DiveCon?

[Teller]

I guess im pretty new to diving, I got my OW cert in 99 but didn’t dive for about 8 years and just picked it back up about two years ago. I have 73 dives and I finished up my master diver cert in 2008. I have been taking a few specialties here and there just to further my education about diving. After finishing up a class recently my instructor told me I would be a good candidate for the DiveCon course. I don’t really have any intentions on teaching, at least not anytime soon. My question is this, will the DiveCon course make me a better diver or will it just teach me how to teach and how to assist teaching scuba? Like I said I don’t really want to teach right now I just want to be a better diver. Should I be looking at more specialties or looking at going pro. Any opinions. Also he said he would work up a price and let my know if I wanted to take the course. How much should I expect to pay or does it vary? thanks.

 

[Bappelt]

I took the Dive Con course to become a better diver. By working with the students and going thru the training it reinforces your own training. I find it also is helpful to work with the students and understand how new divers react to situations. I know when I got certified, I was only concentrating on me not others, so this helps me be more aware of other divers.

I think the cost of the course will vary by shop and by area and what all's included e.g. course material etc. Mine all things included was $850.

 

[dhuskins]

I learned long time ago that the best way to learn something is to try and teach it.

I became a divemaster to be a better diver. By helping out in classes, I get free, regular, refresher classes for myself.

 

[H2O 70]

You're Divecon will definitely make you a better diver. You have to learn to do all the skills in demonstration quality. That means slow, exaggerated and perfect. Working with new students is going to also make you a better diver. You'll strive to be a good role model. You'll also strive to make sure you have your skills wired tight so you can actually focus and pay attention to the students, and make suggestions to help them.

You'll learn A LOT of dive theory. This class is the basis of the rest of your professional career, if you so choose to go that route.

Rescue class was a lot of fun. Divecon is a lot of fun, but it is a lot of work.

 

[Damselfish]

Realize that you don't have to keep taking classes. Just diving should a pretty good way to become a better diver, usually more so than constantly taking classes. And while I obviously can't don't know this for sure, I have a small suspicion that you are working with folks who push lots of specialties and things like divecon because that's how they make money. Seems I've heard variations on "you're a great candidate for Divecon/DM" given to folks lots of times just as they are getting around the minimum required number of dives. (I mean, like it seems they tell everyone that.) Now nothing wrong with them making money, but they may be selling you things you really don't need.

There are also class options other than more specialties or Divecon. Some specialties are "meatier" than others, and after you have taken some of the more useful ones I don't know that you gain much by taking a lot of specialty courses. And IMO, while you'll obviously learn stuff going through a Divecon class, I don't think doing that makes sense if you're not actually interested in acting as a DM. You might look into NAUI Master diver, which is different than PADI Master diver, giving a lot of the knowledge from a DM class without including the teaching aspect. Some people are fans of courses like GUE fundamentals. Then there are all sorts of technical classes, and even if you don't really want to go down the tech diving route just some of the introductory ones would teach you quite a lot. You can also learn a lot by reading, and there's been threads around here discussing good book recommendations.