Become an SSI Divemaster
on Gili Air, Indonesia
Take the next step in your diving journey with the SSI Divemaster Internship at Oceans 5 Gili Air. Over approximately 6–8 weeks, develop your diving skills, gain hands-on experience and learn the daily operations of an active dive center while training alongside experienced instructors and an international diving community.
What is an SSI Divemaster?
The SSI Divemaster rating is your first major step into professional diving. It prepares you to guide certified divers, supervise certain diving activities and support SSI instructors during training programs.
As a Divemaster, other divers will look to you for leadership. You must be able to plan dives, evaluate conditions, communicate clearly and respond calmly when circumstances change.
The internship gives you sufficient time to develop these abilities through training, observation and repeated practical experience.
More Than a Short
Divemaster Course
Becoming a confident Divemaster takes more than completing a checklist. It requires time, consistent practice and experience in real dive-centre operations.
Our six-to-eight-week internship gives you the opportunity to refine your diving skills, experience different conditions and gradually take on more responsibility under professional supervision.
As your confidence, judgement and leadership develop, you will become increasingly involved in dive planning, equipment preparation, diver supervision and daily dive-centre activities.
The extended format allows you to experience different dive sites, changing currents and a wide variety of training and certified-diver activities—preparing you for the realities of working as a dive professional.
Ready to Start Your Divemaster Internship?
Before starting your Divemaster internship, make sure you meet the entry requirements below, including current emergency-care training.
Your Diving Foundation
- Be at least 18 years old.
- Have at least 40 logged open water dives.
- Your logged dives must total 25 hours or more.
Your Certification
Hold an SSI Diver Stress & Rescue certification.
An equivalent certification from a recognized training agency is also accepted.
Before starting your Divemaster internship, you must provide proof of current O₂ Provider, First Aid and CPR training, completed within the previous two years.
Your Diving Experience
For each area below, hold the relevant SSI specialty or an equivalent certification, or show at least five logged experience dives in that area.
- Deep Diving: deeper than 30 metres.
- Navigation.
- Night & Limited Visibility.
Not sure whether you qualify?
Contact Oceans 5 Gili Air before booking. We can review your
certifications and logged experience, and discuss any preparation
you may need.
Knowledge, Water Skills
and Practical Experience
Develop the knowledge, in-water ability and professional experience required to become a confident SSI Divemaster.
Dive Knowledge
You will develop the professional knowledge required to understand, plan and supervise diving activities, including:
- Diving physics and physiology
- Decompression theory
- Dive equipment
- The aquatic environment
- Dive planning
- Risk management
- Professional standards and responsibilities
Theory sessions and independent study will help prepare you for your final professional assessments.
Water Skills
A Divemaster must demonstrate excellent control and confidence in the water. Your training will include:
- Buoyancy and trim development
- Skill demonstrations
- Watermanship exercises
- Rescue skill practice
- Navigation
- SMB and reel deployment
- Diver assistance and problem management
- Dive-site evaluation
At Oceans 5, skills are taught with an emphasis on neutral buoyancy and realistic open-water application. We do not train professional divers to depend on kneeling on the bottom.
Dive Leadership
Under professional supervision, you will learn how to:
- Prepare and organise diving activities
- Evaluate weather, currents and dive-site conditions
- Give clear dive briefings
- Assign buddy teams and organise groups
- Guide certified divers
- Monitor divers during a dive
- Manage entry and exit procedures
- Conduct effective dive debriefings
- Recognise and respond to problems
You will first observe experienced professionals before gradually practising these responsibilities yourself.
Inside a Professional
Dive Centre
Your internship takes place within the daily operation of Oceans 5 Gili Air, giving you first-hand experience of how a professional dive centre operates.
Depending on your progress and the daily schedule, you may participate in:
- Preparing equipment and dive boats
- Welcoming and organising divers
- Observing and practising dive briefings
- Assisting instructors with recreational courses
- Supporting pool and open-water sessions
- Learning dive-centre logistics
- Participating in conservation and community activities
- Developing customer-service and professional communication skills
Assisting never means replacing an instructor or working without supervision. All activities are conducted under appropriate supervision, within SSI standards and according to your current level of training and experience.
Guidance from an Experienced
Dive Professional
Throughout your internship, your mentor will monitor your progress, help organise your training and provide regular feedback. Together, you will identify your strengths, areas for improvement and the next goals in your development.
This personal approach ensures that your training remains structured and relevant to your individual progress. You will always understand what you are working towards and what is expected from you.
Our professional team is available to answer questions, share experience and support your development. Your progress will also depend on your attitude, preparation, participation and willingness to learn.
The Recommended Divemaster
Internship Lasts 6–8 Weeks
Unlimited diving is included throughout your 6–8-week internship. Most candidates average approximately 1.5 dives per day, depending on weather, sea conditions, course bookings, operational requirements and their individual training plan.
Typical Week
Boat dives
Pool workshops
Theory sessions
Skill-development training
Rescue exercises
Dive briefings
Assisting SSI instructors
Independent study
Conservation activities
Scheduled time off
The program is performance-based. Completing a certain number of days does not automatically guarantee certification. All required skills, knowledge and professional standards must be successfully completed.
Good Buoyancy Is Essential
for Every Dive Professional
Develop precise control, stable trim and confident movement without relying on the seabed.
At Oceans 5, skills are taught in neutral buoyancy whenever appropriate. You will learn to maintain control without standing or kneeling on the reef or seabed.
This approach helps you become:
- More comfortable and efficient underwater
- More aware of your surroundings
- Better prepared to assist other divers
- Less likely to damage coral or disturb marine life
- A stronger role model for recreational divers
Professional behaviour begins with the way you conduct yourself underwater.
Warm Water and
Diverse Dive Sites
The internship takes place within the Gili Matra Marine Protected Area, which includes Gili Air, Gili Meno and Gili Trawangan.
The area offers warm tropical water and a wide variety of dive sites. Depending on the location and season, dives may include gentle reefs, drift dives, deeper sites, wrecks, artificial reefs and areas known for macro marine life.
Common encounters include turtles, reef sharks, rays, moray eels, nudibranchs and large schools of tropical fish.
The variety of sites and changing conditions provide valuable experience for future dive leaders. You will learn that professional guiding involves much more than following a familiar route.
Equipment During
the Internship
Rental scuba equipment is included during your Divemaster Internship.
However, every candidate must own the following personal equipment before completing the program:
- Dive computer
- Compass
- Surface marker buoy (SMB) and reel
These are essential professional tools that you must know how to use confidently. If you do not already own them, our team can advise you before or during your internship.
Entry Requirements
To begin the SSI Divemaster program, candidates must satisfy the applicable SSI prerequisites. These include minimum requirements relating to:
- Minimum age: 18 years
- Advanced Open Water certification
- Diver Stress and Rescue certification
- React Right certification
- Medical fitness to dive
- 40 logged dives
If you have not yet completed all the required certifications or dives, contact us. We can review your current experience and help you create a training pathway.
Recognised certifications from other training agencies are accepted.
Your Divemaster Internship
Includes
Training
- Professional supervision
- Dedicated Divemaster mentor
- Theory & practical workshops
- Pool & open-water training
Diving
- Unlimited scheduled diving
- Rental scuba equipment
- Practical dive-center experience
- Course observation & assistance
Professional Experience
- Conservation and community activities
- Professional communication
- Customer-care experience
- Experience in an international dive centre
NOT INCLUDED
Unless stated in your quotation, SSI digital materials, professional registration, certification fees, accommodation, transport, Marine Park fees and required personal equipment—dive computer, compass, SMB and reel—are charged separately. Contact us for a complete, current quotation before booking.
Lead by Example,
Above and Below the Water
Dive professionals have a responsibility to protect the environment in which they work.
Oceans 5 has supported marine conservation and community activities around the Gili Islands for more than 16 years. Our training promotes good buoyancy, responsible interaction with marine animals and respect for the coral reef.
Divemaster candidates can also join our weekly beach clean-up, held every Friday at 17:00, and learn how dive centers can make conservation part of their daily operations.
A Relaxed Island Lifestyle
and International Dive Community
Gili Air offers a relaxed island lifestyle and an international diving community. There are no cars or petrol-powered motorbikes, and most places can be reached on foot or by bicycle.
The island has a wide selection of accommodation, restaurants, cafés and small shops. During your free time, you can enjoy the beaches, explore the island or spend time with other divers and professionals.
Accommodation is not automatically included in the internship, but we can provide information about suitable options based on availability and budget.
After Your
Divemaster Internship
After successfully completing the program, you can use your SSI Divemaster qualification as the beginning of a professional diving career or as preparation for instructor training.
Possible next steps include:
- Gaining experience as a professional Divemaster
- Continuing your education with additional specialties
- Improving your guiding and dive leadership
- Progressing to the SSI Instructor Training Course
Oceans 5 is an SSI Instructor Training Center, allowing candidates to continue from Divemaster to SSI Dive Instructor within the same professional training environment.
Is This Internship
Right for You?
This internship may be suitable if you:
- Want to begin a career in diving
- Are considering becoming an SSI instructor
- Want more than a fast certification course
- Enjoy working with people from different backgrounds
- Are willing to accept feedback and take responsibility
- Care about safe and environmentally responsible diving
- Want to gain practical experience in Indonesia
A professional course requires commitment, punctuality and a positive attitude. Candidates are expected to participate actively and behave as developing members of the dive team.
From Our Interns
Read about their experience at Oceans 5—and where their diving journey took them next.
Muhammad Zain Abdullah
Divemaster internship
Six weeks · Started June 2025
Now working in
Komodo, Indonesia
Doing my Divemaster course at Oceans 5 Gili Air was such a special experience for me and definitely an important step in my diving journey. I learned so much during my time there, not only about diving, guiding, and safety, but also about being responsible and confident as a professional diver.
What I appreciated most was the people — the instructors and the whole team were always supportive, patient, and happy to share their knowledge with me. I felt really welcomed and became part of the Oceans 5 family, which made the whole experience even more enjoyable.
I’m very grateful for all the lessons, challenges, laughs, and memories I made along the way. I’ll always remember my time on Gili Air and the people who helped me start my professional diving career.
Fajar Kasyifil Aziz
Divemaster internship
November 2025 – January 2026
Now working at
Metita Beach & Dive Resort
Morotai, North Moluccas, Indonesia
Doing my Divemaster at Oceans 5 really felt like being part of a family. I got to be involved in everything — assisting courses, guiding guests, and even helping out as boat crew.
The instructors are super professional, supportive, and always willing to share their knowledge. It was a very hands-on experience, and I learned so much along the way.
Definitely the full package and an experience I’ll always remember!
SSI Professional Registration & Initial Membership
Book Your
Divemaster Internship
Secure your place and preferred start date with a 27% deposit. Once your deposit has been received, you will receive access to your SSI Divemaster digital learning materials so you can begin studying before arrival. The deposit is part of the total program price, and the remaining 73% is paid at the dive centre.