Open Water taught you to dive. Advanced took you deeper. Rescue taught you to help. Divemaster is where you run the dive yourself, from the briefing on deck to the signal that turns the group around. And if you want it to, it becomes your job.
Nha Trang & Phu Quoc · $1,200 with everything included
So far you have seen the dive as a guest. Flip the switch and watch the same morning through the eyes of the person looking after all four divers.
Your kit is already set up with your name on it. You check your air, grab a coffee and wait for the boat.
Real people, published stories. Pick the worry that sounds most like yours.
Nguyễn Văn Lộc & Nguyễn Tấn Thành
Both started out diving to recover wrecks off central Vietnam. Years ago, on a dive at Hòn Mun, a foreign student objected when Lộc caught a squid. He had paid to see marine life alive. That moment changed how both men teach. Looking after the reef is now part of their lessons, and Thành has taught more than a thousand people.
“If you catch and cook it, you get one meal for yourself.”
Summarised from the linked sources, with quotes as published. None of these divers trained with Vietnam Underneath. They are here because they started where our students are now.
Tell us where your logbook stands. You will see every step that is left and the dives you still need. No email needed.
Trained with SSI, NAUI or another agency? Pick the level that matches.
You are 1 course and 31 dives away from starting Divemaster.
Open Water Diver
Advanced Open Water
Rescue Diver
3 days plus 1 day of EFR · $425 + $100 EFR
Log 31 more dives to reach 40
About 16 fun dive days at 2 dives a day · dives logged anywhere count
PADI Divemaster
About 4 weeks · $1,200 · log the last 20 dives during training to reach 60
About 20 diving days
Pick a part to see what is in it.
Study online at your own pace, then go through it with your mentor until you could explain it to a nervous student.
A final exam in two parts, dive theory and PADI standards, plus an emergency assistance plan for a local site. The plan you wrote on your Rescue course counts.
Every Divemaster candidate is scored on five exercises. Drag in your honest guesses and see where you would land today. Any gap is what the first week of training is for.
400 m swim
Any stroke, no mask, fins or snorkel
800 m snorkel
Mask, fins and snorkel, no arms, no buoyancy aid
100 m tow
Towing a tired diver in full scuba gear at the surface, without stopping
15 minutes treading water
No aids and no holding the side. Hands out of the water for the last 2 minutes
Equipment exchange
Swap all your scuba gear with a buddy underwater, neutrally buoyant, sharing one air source
You need 15 or more with nothing left unfinished, and at least 3 on the exchange
You would pass today. The fitness part is already done.
A self check against the scoring in PADI’s Instructor Manual, not an official result. Your instructor runs and scores the real thing.
This is what PADI lets a Divemaster do, and what has to wait. To work, you keep your PADI membership current.
Guide certified divers
Plan, brief and lead fun dives for certified divers.
Assist on any course
Work beside instructors, and guide Open Water students two at a time on their reef tours.
Run ReActivate refreshers
Get returning divers comfortable again before their trip.
Teach snorkellers
Discover Snorkeling and the PADI Skin Diver course, from age 8.
Lead Discover Local Diving
Show certified divers a new site the way a local would.
Lead conservation dives
Organise cleanups and Dive Against Debris surveys.
Discover Scuba Diving Leader
Run pool sessions for people trying scuba for the first time, after four supervised programmes and an assessment.
Emergency First Response Instructor
Teach CPR and first aid to anyone, diver or not.
Selected specialty ratings
Through a Course Director: Emergency Oxygen Provider, Coral Reef Conservation, Equipment Specialist, Digital Underwater Photography and more.
Guide tec divers
With the matching tec certifications and experience, Divemaster is the only pro rating PADI asks for.
Teach and certify scuba courses
From Open Water to Divemaster. That is what the Instructor course is for.
Kids’ programmes
Bubblemaker and Seal Team need Assistant Instructor or higher.
The Divemaster rating meets ISO 24801-3 (Dive Leader), the standard Vietnam adopted as TCVN 13552-3:2022.
Figures: PADI, 2025 and 2026A typical intake runs in Nha Trang from February to September and with our Phu Quoc team from November to April. Your mentor adapts the order to the weather and your pace. Nobody gets signed off just because a date has arrived.
Week 01Knowledge reviews with your mentor, the stamina tests in the bay, and the dive skills practised until they look like a demonstration: slow, clear and easy to copy.
Week 02The unresponsive diver rescue, the full skills circuit to demonstration standard, and the equipment exchange. These are the parts that make instructors trust you.
Week 03Set up and manage a dive site, map a local site, give briefings, and run the search and recovery and deep dive scenarios.
Week 04Assist real students in the pool and in the sea, guide certified divers, and sit the final exam.
InternshipStay as an intern for up to eight weeks in total. More boat days, more guests, and a reference letter when you move on.
The certificate shows you can do the job. The internship is where you get good at it, and it is where the reference letter that dive centres ask for comes from.
▮ Nha Trang ▮ Phu Quoc
October → November
A changeover month. Nha Trang is winding down as Phu Quoc opens, so message us and we will match your dates to the right base.
The price includes your training, your PADI Divemaster eLearning and materials, and your certification. Nothing else gets added to the course fee later, and the rating you earn is yours for life.
$1,200
USD · Nha Trang or Phu Quoc
Divemaster stands on its own, and it is also where the PADI Instructor track begins. Tap a rung to see what it lets you do and what it takes.
You can also stop here, keep your day job, and bring a professional’s eye to every dive trip you take.
Learn from an experienced, PADI-certified Master Scuba Diver Trainer
“Safety is a habit you practice on every dive—never a checkbox.”
Huy Nguyen teaches scenario-based training with an emphasis on risk assessment, human factors, and deliberate practice. His courses follow a university-style structure: clear outcomes, coached repetitions, and objective assessment so divers build durable competence.
Before focusing on instruction he guided extensively around Nha Trang and the South Central Coast, logging varied conditions from gentle reefs to surge and current. This breadth informs realistic briefings and safety planning for new and advanced divers alike.
Huy mentors small cohorts and integrates local reef-care habits—buoyancy discipline, finning that protects coral, and respectful wildlife interactions—so every dive contributes to an ocean-positive culture.
PADI's recognition for its top-performing instructors — 4 years earned.
Every credential below is independently checkable on PADI's official Pro Chek directory. Tap a certification to read what it covers — and tap Verify to confirm it directly with PADI.
Didn’t find your question? Ask us. A mentor answers every one.
Send one message with your level and your logbook count. We will tell you honestly how far you are and when the next intake starts in Nha Trang or Phu Quoc.
PADI Divemaster · Nha Trang & Phu Quoc · $1,200 with everything included
Every Divemaster had a reason to wait. Most of those reasons fall apart in a short conversation. Tap yours and a mentor will answer, with no pressure.
