July is low season on Malapascua Island, but nevertheless we had two eager candidates for the PADI Instructor Development Course!
First off was Frank. Frank had recently relocated to the Philippines from Kuwait where he was working as a tank mechanic. The Middle East has some great diving and he found time to fit in plenty! Loving diving so much, he finally decided to take the next step and become a dive instructor! Already an SSI dive con, he had some experience behind him and decided to make the switch to become one of the elite group of most sought after Dive Professionals in the world: a PADI Instructor.
Vicki, our second candidate, had recently given up her 9 to 5 job in Vermont, United States. She had just finished her PADI Divemaster training in Thailand but decided to do some traveling and along the way become a PADI Dive Instructor. Excited to see the Philippines, she got in touch with us at Thresher Shark Divers.
The IDC went well. Initially Frank thought his theory would not be good, but he studied hard and it paid off. He found the practical side of diving much easier. Both candidates found some time for some fun dives, including the free dives offered as part of TSD’s PADI IDC package, and Frank in particular was very happy with the diving in Malapascua, as the visibility was a whole lot better than his previous diving experiences. Vicki loved Malapascua and the island itself and found the difference between here and Koh Tao interesting.
Both Vicki and Frank undertook the PADI Sidemount Specialty Course and Instructor Specialty here at TSD. Sidemount really seems to be the next big thing in diving and it is already proving a popular course at TSD, both for beginner and more experienced divers. Frank had done some sidemount diving before so was eager to get the certification. Vicki wanted to try something different and she said that she found it to be quite a challenge and a very different way of diving.
As there was no Instructor Exam on Malapascua this time both candidates followed Course Director Mark down to nearby Bohol to undertake their exam. Here they got to dive a different area, do some additional workshops, and they both passed the IE with flying colours 🙂
Frank has now moved to Bohol where he is setting up his new home with his wife.
Vicky went back to Thailand to see friends and find work.
We wish both Frank and Vicki all the best in their future careers!!!
More photos on facebook.