Dive Master... why?

[DevonDiver]

So...trying to make this a positive discussion, and not an arguement...


Thal... if you had to put a market value on your course...how much do you think it would cost to run?

 

[ianr33]

The Divemaster course is very, very in-depth and will bring you up to an excellent level of diving ability, with an in-depth knowledge of theory and polished skills.

I have a lot of issues with DM training - as I feel the standard varies too greatly....

Hmmmm............

 

[DevonDiver]

Hmmmm............

Well..the caveat (as always) is that the course is taught correctly and with the motivation and professionalism it deserves.

Thal...not wanting to hijack this thread further, but genuinely interested in the discussion we were having...I started a thread HERE

 

[Elkfriend]

Ok - back to the original question:

I have rescue for several years now and have been toying with getting a DM, but just for fun and to increase my personal skills. I have no time and interest to make this a career or to teach.

So I signed up for an information session at a local dive outfit.

Turns out, they want to suck you into an "internship" (I have a full time job, no time to hang out at their store and count inventory for them!) and basically you work and slave for them for free.

I want to dive and learn how to correcty demostrate drills and stuff like that, not cleaning their toilets and showers!!

WHAT KIND OF A COURSE IS THAT !???

Anyways, I was really disappointed. I am a business man myself and I can smell cheap labor and low cost initiatives as they come - no need to disguise it as a course!!!!!!

I love reaching instructor levels in sports I love (ie I am a skiing instructor too), just for personal growth, hopefully I can achieve that with diving some day, when I find the right course...

 

[DevonDiver]

DM Internship programmes are very, very common in the dive industry. Because this is a professional level course, it makes sense to be immersed in the job, as you will learn far more from being involved in the day-to-day operations and functions of the divemaster...and establish more robust mentor relationships with the instructor/s.

I did my DM internship in the UK, only at weekends, over the duration of a year. During that time, I completed a huge amount of diving, had the chance to understand the thought process and attitudes of my instructors and gained knowledge/skills in extra things, such as gas blending, dive shop management, dive operations management etc etc etc

On a purely financial basis, the DM internship that I participated in allowed me to dive every single weekend for over a year...at no extra cost outside the initial course fees.

If you have no intention of working withing the dive industry, then you could always opt for a course, rather than an internship....(and I am sure that is offered also)... but you would be missing out on the wider breadth of knowledge available from spending time closely associated to a dive shop and being a member of the team, rather than just a 'customer'.

 

[Thalassamania]

So...trying to make this a positive discussion, and not an arguement...


Thal... if you had to put a market value on your course...how much do you think it would cost to run?

It rather depends on what you think you are worth and whether anyone happens to agree with your valuation. Each student requires fifty hours of time (I only take two at a time, if I take four I have an assistant who must be paid). A full course takes a working month. The training includes everything to be gained from NAUI: Open Water, Advanced Diver, Rescue, Night Diver, Underwater Environment, Underwater Ecologist, Boat Diving, Nitrox, Master Diver, CPR, First Aid, Oxygen Provider, and some more topics such as buoyancy, search and recovery, shore and surf, intro to tech, etc.

So take your hourly rate and your assistant's rate and multiply that by ... say, 120. That about what it should cost to run the course. The most recent private course I ran was for six students and I had two assistants (I don't like doing that - I prefer even numbers of staff, so that they we model buddy behavior), the training cost four of the students $2,400 each and two of the students were free. Each student also spent about $100 on materials and needed to have a full set of gear, which I helped them acquire at very significant discounts.