Dive master training

[rhwestfall]

If you want to be a better diver, DM is not the route... Advanced training is the path..

 

[Outbound]

If you want to be a better diver, DM is not the route... Advanced training is the path..

Agreed, generally speaking. These boards get a fair number of posts from new-ish divers asking whether becoming a DM is a good path towards becoming a better diver. The real answer, in my humble opinion, is mostly no, but with a qualified yes. But only in a specific way.

First, overall, this question is putting the cart before the horse. Anyone considering becoming a DM and going down the dive pro route should have very solid dive skills already in hand. You will be leading divers (many of them new), responsible for helping and supervising dive students, etc. You need to model good dive skills at all times. You need the experience in a variety of dive conditions to be able to address issues before they even become issues. You need to problem solve on the fly. More experience will give you a better foundation on which to better serve the divers under your supervision. It's the main reason why I think the training agencies should all increase the minimum logged dives needed to enter a DM training program. Forty to fifty dives just isn't enough. I'm happy when I see new or relatively unexperienced divers really get into diving and show an eagerness to advance. But zero-to-hero dive pro isn't the best way to do so.

Second, and getting to my "qualified yes" statement: DM training - and especially working as a DM - will (or should) make you better at spotting minor issues before they grow into larger problems. Rescue Diver gives you a bit of this, but DM training really expands it because you are constantly looking at and after other divers. In that sense, DM training will make you a better diver. But that speaks more to increased situational awareness and experience and not necessarily in-water skills.

 

[TMHeimer]

Probably spoke too strongly. I'm not an attorney, but I tend to err on the side of caution. Maybe it adds liability, maybe it doesn't. But I'm guessing you'd at least have a potential legal headache to deal with, even if not liable in the dive boat scenario.

Still, I should have left that out. My main point is that the DM course itself teaches a lot, and can make you a better diver. Unless you're going to work as a DM or become an instructor later I'm not sure it's critical to get the card.

Agree. Of course if you pay for the course you're going to get the card.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

Agree. Of course if you pay for the course you're going to get the card.

You don't have to, though I suspect most folks would get it. There's an added application fee (at least with PADI) once you've met all the requirements. Don't pay the fee or submit the paperwork, you're not a DM.

 

[TMHeimer]

You don't have to, though I suspect most folks would get it. There's an added application fee (at least with PADI) once you've met all the requirements. Don't pay the fee or submit the paperwork, you're not a DM.

Yeah that's what I meant. If I spent the $ I'd want to get the card, just because....