Vacancy: Surf Instructor and Lifesaving Traineeship
Company: Flying Fish
Category: First Aid & Emergency, Instructor courses, Surfing
Dates: Duration - 6 weeks
Cost: £3070 (The price includes accommodation, kit and pickup from airport but does not include flight, insurance, food or visas)
Course Details
This placement would suit...
Strong swimmers who love the ocean and who are serious about becoming a qualified surf instructor but want to have plenty of fun in the process! This course combines serious professional training in Sydney with a surf adventure along the coast of New South Wales. See also our Surf Instructor/Lifesaving Pro Traineeship which matches this Basic course and follows it with six weeks of post-qualification professional development.
The course leads to professional qualifications in surf rescue and surf instruction. Three elements combine to create a great training adventure: fitness training, surfing and lifesaving techniques. The traineeship is a physically demanding programme and you will work hard to achieve the level of fitness required of a beach lifesaver. The fitness training is geared to getting you through the SLSA Bronze Medallion. During the assessment there is a run, swim, run test. This involves a 200m beach run and a 200m swim, out and back through the surf, followed by a further 200m run. This has to be completed in eight minutes - a tough challenge but we have an excellent pass rate on this course. You also learn rescue techniques using board and tube, resuscitation, carrying methods for spinal injuries, radio and flag communication, first aid and beach safety theory.
Surfing itself is an excellent training regime and you will spend hours in the surf every day. By the end of the programme you will have good coaching and communication skills as well as a practical understanding of all the safety issues needed to operate effectively on a surf beach. On receiving the SLSA lifesaving certificate, UK residents will be able to convert a Surfing Australia surf instructor qualification to its British equivalent, for use in Britain and Europe.
The Basic Traineeship takes place on Sydney's Northern Beaches: at Manly Surf School and the North Steyne Surf Life Saving Club, Manly. One week is spent on surfari, travelling north to explore the best breaks between Sydney and Byron Bay. Beginner surfboards are provided but you will need your own short board or mini-mal, available at a good price in Sydney.
Our users say... "Australia is a great location for the course. I wanted the combination of great surf and sun - the water temperature is important! Life in Manly is awesome. It's an interesting place - an urban area with a marine reserve. There's a big variety of waves in a relatively small area, and the nightlife is amazing! Our surfari up the East Coast was pumping! We were surfing with dolphins, and catching the best waves of my life. Being here has opened my eyes to what opportunities are out there - and now I'm ready to seize them!" - Nick Brathwaite.
What you get- SLSA Bronze Medallion- Surfing Australia Surf Instructor- Teaching practice- Flying Fish Recruitment Service- Customer service training- PADI Open Water Diveror- PADI Advanced Open Wateror- Blue Mountains teambuild
Before you start you should be a reasonably strong swimmer and must be able to swim 200m front crawl. You don't need to be a hotshot surfer but you will benefit from having mastered the basics of the sport.
What next?
You may go straight into your first job, with help from Flying Fish recruitment. Most graduates of this programme spend some time travelling in Australia and the South Pacific in search of the perfect wave. You will be issued with a 'cover note' to certify your lifesaving qualification, followed by the official certificate up to a year later. Lifesaving qualifications are renewable annually.
Included in the price
Shared, self-catering accommodation near Manly Beach, beginners' surf equipment, tuition, publications and exam fees.