Becoming a Dive Master

[ClayJar]

Most of the time Dive Masters crossing over to NAUI from other agencies are required to pass the NAUI Master Diver exam before entering into the Dive Master curriculum.

Actually, that's not a "most of the time". It's required. According to page 2.82 of the Standards and Policies Manual:

Divers with evidence of equivalent training and experience may be enrolled provided they pass the NAUI Master and Rescue Scuba Diver written examination with minimum scores of at least 75% on each.

(The NAUI Assistant Instructor course has the same in its list of prerequisites, which is to be expected, since NAUI AI is a strict subset of NAUI DM.)

Of course, the 75% is only the minimum by standards. The instructor is free to require a higher score if he so chooses.

 

[dsatrick]

Find a great instructor and one that doesn't cut corner and it won't matter which agency you go with you can have the hardest test but if the instructor doesn't do his job you lose and the student you work with lose FIND A GOOD INSTRUCTOR

 

[ChrisA]

All this talk about the NAUI Master Diver class. It's true. It really is good. Every diver should take it. It covers a wide range of topics and I think actually more diving relatd matrial than the PADI Divemaster class. But then the PADI DM class covers leadership topics. I few of the peole I dive with have both. I'll have both by the end of the year.

For those living in So California. There is the Los Angeles County ADP class comming up this summer. If at all possable take this class. If is good for new OW divers and for someone with 1,000 dives. They cover "everything". You wil have complete the requirements for the NAUI Master diver card early in the ADP class. So in addtion to ADP C-Card you will get a NAUI rescue and a NAUI master diver card. But the class goes way past that.

What make ADP special is that each subject is taught by an invited expert. For example medical aspets of diving and pysiology is taught by an MD who specialises in divng. he decompression stuff was covered by another MD who works at a hyperbaric chamber. The person who explain how dive training agencies work ad their history was a past president of PADI. The local fire depertment dive team covered search an recovery. and so on for 14 subject areas.... Whats the catch? We were in class either diving or all day lectures every weekend, both days all summer long. Lots of pool time too and lots of advanced water work too. We covered surf entries on rocky beachs, boat dives. photography nd on and on all summer. Free diving and lap swiming too. There was home work too some of it involved diving and doing some surveys and mapping.

Not many divers get to do this class. LA country has ben issuing cards sense 1954. They were the first agency, well before NUAI and PADi and the YMCA. My card is #2001 Not very high for a 50+ year old agency.

The good news? Very low price. About $600 with materials. The class will take an OW diver through advanced, resuce and Master levers and then a bit more. If you live in So Cal and you don't work on weekends jut sign up. No thing else is this good in terms of dive training

 

[ChrisA]

Actually, that's not a "most of the time". It's required. According to page 2.82 of the Standards and Policies ManualThe NAUI Assistant Instructor course has the same in its list of prerequisites, which is to be expected, since NAUI AI is a strict subset of NAUI DM.)

Of course, the 75% is only the minimum by standards. The instructor is free to require a higher score if he so chooses.

That's a good basic "quality check" anyone how has been diving for a while should know everything on the NAUI master diver exam. And any profesional would be expected to know it. It covers a wide area but not in great depth and there are no trick questions. The test had straightforward wording. A really do lke the NAUI instructional materials. The NAUI master diver book is worth the cover price even if you don't take the class.

 

[GerryH]

I have been checking into the samethings, Naui is much more technical than Padi but both are very good. As mentioned above the instructor is the key to everything but also important is what you want to do after you have your DM. The problem as I see it is Padi is in the resort and dive center business and Naui isn't. There aren't as many opportunities to work with Naui. If you want to work the resorts I believe Padi is the best soluation, if you want to do more technical diving do Naui. Checkout my dive pictures at glharvey.com

 

[leapfrog]

This is a very interesting topic and I hope that my "five cents worth" helps out. The way I see it is that becoming and being a divemaster prepares you to go on to be an instructor. I have met some excellent divemasters who are not instructors because they don't want to be. These are usually technical or commercial dive pros that work in resorts in the summer to go back to "hard diving" off season. Undoubtedly for anybody who wants to work in the industry, the PADI Divemaster and PADI OWSI qualification is absolutely necessary as that is what is being demanded in recreational diving. There are better and worse Divemasters out there because they are as good as their instructor has demanded them to be. However nobody gets through OWSI without having a high level of diving skills and being able to demonstrate them. Having said that the PADI Divemaster course is both demanding and rewarding if you have a good instructor. Some people can and should go straight on from DM to OWSI if they have 100 logged dives.

As far as NAUI is concerned undoubtedly a very good step to take to improve yourself as a Divemaster or Instructor but as said by others in this thread, it is not in very high demand in resorts.

Of course there is the US Navy "Master Diver" course which evaluates qualified First Class Divers and Saturation Divers, E-7 or above, to determine the candidates ability to successfully perform as Diving supervisors in all facets of Navy Diving. Now there is a leadership position for you!

 

[*ScubaDave*]

I have a hard time knowing what certifying agency is "better"...but I have had GREAT instructors from both PADI and PDIC. I'm currently working on my Dive Master with a PADI instructor, and so far the instruction has been top notch.

 

[jviehe]

Anyone here a PADI instructor? Oh wait, I am, so let me clear up a couple of misconceptions. The PADI Master Scuba Diver Certification is indeed awarded when you have completed certain prerequisites. Whether and how these prerequisites are offered as a course or the students completes them individually is up to the business offering them. There are many shops that offer a Master Scuba Diver course which teaches a student from OW to Master Scuba Diver over several months to year on average. This is advertised as a complete training course, and has nothing to do with PADI, as PADI only sets minimum requirments and has little to say on how courses are sturctured, marketed, or priced. On the other hand, a student can simply progress at their own pace taking each certification as seperate courses, and once they have completed all the certifications, apply to receive the MAster Scuba Diver Certification. Comparing this or really any PADI course beyond OW to another agency is apples to oranges as the terminology, rules, guidelines and procedures are different. AOW in SSI is not AOW in PADI. They are totally different courses.

So, please stop denegrating PADI certifications without knowledge of the material.

 

[8thElementDiver]

Many people here are saying that you need to have extraordinary diving skills to be a worthwhile divemaster; and I agree. However, I firmly believe that you do not need to possess those skills *before* taking a divemaster class. In many cases, it's easier to understand what skills you'll need--and how you'll need to develop them--once you take the DM course.

For example, excellent buoyancy skills are a must to be a good DM. However, how many divers hone their buoyancy skills and also practice turning completely around to look behind them while maintaining good buoyancy? Probably not many, since it's not a skill most divers would use often; but it's a critical skill that DMs use all the time because DMs have to constantly monitor the divers they're leading. I've seen divers go into a DM class with excellent buoyancy skills--they usually dove just a foot off the bottom to better observe the bottom life. But when they started having to turn around during dives, they'd crash to the bottom (being only a foot away), sending a huge silt cloud up around them.

Another example: people who dive the DIR method might have to change their gear config if helping with a class--doing a BCD remove and replace when you have a crotch strap and regulator necklace makes the skill look overly complicated for new students.

To summarize, it's often easier to learn the skills you'll need from a good instructor the first time around, rather than having to relearn a skill after you've been doing it a different way for the past 1,000 dives. Plus, in the DM course you're going to learn excellent dive leadership skills, which is something you can always put to use, even while improving your dive skills. If either you or the instructor are uncomfortable about your dive skill proficiency when you near the end of the course, you can opt to just stay on as a DM candidate and intern with the instructor until you are ready to graduate to becoming a full DM.

Finally, *everyone* should take the Rescue Diver course. To steal from the Peace Corps--it's the toughest class you'll ever love.

 

[BDSC]

If the Master Scuba Diver cert. at PADI is not a "course", then why do they refer to it that way?

PADI Master Scuba Diver Course Details

I guess it's all in how you define "course".

BDSC