Doing my DMT in Thailand

After I completed my Open Water Course 2025 on Koh Lanta and immediately fell in love with diving, I knew my diving adventure wouldn’t end there. Spoiler Alert: Never would I have guessed that I would do my Dive Master Trainee with OK Club this season.

Which Dive Club?

Although I never had to ask myself this question, some of you might be curious why I decided to do my Dive Master Training with OK Club Divers.

The reasons for that are pretty simple. First of all, I did my Open Water Course with them last year and was super happy with everything. Second of all, I know Andre, the owner of the club, and also his wife, Saara. I also know that they are not only amazing people but also great divers who love what they do. And this love is evident in everything they are doing for their business. Third, I got to know the team last season and know that Andre hires only amazing people with a lot of passion and professionalism, but also tons of humor.

That’s why, for me personally, the decision which dive club I want to do my Dive Master with was pretty clear: OK Club Divers.

Pre-Requisites

Although I already did my Advanced Open Water in Egypt with Dive Austria and my First Aid and React Right Course in Vienna with them, I still had a couple of things left in order to be able to even start with my journey to becoming a Dive Master.

Landing on Wednesday evening in Krabi, I was still unsure if I would do a couple of courses or if I would take the bigger step and try to do my DMT. Without thinking too much about the first step, I started my Rescue Course on Friday, two days after landing in Thailand, finishing it on Sunday, and following it up by doing the Navigation course the week after, on Thursday. After “drowning” one of the “victims” at least 20 times during the Rescue course and managing to hit a reef during my navigation course, there was no question IF I would do the DMT. The only question was “when could I start?”.

So after talking to Andre, he immediately gave me access to the SSI course “Dive Guide” and “Science of Diving” and the first pool session and class room session has been scheduled.

Stress and Rescue Course

I was looking forward to this course because IMO it should be mandatory for everyone who wants to dive. As Ita, one of the other DMTs, would say: “It can only make you a better diver.”

Starting this 3-day course with day 1, including a theory session followed by a practical pool session, we had two more days with actual dives in the ocean. Little did I know that the pool sessions were essential to prepare us for the following two days of rescuing “unconscious”, panicked, and stressed divers in the sea. (Every scenario obviously staged for the purpose of the course).

During the ocean days, we practised recognising an unconscious diver, rescuing him, calming down a panicked diver, and towing an unconscious diver back to the boat. We also had to manage a rescue mission of a lost buddy, which basically meant doing the search pattern, finding the unconscious diver underwater, bringing him to the surface, and back to the boat.

Saying that we all swallowed a bit of extra seawater is the understatement of the century. But I definitely feel way better prepared for any kind of “situation” that might come up during any future dive.

Navigation Course

I had the chance to take the course with Alja as instructor, and I wouldn’t say that I am a master of the compass, but I definitely found my way back to the boat during the course and managed to do a “semi” square, using the compass. Although I swear that during the “swim 10 m into one direction, turn around 180 degrees and swim back again” exercise, they moved the fucking reef! There was a wall where there shouldn’t have been a wall, or at least there hadn’t been a wall, when I started swimming in one direction 😉

Dive Master Trainee

Just to be clear: my intention was never to become a Dive Master to work in this area and earn money. The main reason why I wanted to do it was to simply become a better diver. With my 48 dives logged, I was still a “baby” when it came to diving. So anything that I could learn during the course, while watching and following experienced Dive Masters and Instructors, could only benefit me. And that was the main goal: follow, observe, shadow, and learn from the amazing OK Club Divers team.

The Theory

The first thing you get is access to the theoretical part of the course in your SSI app. After opening the Science of Diving theory, I was tempted to close the app and be fine with being “just” an advanced diver. This feeling lasted for exactly 23 seconds, because as soon as I set my mind to something, there is little that can stop me from getting there. Even a very boring theory about the respiratory system or the evolution of equipment couldn’t keep me from doing my Dive Master Trainee. I decided to first focus on the practical part – getting better at buoyancy, kicking techniques, and optimizing my breathing – before having to deal with the theory part.

The Practical Part – pool sessions

Because I am more of a hands-on person, I was enjoying every single pool session we had with André. I also have to mention that I was super lucky with the other Dive Master Trainees that would be part of this journey: Ita and Anne-Julie. There was always something to learn, to improve, or to get better at.
After our first pool session, where he showed us how to properly kick with our fins, I realised that whatever I was doing up until then was far from something that you could have called ”swimming” or proper finning technique. It seems that up until now, I was barely keeping myself afloat. It makes such a huge difference when someone explains to you how to properly kick with your fins, grabs your legs, moves them in a proper motion, and lets you try it for at least 15 times until you finally somehow at least theoretically know how to do it ;-).

After having a couple of pool sessions with André, we also had to “observe” pool sessions with customers. I had to join an Open Water Course with Hampus, where the second part of the first day is skills training in the pool. I also had the chance to attend a refresher in the pool with Alja and a couple of refresher sessions in the ocean. It is incredible how much I learn by observing and following other experienced people.
And what fascinates me the most is that every single one of the instructors at OK Club has their own technique to teach, present, and deal with customers. Hampus, with his incredible way of explaining things, is fascinating. Alja’s way with customers is the most patient, sweetest, and loveliest thing I have seen in an educational environment. Both of them have their special superpowers in teaching and dealing with divers. And I am very excited to find my own “way”.

Practical Part – in the Ocean

Almost from the beginning of the dive master training, we were also able to join the boat and follow and observe the Dive Masters and Instructors in the ocean. Joining different courses, refreshers, or just fun dives was the part where I learned the most.

But it is not just joining in on the dives and tagging along. NO! As a dive master trainee, you – rumor has it – get to do all the “shitty” work. At least that is what I heard from other clubs. But not at OK Club. Here, every single team member is equally responsible for the same tasks. No matter if you are a Dive Master, an Instructor, a Dive Master Trainee, or even the owner of the dive club! And this is one of the things that makes OK Club so fucking amazing. You immediately feel like part of the family. And it is a freaking incredible family!

Before the fun part starts, which is tagging along on the dives, there is a lot to do before we reach the dive sites.

Let’s talk about the typical day as a DMT at OK Club:

• If you are today’s boat master, grab the sticky rice for breakfast
• Be at the pier at 5:45 am
• Prepare all the customer bags
  • fins
  • mask
  • BCD + regulator
  • wetsuit
• Prepare the water bottles and the list with customer names
• Prepare the spare bag (with additional equipment in case sth breaks)
• Prepare the bag with dive computers and compasses
• Be ready with everything until 6:30 am
• Welcome the customers at the pier at 6:30 am
  • shoes in the box
  • explain the water bottle system
  • make them try on wetsuits and fins
  • ask if they need sea sickness pills
• Set up the equipment on the boat as soon as everyone has checked the equipment
• Be ready to leave the pier at 7 am
• If you are today’s boat master, do the boat briefing as soon as we leave the pier
• Listen in when the dive briefing happens
• Do whatever you are assigned to do for this day, like follow and observe, assist, do the dive briefing,…
• Entertain the customers in between the dives
• If you are today’s boat master, welcome everyone back to Saladan
• make sure that everyone gets their lunch, logs their dives, and is happy
• Clean all the equipment
• Clean the water bottles and the list
• Refill the electrolyte and water bottles
• Make sure that the customers leave the pier with a smile on their face 😉

And although there are a lot of tasks that have little to do with being in the water and diving, I loved every single part of it. And the main reason for that was the incredible team of Dive Masters, Instructors, and other dive master trainees. Because the described tasks were not tasks of a DMT – NO – those are everyone’s tasks who have been on the boat that day. This is what you call real teamwork!

Obviously, being at the pier at 5:45 had a couple of advantages – one being the sunrise you could experience every single day.

Learning from the experts

The part where I learned the most was definitely every single time I was able to follow and observe one of the pros.
Seeing Hampus turn around and swim backwards on his back while observing and checking in with his divers made me realize that this is probably a skill that might come in handy. Pretty obvious, I know, but back then it was absolutely mind-blowing.
Observing when and how often Alja asks her customers, depending on their level of experience, for air, made me adapt my “don’t ask too often, but also always know how much air they have” flow.
Seeing how Ioritz deals with divers who have trouble, for example, with descending or issues with their masks, how calm he is while trying to fix every single issue, made me realize that every person is different and needs a different approach in fixing their specific problems.
Observing how Chloé deals with not the easiest type of customers while still making the diving experience for the rest of the group enjoyable, made me see that one of the main goals, except for keeping everyone safe, is to make your customers happy.

One thing that I learned and love about OK Club is that customers are not only taken care of during the dives. No! It’s literally from the moment they step on the pier, through trying on the equipment, and making even the boat ride fun, up until the moment they finish their lunch back in Saladan and leave the pier with tired but definitely happy faces.

The swim test

After a couple of pool sessions, classroom sessions, and some following and observing in the ocean, Andre mentioned that we needed to pass the Water Fitness Evaluation. This basically includes either swimming with gear 800 m in the pool or swimming without gear 400 m in under 20 min. You might think “that’s doable”. Sure. But after that, you also need to float for 15 min, while keeping your elbows above the water for the last 2 minutes.

Dive guide theory

Instead of focusing on the Science of Diving theory – the first 2 chapters just scared the shit out of me – I started going through the more hands-on theory: the “Dive Guide”. At least here everything seemed logical and very practical, so I managed to go through that part pretty fast and decided to join Ita, another dive master trainee, in taking the exam.

The most interesting parts for me were definitely how to deal with divers and obviously how to plan your dives, while taking into consideration different circumstances, your diver’s experience, and the daily conditions.

Additional practical sessions

In addition to the basic classroom session, we had a couple of additional ones, like how to clean equipment properly, how to build a second stage, and how to make a proper dive plan. André also mentioned a “How to make knots” class, but I couldn’t wait and asked Ioritz, Philipp, and Hampus what knots I should learn, to be prepared for whenever André would ask 🙂

I ended up learning and hopefully still remembering how to tie the following knots:

• Cobra
• Bowline
• 2 Half Hitch
• Sheet Bend
• Double Fisherman
• Figure 8 directional

Slowly gearing up

The good thing about OK Club and doing my DMT with them was that I didn’t need any equipment. You can basically start with having none of your own equipment. Which didn’t mean that I didn’t start getting some new toys while becoming a Dive Master.

• mask
• SMB
• torch(es)
• and thanks to André – fins

Guiding with supervision

The good thing was that at OK Club divers, they ease you into all the things very smoothly. First, you start by observing, tagging along, following, and assisting. Then, at some point, you are doing the dive briefing that you have been listening to several times already.

But with the guiding thing, it was a bit different. Instead of asking on the boat if you want to do the dive briefing, which, after the second week, is not a big deal anymore, they ask you out of the blue if you want to guide today. Yes, without any warning! Obviously, there is kind of no point in saying no, so you end up guiding your first dive group, obviously with an Instructor following you – just in case.

I have to admit that the first dive that I guided, which was with Alja in Hin Bidas was scary as shit. Not because I didn’t know where to go. Which I didn’t! Not because I was concerned for the safety of my divers! Which I was. But because I was scared to screw up and disappoint Alja ;-).
Every single time I looked back to check in with her, she was pointing in a direction, which could either mean “WTF are you doing, this is the way to go!” OR “It would be good if you would maybe turn left.” If my air consumption was bad before this dive, I definitely had the air consumption of a fully grown whale shark! But, to be fair, we had a good safety stop, I managed to shoot the SMB to the fullest, and we got back to the boat with all our divers. This is what I call a success.

What’s left?

After pool sessions, following, observing, and assisting in the ocean, all the theory sessions, assisted guiding, and passing the “dive guide” exam, there was one thing left: the Science of Diving exam.

I have to admit that I was dreading this one so much. But, because I wanted to spend my last week on Lanta without having to stress about the exam, I decided to do it the week before. I managed to get through the Diving Physics and Diving Physiology sections without too much of a hustle and passed the exam with 99%.

The SSI Mesh Bag

Passing the exam still didn’t really give me the feeling of being a Dive Master. There was still something missing! Then at my Goodbye – nope – at my “See you Soon” dinner, I received the official SSI package with the Dive Briefing slate and the T-Shirt. But only the “congratulations” embrace from André made the whole thing official. I made it! Now I am officially a Dive Master!

Dive Master Trainee with OK Club in a Nutshell

Deciding to do the Dive Master Trainee with OK Club was one of the best decisions of my life. Not only was it an incredible time, if not the best time of my life, but I learned so much during those weeks/months. I for sure became a better diver, which was one of the main goals of this whole experience. I met incredible divers from all over the world. I heard tons of amazing stories about diving.
But I also made friends, hopefully for life. Ita and Anne-Julie, the other two Dive Master Trainees, whom I was lucky to accompany on this journey. They were not only better divers with more experience than I, but also those from whom I could learn. They have been extremely helpful and always eager to help me, support me, calm me down, and build up my confidence when needed. In addition to all of that, we became really good friends.
And I also realised that becoming a Dive Master would definitely, and for sure, not be the end of my diving journey.

5 Top Things

There are tons of things that I loved about doing my Dive Master Trainee with OK Club, but here are the top 5.

1. Becoming a better diver and gaining experience
2. Becoming part of the OK Club family
3. Meeting amazing divers and learning about their stories
4. Finding friends for life – Ita & Anne-Julie
5. Figuring out what I love – Finding my passion

I can’t wait to go back to Koh Lanta, see my diving buddies again, and live the life that I dream of every single night in Vienna.