With so many scuba dive internships and different options to choose from it’s hard to decide where you are going to train. Such a big life changing step, this could be the start of your new career, or your new life who knows? One of the things I get asked a lot is what is a typical day as an intern is like at Go Pro Costa Rica so I figured I would give you a rundown of what to expect on an internship program here. An easy way as well is to check out some of the tales of the Previous students that have gone pro before!
Okay, so to start with there are 2 different seasons here which can lead to a different experience depending on what you are looking for. We have 2 seasons based on the weather, the dry season which starts around beginning of December until the beginning of May, and then May back through to December. Through the dry season you may not have rain for a couple of weeks at a time and all day is plenty of sun, so we run 2 trips a day, morning and afternoon plus night dives. Flatter waters, better visibility, surf is there but the waves tend to not be as big. During the rainy season, we can get showers in the afternoons so trips are generally in the morning. Visibility can be slighter more reduced but surf can be better at our three local breaks so if you are an avid surfer this may be the better time for you.
So, as an dive intern at Go Pro what does that mean to you?
The shop opens at 7am with clients arriving at 7.30am. That gives time to prep the tanks, start looking at equipment, paperwork etc. The boat leaves the marina at 8.15am and then returns at 12.00pm with the afternoon boat leaving at 1.15pm and returning at 4.30pm. During rainy season when there is just the one boat normally, it will leave a little bit later at 8.30am, sometimes 9am depending on what works for the clients. Pool sessions including discover scuba, open water pool sessions and other classes are scheduled for 9am or for 12.30pm. After the boat returns in the afternoon, equipment is cleaned, clients log books are signed and tanks are filled. After the afternoon trip, equipment is cleaned and logs are signed but tanks are not dealt with until the following morning so everybody can head out about 5pm/6pm.
So, how does your day actually go? During dry season you will either be assigned to the morning boat in which case you will be at the shop at 7am, and then be finished at 3pm. For afternoon trip you would be here at 11am and then be finished at 6pm. So you don’t have to be around all day. If you are working on pool sessions then you may be in earlier to assist with students before the afternoon boat, or after diving in the morning, jumping into a discover scuba session in the afternoon.
On arrival at the center, we like to sit down and welcome every dive internship student with an intro to the program. I always like to say that you get as much from it as you like to put in. basically saying that if you want to do the bare minimum and leave,you can do, but if you want a real dive education then get stuck in, as we love to teach here. There is always equipment being repaired, classes being taught, something being fixed, so come and get stuck in.
Apart from scuba diving and being in the shop there is plenty to do as well. Our mega enthusiastic interns like to surf before work (yes, at 5am!) and then surf again after scuba diving, with 3 breaks in the area. Being surrounded by rainforest and incredible beaches there are also some amazing places to chill out in a hammock and soak up the sunshine. With 2 rivers nearby there are also plenty of rafting opportunities if that takes your fancy. Anything you like, we have it here so you can really make your scuba internship into a fully blown adventure. And the ever standing talk of “dive slave” or “tank #$%^&” certainly doesn’t exist here as everyone is a member of a team and we like it that way!