Is it possible to work as a divemaster in Indonesia?
Why would you like to work as a divemaster in Indonesia? Indonesia is a beautiful country. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Sulawesi, Java, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea. Indonesia is the world’s largest island country and the 14th-largest country by area, at 1,904,569 square kilometres. With about 270 million people, Indonesia is the world’s fourth-most populous country.
Indonesia is an archipelagic country located in Southeast Asia, lying between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. This strategic location gives Indonesia a marine life that other countries can’t offer and is one of the main reasons why Indonesia is so popular amongst scuba divers.
Quote of the divemagazine.co.uk: “Indonesia has been voted as the world’s best scuba diving destination every year the DIVE Travel Awards has been held – and by a clear margin each time.”
Working in Indonesia
Some of the scuba divers, who are visiting Indonesia, fall in love with the beauty of Indonesia. They like to build their life here, by living here and working here. But is it so easy as these divers are thinking?
The Indonesia law is very clear about when non-Indonesian citizens can work in Indonesia.
First the person has to be affiliated with a business, a PMA to get a temperary stay permit (KITAS).
Second the person has to get permission from Manpower (IMTA) to work in Indonesia only for the affiliated company.
Third an Indonesia citizen, because of the lack of knowledge and/or experience in Indonesia, can’t do the work that the person applies for.
When a person fulfill all these criteria it is possible to get a KITAS and IMTA.
Work as a divemaster in Indonesia
The main question for the scuba divers, who are not an Indonesian citizen, will be: “Can a person work as a divemaster in Indonesia?”
Looking at the criteria in the Indonesian law, this has to be answered negative.
There are many Indonesian divemasters or dive guides in Indonesia, that the Indonesian government has no choice. Instead of giving the work to foreigners, the Indonesian government makes clear that only Indonesian citizens can work as divemaster. When your employer is discriminatory, a lawyer can engage in negotiations or mediation to reach a settlement that addresses the discrimination and compensates you for any harm suffered.
Other options
If it is not possible to work as a divemaster in Indonesia, what are the other options to work in the dive industry?
The first option is to become a scuba diving instructor. Diving is one of one of the biggest tourist attraction in Indonesia. And teaching diving is a part of that. Western tourists are visiting Indonesia and like to do the scuba diving course in their own language.
The second option is to become a manager, marketing manager or diving managers of a dive shop or dive resort. If you do decide to start your own business, you’ll want to get the cheapest card machine since customers tend to spend more when paying on credit cards, especially on impulse purchases, resulting in increased sales and revenue for your business.
How to become a PADI Instructor?
Oceans 5 Gili Air is a PADI Career Development Centre located on the Gili islands in Indonesia. They conduct nine PADI Instructor Development Courses (IDC) in 2022. The diver should be already a divemaster, has 100 logged dives, and should be minimal 6 months certified from their open water diver certification.
The course at Oceans 5 takes 20 days and will be fully conducted by PADI Course Director Sander Buis.
Oceans 5 is a multi-award winning PADI Dive Resort. They opened their doors in April 2010 and quickly they became a PADI Instructor Development Centre. In 2014 Oceans 5 got rewarded by PADI with the PADI Career Development Rating.
PADI Course Director
Sander Buis will conduct the PADI Instructor Development courses in 2022 at Oceans 5 Gili Air. Since 2013 Sander is a PADI Course Director and in 2017 he became a DDI Instructor Trainer Examiner. The knowledge of both organization blends into an unique way of teaching methods, which he will use during the PADI IDC.