SSI Dive Professional Interships
Have you’ve ever been diving and thought, “I could do this for a living”?
Then this is where it starts.
Becoming a dive professional isn’t just about logging more dives — it’s about stepping into a whole new world.
A dive professional internship is your chance to go beyond being a customer and become part of the crew.
You’ll build real-world skills, gain confidence in and out the water, and learn what it takes to teach, guide, lead, and inspire others.
Every day is different;
- Exploring epic dive sites
- Helping someone take their very first breath underwater
- Getting equipment ready for a day out on the ocean
- Guiding a diver wanting to buy their own gear.
It’s not just training… it’s transformation.
What is an internship?
An internship is a temporary, structured work experience that allows students to gain practical, hands on experience.
It acts as a bridge between academic study and the professional world, typically lasting anywhere from a few weeks to a year.
What is an internship with Dive Now?
It changes for each type of course, but in general the intern will spend a day or two per week in the dive centre learning the daily routines and help where they can as they learn. They will get experience with real customers both in the retail store, during training courses and out on the charter.
They will study their course material at home or in one of the classrooms with full access to the experienced crew at Dive Now. They will complete the in-water portion of their course with the Dive Now team either from shore or on our charter vessel at the Poor Knights.
If the internship is leading to a professional diver course, there may be time to practise their new skills under the supervision of their instructor with real customers and even the opportunity for seasonal employment once their training is complete.
Which diving career path is right for you?
We have created some pathways that will help guide you through your choices of scuba diving journeys.
Divemaster interships
Instructor internships
Fun meets responsibility
Being a dive professional isn’t just about loving the ocean, of course we know you do. It’s about taking responsibility for other people in an environment where things can go wrong quickly.
When you’re guiding or teaching, people are trusting you with their safety. They rely on your judgement, your awareness, and your ability to stay calm under pressure. That means your training isn’t something you just “get through” — it’s something you truly need to understand, practise, and live.
You need to be able to read conditions, manage different personalities and skill levels, spot problems before they become incidents, and act quickly if something does go wrong.
At the same time, you’re creating an experience — helping people feel comfortable, confident, and blown away by what they’re seeing underwater. It’s a balance of professionalism, leadership, and care whilst maintaining an enjoyable experience for your divers. Done well, it’s one of the most rewarding jobs out there. But it comes with a level of responsibility that deserves to be taken seriously.
At Dive Now, we pride ourselves in providing courses run by instructors that will guide you through your journey at a pace that allows you to properly learn, practise, and build confidence — focusing on real mastery before moving on to the next level, not just ticking boxes to get certified.
Non Diver through to Master Scuba Diver
This is a non professional course, but it will set you on the correct path.
You are not yet a qualified diver, but want to become a safe and experienced diver with the skills to go anywhere in the world and enjoy the oceans and lakes.
Gain the Open Water diver certificate and FIVE SSI Specialty courses including the Diver Stress and Rescue Course.
Non Diver through to Divemaster
You are not a qualified diver yet, but you love the ocean and want to become an excellent diver and get a foot in the door of the professional dive world.
Open Water diver through to Divemaster
You are already a qualified diver who is loving the sport so much, you wish to become a Dive Master. Perhaps you want to gain work as a dive guide or it’s a pre requisite for another role?
Stress and Rescue Diver to Divemaster
You have completed your OpenWater diver course and Diver Stress and Rescue courses. You love diving, you may have even done a dive specialty or two. You want to reach the elite position of Divemaster.
Divemaster through to Instructor
You are currently a Dive Master and want to become an instructor and gain some useful specialties along the way.
Non diver through to dive instructor
Most people don’t start out wanting to be a dive instructor — they start out wanting a change.
For a non-diver, becoming a dive instructor is about stepping into something completely different. It’s learning a new skill from scratch, building confidence in a challenging environment, and discovering a side of yourself you didn’t know existed.
It’s appealing because:
- You go from zero experience to doing something most people only dream about
- You learn to stay calm and capable in situations that once felt uncomfortable
- You get to work outdoors, in nature — not behind a desk
- You build real, transferable skills: leadership, communication, problem-solving
- You help others overcome fears and experience something life-changing
It’s not just “learning to dive” — it’s a pathway to a new lifestyle.
For some, it becomes a career.
For others, it’s a reset button — a way to break out of routine and do something meaningful, adventurous, and rewarding.
And the best part?
You don’t need to be a diver to start — you just need the willingness to begin.
Open Water diver – fall in love with diving and the ocean.
Advanced Open Water – For divers not sure which specialty courses they wish to pursuit.
Deep Diver – Gain the skills to plan and complete dives to 40 metres with No Decompression.
Enriched Air Nitrox – Extend your bottom time or just reduce your nitrogen uptake.
Stress and Rescue – Problem recognition and solving on yourself or other divers.
Low Visibility and Night – Learn why water visibility can change and how you can communicate in low visibility.
Navigation – If you are leading divers, you need to be able to navigate accurately underwater.
Dry Suit – Whilst training students, you may not be moving very much so you may cool down. Being cold will distract you and may even cause you to make mistakes. Stay warm and dry!
Divemaster – Learn how to guide qualified divers. Minimum number of 40 dives required to start the course and a minimum of 60 required at time of completion.
Science of Diving – Increase your diving theory with this online course and then put this knowledge into action during your diving.
Assistant Instructor – Gain valuable experience assisting SSI Instructors on training courses, teaching the academic portion and non emergency skills for an Open Water course, running Scuba Skill Updates and Try Dives.
Instructor – An SSI Instructor is qualified to independently teach and certify new divers, guiding them from their very first breath underwater through to becoming confident, capable divers. That means you’re responsible for everything: planning the training, delivering the theory, running pool sessions, and managing open water dives safely.
Specialty Instructor – Once you have the qualification and enough experience in a specialist type of diving; such as drysuit diving or even perhaps wreck diving, you can then complete the specialty instructor training with your SSI Instructor Trainer to teach that specialty and become for example “drysuit specialty instructor”
What other options are there for a diver wanting to just become a better diver?
Is becoming an SSI Divemaster the answer?
If you have no interest in teaching or guiding divers, then stop pursuing the SSI Divemaster path and go XR instead. Technical diving is discipline, it’s adventure, it’s exploration and it’s cool.