Advice for getting dives done to start DM program

[rhuntley]

I am also doing this on my own without a dive buddy.

Pardon us, we jumped to assuming you meant diving alone.

Could you answer a few questions to fill us in, and avoid us from jumping to conclusions?

How many dives do you have, what agency are you interested in going through, what is your current certification level, etc.


Then from there, one of us can provide actually useful advice.

 

[Keith.M]

rhuntley, now this is what I am talking about for advice....thank you. Also I would never dive alone, that is part of my problem right now. Looking to get contacts through this site so I can meet people local.

You have received valid thoughtful advice from many people and choose to turn your nose up to it for whatever reason. Just from that, I do not think being a DM is something you will be any good at.

I am actually quite surprised that you have not been ripped a new one on this post, you actually deserve it.

 

[tursiops]

OP, you may be the world's greatest free diver, but most of those skills are unrelated to scuba, and especially to becoming a DM and and Instructor. In fact, some of the worst students I've dealt with were free divers....they already knew it all (they didn't) and they really did want to hold their breath (they shouldn't). If you can't even figure out how to get in 35 dives to start DM, living where you are how are you going to get 60 to finish it, and 100 to become an instructor by January? You are not being realistic, dude, and your hurry is going to kill you or someone else. Your objectives are fine....but the path and speed you are laying out are at least silly, if not dangerous. If you lived on a Caribbean island, maybe you could do it. If you had lots of money, maybe you could do it. But you still would have very limited experience.

Why do you want to become a DM or an Instructor? You've never said that in the several threads you've started.

 

[boulderjohn]

In another thread you recently said something about diving with me, perhaps this weekend in Santa Rosa. If you are able to go down there with some regularity, I will put you through some paces. I will include DM skills in the dives we do. I guarantee that by the time we finish a few trips, you'll be a different diver than you are now.

I am personally planning such trips to complete my own personal goals, so if you just want to join me, your only cost would be the normal costs of doing the trips. If you want some course work along the way, we can talk about what that will coast as we go.

 

[Diver0001]

Oh wow. If the op could lasso boulderjohn as a mentor then my feeling about his chances to succeed just improved 1000 fold.

R..

 

[orfreediver]

Wow...I have come across as a total ass about the way I worded this. Thanks to boulderjohn for the one to reach out and offer to be a great guy and read my other posts in the "Rocky Mountain" section which is the where I was originally looking for help. I posted this to get input and contacts from local help and buddies, not from around the country. Some of you have ripped me a new one and I guess that's what you thought I needed. I was reaching out for help locally and trying to get help from here (which I thought was the right thing to do). If you read the post again you will see that I am trying to get experience "on the cheap" (btw...I should have said on a budget...would that have been better?) not trying to go through the program cheap, it will cost me the same amount it cost all of you and I will add that once again I live in Colorado not Oahu. I am sure that some pretty good instructors have come out of the Colorado area because conditions are not always that great here and the commitment level could be seen as higher because of what we have to do to get our dives done here.
To answer a few questions for all of you out there:
-some of you you may not see freediving as the same sport and that's fine but I have been freediving for 9 years now. Five of those were at an aquarium where I dove every three weeks all day where I was able to do everything that the divers could except for vacuum and by the way I had the record time for rescuing an unconscious diver off the bottom. I am also a level 2 freediver through PFI out of Vancouver BC, have a four minute static breath hold and have dove down to 67 feet. I have the ability to dive to 100' but have chosen not to because I haven't had the right safeties in place.
- I have my AOW
- I am almost done with my rescue, I need to finish my open water dives and the EFR portion of the class
- all of my classes have been through a reputable shop via PADI

I know that a lot what a shop cares about is profit but I would hope that they would also care about reputation and wouldn't let some yahoo come in and ask "hey...this is what I want to do" and that they would say "yes yahoo...we can do that". Come on guys I am trying to what you around the country at some pretty hot spots where you get to go out and dive whenever and wherever you heart desires. I am stuck here in Colorado where we have to drive 5-6 hours to get to a hole with semi clear water or dive in a lake with 5 to 10' vis. I am trying to improve myself and share a sport that we all love and the last thing I want to do is put a black mark on it. I am trying to get my training done so that I can have the opportunity to go to some of the places that you have all been.

Thank you again boulderjohn for being the kind of guy that this community really needs. If you will take this ass under your wing I will jump at the chance, I'm really not a bad guy.

 

[Lorenzoid]

If becoming a DM is really that important to you, then CO is not the place to pursue your dream. Nobody should be criticizing you for pursuing something you are truly passionate about. I think it's great. But it sounds like you are looking for some kind of easy solution or compromise, where you can live in CO and somehow work your way toward DM. I'm sure it can be done and has been done, but if that's a satisfactory route for you then it sounds like you are not truly passionate about this goal you have stated. If that's what you call satisfactory, then I agree with those who recommend you just dive in lakes and on vacations out of state whenever you get the chance--just like any other new diver--and then see where that takes you. With such a slow route, it's possible you might lose your drive after a couple of years of it and want to devote your time to something other than diving.

If you really really want to be a DM, then I say grab the bull by the horns. Scrape together $2,500, take a month off from work, fly to Honduras, rent a room in someone's house, live cheaply, and work your way through the DM course as you build experience. This route has been disparagingly called "zero to hero," but as a divemaster-in-training you will get in several hundred dives and otherwise gain good experience doing DM work.

 

[boulderjohn]

I had a students a while ago who met with me to get advice on his scuba-based dream for his retirement. He ended up following it exactly--at least so far.

He started by working on and completing his DM in Colorado. Yes, that meant going 6 hours to New Mexico for the serious dives, but in doing so, he got to lead dives in low visibility, and he learned to dive into darkness to depths approaching 130 feet. He then worked locally as a DM, assisting classes. He thus had some experience working with students on skills in the pool and doing OW classes in cool water at low visibility. He also did some work in the shop itself, using his technical skills behind the scenes and learning that part of the dive business. Finally, he did take off to Honduras, and he is there now. He expects to return as an MSDT. After a little more local experience, he and his wife will be off to Florida. He is already a licensed boat captain, and he hopes that starting his Florida retirement with that kind of background will help him find the retirement lifestyle of his dreams.

 

[jffknapp]

Dude, get off the rock and just go to Bonaire. Great dives, as many as you can do, buddies all around. if u break down the cost including quarry fees, tank rentals, travel, and gas it cheaper and better than spending the next month at the local quarry! Live the dream man!!


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[phork]

Is there really no diving in Colorado? My fiancee is looking into post doc's after grad school and Denver was on our list. Are none of the lakes suitable for diving?