The morning diving is very early, usually a double dive leaving at 5am. This is necessary in order to catch the Thresher sharks as they come up to the cleaning station in the early morning. You can choose to dive as little or as much as you like, just bear in mind you will need to complete a minimum number to pass your Divemaster course as set out in the PADI Divemaster qualification requirements.
For the duration of your stay you will be located at a comfortable dive resort, right on the beach. You can choose between three types of rooms. The rooms have a maid service and are safe, secure and clean.
If you choose for one of the more budget options, a standard fan or aircon room, you will have your own private room, but you have to share facilities (shower and toilets). All the rooms and facilities have recently been renewed.
The more luxury option would be the luxury aircon room ensuite. If you choose for this type of accommodation you have your own little veranda, shower and toilet.
The resort has many facilities that make it a great place to stay for you and to make sure you have everything you need nearby. The following facilities are located at the resort:
You can go all year round as we have nice weather on this paradise island so any time is a good time to visit Malapascua! For your information there are three distinct seasons here in Malapascua.
The Christmas and Easter periods are busy times on Malapascua, so once again be sure to reserve your Divemaster programme well in advance. The only holiday seasons that really affect traveling are Christmas day and the Easter weekend as most public transport stops, including airplanes. And do not forget we are also busy with Chinese New Year. July and August are officially low season but we tend to be busy with courses so for a DM would be a good time because there is plenty of opportunity to assist courses as well as guide/dive.
If you are a fish, yes, but to your average scuba diver: no.
The Thresher shark is not dangerous of humans. They eat only small fish. Although, there are stories, myths at best, that fisher men were hit by the long tail of the Thresher shark after they caught them in their nets… Just be nice to them, and they will be a part of an incredible experience for you.
The following is included with the Divemaster programme
There are no set start dates for this trip please contact us with your preferred start date.
“Spending my time on Malapascua was the best time of my life. The team was really experienced and ultra supportive. My encounters with the Threshers was a life changing experience, thank you so much for making my dream come true. See more reviews here.”Gemma Wilson
” A great place to be.Excellent staff, beautiful food, great atmosphere. Diving was professional, safe, great boats. Paul is an amazing dive master, Jules is just wicked and I Iove her! Thank you Jules! Could hardly leave the place! more reviews here.”Tim Waite
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How would you like to get a diploma, spend four weeks travelling somewhere exotic with the possibility to get paid for your efforts at the end of it. Sound too good to be true? Well it isn’t.
Not only can you do all that, you will get mentored by one of the top journalists in the country Beci Wood who spent 10 years at the biggest newspaper in the UK. Get assistance publishing your piece and sending out through news channels with the aim of it being picked up as newsworthy. This will give you an amazing exposure and a genuine opportunity to try out and launch a new career in journalism.
On this program you can either undertake the diploma only and use it to boost your qualifications whilst you undertake any of our gap year programs, or you can involve yourself On our Xtreme journalism assignments. Set in 2 locations where you can study and learn more about journalism.
For the assignments, you can choose either Thailand, or Mexico and you have four weeks to complete the course and we throw in some adventure activities along the way. What they are depends on the time of year, we do not keep it set so we can react to any newsworthy stories or events.
The course involves quite a bit of coursework, so where better to undertake some investigative journalism, or get inspired than abroad by paradise beaches.
You have full backup and support of our UK-based tutors, who have considerable experience in the industry. You can actually study anywhere as long as you have an Internet connection and a laptop.
Once you have completed the course and have written your final piece we will assist you in sending this out to our media houses who may or may not pick up on the story. If you do get published you will receive 60 percent of your royalty fees which could be enough to cover the cost of the entire course.
What you report on is up to you, but you will have the full back up and support and guidance of professional journalists (including the head mentor on the programme – Beci Wood with 10 years experience on staff at the UK´s biggest newspaper).
Not only is journalism and exciting career, it’s something you can take with you to your next stage after travelling, whether that be a part-time job at University, or something you do on the side or launch phone into as a career.
So whether you want to do something genuinely rewarding while you travel, or want to have something that not only looks amazing – really is amazing on your CV then the Xtreme reporter as you.
On the Thailand option we have a completely unique and very exciting work experience attachment to this program. You will work in a genuine media Company that produces monthly magazines all over Asia. Working from their offices in Phuket, you will put your newfound skills to use: tasked With writing articles and uncovering stories as a reporter. You will go out develop and write stories and make a valued contribution to the magazine and online websites. Working under the CEO and his media team this is a genuinely unique opportunity to gain work experience and do a really fun job which will build your resume and give you an insight into an exciting industry as you travel.
The company is called think media and is American run running various different franchises of popular magazines, what’s on guides and delivers local news and features in and around Phuket.
The work experience option can either last two weeks or four weeks, depending on your preference and includes all accommodation.
In Mexico you will stay in Playa del Carmen, a short walk from the beach at our base the Bendito Rancho. This is based on a dormitory (shared accommodation).
In Thailand you will stay in Phuket where you will also be involved in a work experience module with think media. You will stay on a bungalow either your own or shared with one other person the same sex. The bungalow is located close to the officers.
Journalism needs specialists. People with knowledge and passion for their subject. We provide a range of courses in specialist subjects ranging from health to the environment through to investigative and travel journalism.
Journalism courses currently available:
Yes our courses are accredited by third party organisations
Our diploma is widely recognised in the UK and overseas. It is a vocational award, equivalent to an NVQ level 1 or 2.
The Open and Distance Learning Quality Council (ODLQC) and the ABCC validate it.
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