Becoming a Dive Master and beyond...

[Daniel Ball Diving]

Hello! Thank you in advance for any advice you can give as I take my first steps towards my eventual goal of scuba instructor!

I am currently a rescue diver with only about 50 logged dives under my belt. I am planning on finding a location in SE Asia to complete my DM training, and from there I hope to guide for a few seasons and get my logged dives up to a couple hundred before i embark upon my Instructor training.

My questions based around becoming a DM and living as a DM while working towards my instructor course.

First of all, I was thinking of doing my DM around Komodo. I understand the diving there can be quite challenging and will be an attractive place to get qualified when talking to future employers. Is that so? Or are there other places (which offer the same kind of fantastic diving) which employers would prefer? I intend on starting the course in September 2017.

Also are there any particular places which are great to work as a DM? I would love to travel and see more beautiful dive sites as a DM but i understand the pay is pretty poor, which will make travel and saving for an instructor course even more difficult. Does any one have any stories/tips on how they made this work, financially and practically?

Overall i'm just looking for as much help and advice from people who have been through the same thing on the way to making a career out of their passion.

Thank you for reading and if you can offer any help it would be greatly appreciated.

Dan

 

[KevinNM]

Common sugggestions are: Become a diesel mechanic or a compressor tech. Spend time with the reg tech, learn how to do that. Log every minute you spend on a boat working as crew, you need that for your captains cert that you will want eventually. Learn enough of as many languages as you can, prioritizing those of nationalities who have the money to travel to wherever you want to work and you want to work with.

 

[DevonDiver]

Take a read of this thread:

Considering Dive Master

 

[Daniel Ball Diving]

Take a read of this thread:

Considering Dive Master

I've read through the thread before and i definitely want to get a number of courses under my belt and improve my diving that way. I am more curious however, how to take the first steps into becoming an attractive and hire-able DM and eventually Instructor. Also how to make that lifestyle work while trying to reach that level.

I want to become the best quality diver i can, but i also want to make it a way of earning money and providing the lifestyle i want as quickly as possible. So please anyone who has experience or advice get in contact

 

[CarcharodonCarcharias]

Hate to rain on your parade. But DM does not earn much and Instructor is not going to get you much money either.

Here some questions you need to ask yourself.

1) Why do you want to be a DM or instructor?
If it is because it is pretty cool and you get to travel and hop from dive shop to dive shop or from liveaboard to liveaboard, then I think you've been fed with wrong information.

2) Do you like to work with people? Do you have enough patience with people that are in your group which had inadequate training?

3) If you work as a DM on a liveaboard, would like be able to be the first one up at 5:30am daily, clean the deck, set up equipments, prepare for your guests to wake up at 6am/6:30am and get them in the water at 7am for the first dive?

4) It is not uncommon to have 4-5 dives in a day on a liveaboard. Are you up for another night dive if the guests are clamoring for it even though you are tired from all the dives during the day already?

5) Do you like to dive with people that take their sweet ole time to look for macro to take pics with their expensive cameras? You might move no more than a hundred yards for the entire dive.

6) Do you like to take down the equipment, wash and rinse it for your guests and pack it up for them once the dive trip is done?

7) Do you like to constantly monitoring people to make sure they are doing fine and check with their SPG while under and try to detect any out of ordinary signs or circumstances?

8) Since you've mentioned Komodo, are you ready to learn a new language? You can get by with English if you are tourist or a leisure diver, but if you want to work with the locals, you'd better learn how to speak Bahasa Indonesia.

9) I've said it before and I will say it again, the key factor about becoming an instructor is not to quit your day job. You'd be surprised how much you'd earn as an instructor and DM is not even close to a fraction of what the instructor is getting paid.

Being a DM is about working with people and trying to get the novice and beginners hooked onto this hobby. It is really not a job that you can make a living out of it.

There are a lot of experienced divers and professionals on this board. Listen to their advice and you will be better for it.

Anyway, best of luck!

 

[Doby45]

I've read through the thread before and i definitely want to get a number of courses under my belt and improve my diving that way. I am more curious however, how to take the first steps into becoming an attractive and hire-able DM and eventually Instructor. Also how to make that lifestyle work while trying to reach that level.

I want to become the best quality diver i can, but i also want to make it a way of earning money and providing the lifestyle i want as quickly as possible. So please anyone who has experience or advice get in contact

You state quality and quickly, quality comes with experience, which does not come quickly. True experience is costly in both time and money. But experience is what makes you worth more money. It is no different than some 22yr old coming out of college with a degree expecting to make the same as someone with 15-20yrs of experience in the same field. It CAN happen, but it is very rare.

 

[CarcharodonCarcharias]

Since you asked, here is my tip for you to take the first step to become an attractive and credible DM:

Don't get your certification at Koh Tao.

 

[scubawithmike]

Hey Dan,

You go and live your dream. I did exactly what you are wanting and more. All is obtainable and very easy if you go to the right places, meet the right people and take advice from those who have succeeded and have done what you want to do not from those who failed.

I would be more than happy to assist you by giving you advice on how to do this. You do not need languages or many years of experience to travel and work as a DM but better as an Instructor and live the lifestyle I have and so many others still do. There are many ways to make this works. I did it. I succeeded.

You can send me a private message or email and I will let you know all. Sorry but I cannot do that here.

Also, I will not try and sell you training. I just want to advise of how I did it.

Mike

 

[Doby45]

Also, I will not try and sell you training. I just want to advise of how I did it.

Mike

Well that is rather disingenuous, as that is exactly what you do, as referenced by your other posts. Become a Divemaster at Divemaster Internships Cozumel Is where you are directing people, is it not?

Hey Elio,

I am bias and run a divemaster internship program in Cozumel Mexico but I think you owe it to yourself to look at Divemaster Internships | Facebook This is the Facebook page for divemaster internships in Cozumel

Cheers,

Mike Sobel

Hey Aaron,

I suggest you look at Cozumel and specifically www.divemasterinternships.com this internship is way different than any other out there and has a great success rate and excellent instructors. I know, I own the place and train the instructors. Check us out and let me know whet you think. You can contact me directly if you like at info@divemasterinternships.com

Cheers,
Mike Sobel
PADI CD 184319

 

[Remy B.]

I also want to make it a way of earning money and providing the lifestyle i want as quickly as possible

, that is a good joke, our your lifestyle is very low, one of both.

Sorry to bust your bubble Daniel.

The only thing that DM and Instructors get quickly is Pus.., maybe if you do your job right, that one get to give you the lifestyle you dream about.