I am trying to see if anyone else has had a similar experience with their local dive shop strongly encouraging you to go for Divemaster. I have no interest in pursuing divemaster for a career or otherwise and have no interest in "lowering my dive cost" by babysitting other divers. To be clear I am still new (40ish dives) but even if I had 1000+ dives I value my time and enjoyment more than saving a bit of money. It's not like my free labor would even help the shop out that much so why pursue it with as much force as he has.
One lingering thought is I have spent a large amount of money over the past year and will spend even more once I order my drysuit. I do realize my spending is abnormally higher than most and I guess I'm hoping for reassurance that his persistence (annoying but tolerable) isn't based on me being a walking checkbook. I didn't think the Divemaster class (or any class for that matter) was really a revenue booster so I may be way off base. What are your thoughts? Thank you.
Edit: Adding this to try and be clear. I have zero interest in doing the divemaster course. Just trying to determine if I should make a more firm no response or not. Seems that I need a more firm no and address it further if he persists.
They're not the stars of the show but nothing beat's someone who's got your back! We can all be thankful for the divemaster's who have gone out of their way to keep us safe and comfortable.
Saved your life? Hiked your tanks? ScuberEats CapriSun on a deco stop?
What's the best experience you've had with a divemaster?
Hey everyone, I am a new scuba diver (SSI OW certified in September). My wife and I did our first two-tank boat dive in the Gulf in October (Clearwater area) for dives 6/7. This was a recommended charter our dive shop vouches for. We had a really great time and I was impressed by how they thoroughly checked peoples gear setups, asked for experience/comfort levels, had extensive debrief, and the DMs were in the water with folks keeping an eye out for anyone with issues. At one point I became too buoyant and he came over and helped my weighting.
Yesterday, we booked our second boat dive out of town (Florida panhandle) to coincide with a work trip. This one had a much different vibe. It was slightly smaller (~12 divers, 1 DM), but everything felt much more rushed. The DM did not check people’s gear. I told them we were new divers and wanted a little more supervision but the DM kinda shrugged and didn’t seem to want to provide extra help. The conditions in the gulf were really rough and I got seasick pretty bad despite pre-medding with meclizine (3 other people puked too). When we got in the water we both had anxiety due to the vis and rough ride and the DM was kind of rushing us and encouraged us to go 20 feet down rather than take our time at the surface. We ended up turning the dive and staying on the boat. I think that was the right call as we were not comfortable with the whole situation. While we were on, I was very surprised to see the DM up out of the water early on dive number 1, and basically out of water the entire second dive. The last person on dive 2 (admittedly an experience diver) took forever to come up and his buddy came up earlier and the DM just stood there staring at the water waiting.
Given these two polar opposite situations, I have a few questions. Which of these two DM vibes is more typical? How can people figure out how involved the supervision will be ahead of time (both charters had very good online reviews and one was affiliated with SSI, the other SDI)? Finally, do you have any recommendations for getting back in the saddle after a “bad” dive experience?
Overall question: As a PADI certified divemaster, would I be able to have my own small business where I take certified drivers on my personal boat to do trips?
I was doing research and I haven't really found any divemaster/instructors that are independent from a dive shop or bigger business. I wanted to see if this is because of laws/regulations, restrictions from PADI, or just because of the practicality of it. Any information y'all have or pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated
I got cheated into doing the adventure course for ssi instead of PADI but I want to earn my PADI divemaster qualification. Does this mean I have to do the advanced open water course or does my qualifications count so far?,
Hi, just wondering if anyone has had issues as described in the title. The watch runs until it hangs on 9 and 12 indices. Did a full run around before casing it with no issues. What is the problem and is there a solution?
Btw, I previously had a painted dial on the movement with different hands and it ran like a dream.
Been working as a DM here in Brazil for 6 months now and thought about the payment in other dive spots around the world. Here, I earn 40BRL (around 7,30 USD). So, tell me your earns or, if not DM and know the payment per dive in your place, I wanna know too.
I work from home. This year I moved from California to Mexico and have become obsessed with SCUBA. I have made it to Rescue diver, and continue to dive about every other day. I have 30 logged dives. I would like to continue my education, and as such am always trying to practice new techniques and get tips and constructive criticism. I am often told that I am a good diver. I want to improve my technique and proficiency in diving.
The next course to take is traditionally Divemaster. However, I do not want to make a career out of scuba diving. Reading through divemaster course itineraries online it seems that most of the Divemaster course is dedicated to teaching someone to work in a dive shop, clean gear, and assist with instructing new students. It's more of an internship, so to speak.
So I am looking into doing tec diving, or even cavern -> cave diving courses. I don't really want to be a cave diver, but it would seem that those courses could greatly improve my technical abilities and make me a more well-rounded diver. Of course, the other option is to stop taking courses, and invest my money into buying gear and going on more recreational dives.
Does anybody have any advice?
Hi everyone!
I want to do my divemaster in Costa rica next year. I have 8 months time and was wondering wether someone of you also did something like "work for them and get free education in return" If yes any advices on dive school? And if it is not possible someone knows how Hard it is to get a Job as a divemaster in Costa rica? And do I need a special work Visa?
Thanks a lot for your help! I'm really looking forward to costa rica!
Hey all, hope this type of post is okay. Let me preface by saying I am NOT a diver, so please excuse my ignorance or if this is a stupid question.
A close friend of mine is very passionate about diving and he is (hopefully) going to become a divemaster next month, which he has been working towards for a couple of years now. I’m very proud of him and want to get him some kind of “graduation” gift. Ideally something customized with “[His name] - divemaster”. Is that a dumb idea? If not, do you have any suggestions for what I could get him? I don’t know much about scuba gear or anything so I don’t want to get him something he won’t use. Thanks in advance!!
Hi there,
I am interested in training as a divemaster (and potentially further to instructor) and I found an internship available in Gran Canaria with ‘Blue Water Diving’. It’s a 5 week course.
Below are the things included:
• PADI Advanced Open Water Course • PADI online advanced open water manual and certification • PADI Rescue Diver Course • PADI online Rescue Diver manual and certification. • PADI Emergency First Response • PADI Emergency First Response Manual and Certification • PADI Divemaster Course • PADI Divemaster Manual • PADI Instructor Manual • PADI Divemaster Slates • Free unlimted diving – reaching a minimum of 60 dives • Free equipment hire (not including a dive computer) • Accommodation – in a shared room, bathroom and kitchen.
I wondered if anyone had any experience with this or with DM internships In general and could tell me if it’s worth doing? (The price is €1500 + €100 deposit btw)
Cheers. 👌
As title says, I’m looking to do my divemaster in either the Seychelles or Fiji but I was just wondering which of these two countries would be a better place to learn. I’m sure both have beautiful reefs and great numbers of fauna and megafauna but I wanted to ask for others opinions. If you also have any knowledge as to when would be the best time of year to go it would be much appreciated. :)
I've been completing my divemaster training for the last 2.5 months and have absolutely loved it, particularly assisting on the courses. I'm wondering if those experienced as instructors think it's wise to gain more experience as a divemaster first or just go straight to the IDC as I have always wanted to teach and assisting has been my favourite part of the course.
What would you experienced divers recommend?
Hi guys,
I'm thinking about doing my divemaster next year and I'm wondering what are the main differences between PADI and SSI that might impact me? I'm not planning on becoming a professional scuba instructor (although I don't intend to limit my options in case I change my mind) and I'll primarily be doing it to get a load of diving in and to bolster and improve my own skills.
I realise that at a recreational level they are both universally accepted but just wanted to make sure that there isn't some big discrepancy that I've missed between the 2. ie admin/course fees or recognition in a professional scenario.
Additionally, if anyone has any other tips, I'd love to hear them :). Currently considering Utila, Gili T (both of which I've been to before), Thailand and the Philippines.
Thanks!!
I'm interested in doing a Divemaster course. What are some affordable dive bases that are also recommended? Something with warm water would be ideal. My previous courses were with PADI but i guess something else would also work for me.
