Am I mad to try to go from virtually no dive experience to divemaster?

[J.R.]

I hate to have to agree, but those who say that "Dive Master" is just a title are right on the money... getting your DM isn't really all that hard (in most instances) if all you're going after is the little plastic card and the annual dues. There is NOTHING more... ummm... humbling... that somebody who wanders around flashing their DM card and then demonstrates themselves as somewhat "skills and knowledge challenged"...

Take your time... take every course everybody in this thread suggested... and take a few that haven't maybe been mentioned. Dive... dive a lot. Learn from every dive... every student you assist... every location you dive in. Read... seek out really, really good divers (they aren't hard to find... they're generally the quiet ones that ain't braggin' on themselves at the local dive shop)... learn what they're willing to teach...

Somewhere in the course of all of this you may become a "DIVER"... and being a "DIVER" is much more significant than being a "Divemaster"...

J. Winkler -
Currently a Divemaster... still working on becoming a DIVER...

 

[String]

Divemaster is meant to be a supervisory role where you are responsible not only for yourself but also other divers of little or no experience and any problem they might have.
In my view although you could learn the skills in 6 weeks you certainly cant learn the experience to do that safely - that only comes through diving (and lots of it).

Nothing to DM in 6 months if you dive 2-3 times a day is ok. 6 weeks in my view you cant.

 

[marinediva]

I believe it depends on where you do the courses and how you do them. To say you can't or shouldn't is far to broad a statement.

I went from OW to MSDT in eight months. It cost me over !0 grand AUS and all I did was dive, eat and sleep. By Divemaster I was diving 5 dives a day. When I had finished my IE I had 800 dives up.

I would be cautious of a six week course, as I would tend to agree it would be quick and time to absorb what you are learning is a necessary step in my eyes.

In my case, I was an experienced hookar diver, and freediver who had lived in the water my entire life. Bottom line, it all depends on yourself and what you are prepared to put into it.
This includes financial and mental input.

Don't let others fool you that tropical diving is not sometimes extreme and does come with many risks. There are companies who can offer a long internship and do so. Spending lots of time on the internet researching them to find the most suitable place for you is a good start.

 

[rleslie]

To me, the most important thing to accomplish is to be come a competent, safe diver who can assist others in an emergency situation. Unless you are an exceptional learn who retains everything that you are taught, you will be nothing but confused at the end of six weeks. There is way too much knowledge to digest between beginner - DM to achieve in 6 weeks.

There is no substitute for experience. Even if you can retain all the information, you will still need to be able to apply your knowledge....that takes practice, practice, practice. As most of the other posters have stated, take it one step at a time. When you feel competent at one level, you can move on to the next.

I have been on dives with DM trainees that couldn't even maintain a reasonable level of bouyancy. Having a DM card does not make you a DM.

 

[texasaubiefan]

There's nothing wrong with it depending on how it's done. I know from my own experience, I advanced quickly. But just because I got a certification didn't mean I was ready to be a dive leader. The DM program allows a fair amount of flexibility from the instructor. That means who conducts it and your relationship with them is important. For me, my DM program was heavy on real-world diving and about 9 months of apprenticeship. You can do the program and meet all the prerequisites in much less time but experience matters when you take that step into a professional. Look at it this way, you get your car license at 16. Then immediately take a lesson to drive race cars. You pass the course. Would you be comfortable doing a race or would you want a little more experience before you do it?

 

[ligersandtions]

Back around dive #30, I met a DM who was far less skilled in the water than I was....this is not to say I'm anything other than a new diver who has a TON to learn, but I had good role models at this point, and it appeared that all the DM had was a bunch of training dives (that probably included a lot of kneeling on the bottom and very little buoyancy or propulsion work). I was appalled....I couldn't figure out, for the life of me, how he had gotten his DM cert. If I had to guess, I would now say he probably took a six week crash course from OW to DM.

Why do you want to be a DM? Is this because you want to be a master at diving? Is it because you want to teach students how to dive? Is it because you don't really know what a DM is and figure it's what you need to be to dive? Whatever the reason is, you need to figure out if you really want to be a DM.

My suggestion would be to go to Central America, get your OW certification, find a good role model (i.e. an experienced diver who is still in the water, can stop on a dime, can swim along the bottom without silting), and dive as much as you can possibly stand....pick the experienced diver's brain and learn as much you can possibly shove into your brain. Then re-evaluate and decide what you want to do. If you want to become a DM, go for that. If you want to become a tech diver, take a GUE/UTD/TDI/etc class and go for that. If you want to continue to enjoy the new world that has now been opened up to you, then dive to your heart's content.

When you get bored or feel the need for a new challenge, take another class. But there's nothing that says you need to keep getting certification after certification to prove that you are an active or good diver.

 

[askdjasd]

beginner to dive master in a week? you're not serious are you?

stuff like that... instructors probably ask you for your credit card number and SIN number.
you're not mad... but you're not smart either.

I wouldnt consider even attempting my DM course unless I had about 100 dives under my belt.
for DM, you're assistant instructor for some classes, and if some DM only had 10 dives, i'd laugh in his/her face and demand a refund.

I was on dive 36 when i went for my AOW, and as we're swimming out to do skills, when we got into how many dives we have.. when i said 36.. everyone was shocked.. I knew this class was going to be bad... and i was right! never been kicked in the face so many times in a dive.

 

[NudeDiver]

Look at it this way, you get your car license at 16. Then immediately take a lesson to drive race cars. You pass the course. Would you be comfortable doing a race or would you want a little more experience before you do it?

I think that is a really poor analogy. Lots of 16 year olds, myself included, would be more than happy to engage in auto racing, the moment they got their license, even without any racing lessons.

 

[NudeDiver]

I was on dive 36 when i went for my AOW, and as we're swimming out to do skills, when we got into how many dives we have.. when i said 36.. everyone was shocked..

I would be shocked too. I dunno why anyone would take AOW with so much experience already - unless you just needed the card for a particular charter or to take RD.

never been kicked in the face so many times in a dive.

Um...if people are kicking you in the face with their fins, then you need to learn how to keep your face away from other peoples' fins. Keeping reasonable distance from others is a good start.

 

[seaducer]

I think that is a really poor analogy. Lots of 16 year olds, myself included, would be more than happy to engage in auto racing, the moment they got their license, even without any racing lessons.

Perhaps a better analogy might be, the 16 YO takes an accelerated driving class with the minimum amount of Behind the Wheel training necessary. Then said driver immediately assumes a leadership role teaching others how to drive.