DM Map

[iztok]

Multibeam Echo Sounder

We actually used it to collect proprietary bathymetry data here in SoCal for the maps in our simulator. Here below an example:

The interesting part is that I submitted the map above as part of my DM mapping exercise .... and it was accepted .... as the Instructor realized that by having generated such a map and the simulator for it I could easily guide a group and probably point out any single rock in that site.


Quite an expensive project indeed


Alberto (aka eDiver)

So can you come and map our quarry

 

[DevonDiver]

Devon, care to share with us a dive site map you made of cold water site with 10ft visibility?

You're assuming that I didn't do my DM course in a freshwater quarry in the UK, with very low visibility and 4 degree water temperature?

Sadly, I don't have that map now.... if it still exists, it'll be at the bottom of a filing cabinet at the dive centre in Stoney Cove. It was quite a few years, and many thousands of dives, ago...

I also did some nice maps when I was a BSAC Instructor in various military clubs...especially around Plymouth and Fort Bovisand... where I did numerous courses.

Now....I bet you thought you were just addessing some 'tropical water' know-nothing didn't you?

Congrats on doing some low viz diving...now come on over to the PI and see what it's like to DM deep wreck dives in silted waters of Subic Bay, in the days after a typhoon...

 

[iztok]

You're assuming that I didn't do my DM course in a freshwater quarry in the UK, with very low visibility and 4 degree water temperature?

Sadly, I don't have that map now.... if it still exists, it'll be at the bottom of a filing cabinet at the dive centre in Stoney Cove. It was quite a few years, and many thousands of dives, ago...

I also did some nice maps when I was a BSAC Instructor in various military clubs...especially around Plymouth and Fort Bovisand... where I did numerous courses.

Now....I bet you thought you were just addessing some 'tropical water' know-nothing didn't you?

Congrats on doing some low viz diving...now come on over to the PI and see what it's like to DM deep wreck dives in silted waters of Subic Bay, in the days after a typhoon...

No I was serious about it. The more maps I see better ideas I have to get it done. Reason why I am asking for specific (low viz area) maps is because I would like to see what others have done with such limitations.

I've seen some nice dive maps when I was diving Similan Islands as well as Red Sea. But all were high viz areas.

 

[DiveNav]

So can you come and map our quarry

Sure .... I just need a BIG check

 

[DevonDiver]

No I was serious about it. The more maps I see better ideas I have to get it done. Reason why I am asking for specific (low viz area) maps is because I would like to see what others have done with such limitations.

I've seen some nice dive maps when I was diving Similan Islands as well as Red Sea. But all were high viz areas.

On a map produced for low viz, there is much more need for depth contours and compass bearings. Bottom composition is worth including, if it varies around the site. I usually add the compass bearings between specific features of interest. These can be included within the legend. i.e.

Feature A
To feature B: 125 degrees.
To feature C: 60 degrees.
To feature D: 285 degrees.
To exit: 45 degrees.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

This is where I may be misunderstood. I did not have to do it this way. It was the way it worked out. My dm course was nearly 9 months. During that time I assisted with nearly 40 certifications from ow thru rescue. I'm guessing close 75 dives all totalled. I knew the map was a requirement from the beginning so everytime we went a new route to the platforms or between them I added to my map. This also allowed me to work on my nav skills at the same time.the dives when I would surface to confirm points were when I was not assisting or were just fun dives. Usually solo.I would not expect a dm candidate of mine to say ok I'm going to use these three dives and do my map. I'd expect them to take the initiative and use actual training dives with students to gather info. All part of an exercise in mapping, task loading, and situational awareness. Developing their judgment skills at the same time.

My map was as Devon Diver described. It is not an exercise in underwater archeology or site mapping in minuscule detail, but rather, can you make a tool to use for something like a discover local diving.

I'm afraid some of the posts like Jim's may give the wrong impression. While many times, more time or more dives is a positive, I don't think this is one of them. If you want to spend 20 dives doing it because you are having fun - go for it, diving should be fun.

But, if you think this is an exercise that should or does take that much effort, you need to talk to your instructor. Either you don't understand the guidelines, you need some assistance with your watermanship skills, or your instructor needs the stick removed from his lower orifice.

For mine, I did one dive with someone familiar with the area to scope it out. Then I did some planning deciding how I would want my dive to go. Then I took the slate and mapped out the important features on the route. From this, I created the map. Then I dove the map to make sure it was right. Three dives. While I am certain my map was no work of art, it met the requirements as a tool for explaining a dive site and leading a dive.

 

[hypertech]

I would not expect a dm candidate of mine to say ok I'm going to use these three dives and do my map. I'd expect them to take the initiative and use actual training dives with students to gather info. All part of an exercise in mapping, task loading, and situational awareness. Developing their judgment skills at the same time.

To each his own. It seems like a pointless exercise in creating more work for yourself to do it that way. At least where I live, there are limited opportunities to intern classes due to the weather and everyone's busy schedules. I can go back to the quarry anytime I want to work on a map. I can't observe a class anytime I want. So, class time, in my opinion, is better spent directing your attention to the class and getting the most that you can out of that.

 

[Peter Guy]

Although the strict answer to the OP's question regarding the DM mapping project is "It is up to the instructor" it may also be helpful to go to the PADI Instructor Manual (2009 that had the background info) for what is said about the project:

In this exercise candidates survey a dive site and draw a map from it. Besides the obvious function of giving candidates experience in creating maps for use by divers and as a briefing aid, the exercise has another important educational role. Candidates learn to combine several skills – dive planning, underwater navigation, search patterns, and data recording – to achieve the goal. In effect, mapping is a problem-solving exercise that relies on effective dive organization and management.
...
5. An adequate map is one that is complete and would be useful for navigation by someone who has never been at the site before. Some teams will be better skilled at artwork and drawing than others, but keep in mind that you are not judging artistic quality.

When I asked this question, as an instructor evaulating my first DM candidate, one of the better responses (to my way of thinking) was that this should not take more than two dives. If it does, then that is an indication the candidate isn't well organized and efficient.

YMMV

 

[peterbj7]

I'm very much with Andy on this, and some of the others who have posted. I don't require expert cartography, still less artistic excellence. I want a map that will serve its function well, and that function is to brief divers who have never before been to a site on how to navigate their way around and find the boat at the end, what to see, what depths to expect, etc. I always get my DM candidates to do the map very early on in their training, of a site I know we will be visiting, and then use that map in their briefings of divers (still in the course). My last candidate realised shortly into his first presentation that he had omitted key information some of which he hadn't even collected, so he made another visit to the site. In total he re-visited the site two or three more times to identify and add or correct information, based on his experiences of trying to present the map to divers and respond to their questions. I will confess to having asked him in active session one or two questions the map as it was then didn't address and I suspected he couldn't answer. He bluffed his way through with the genuine visiting divers in best DM fashion, but went back later and researched some more. By the end not only was his map accurate and pertinent, it was also ingrained in his mind so well that instead of just producing "one I made earlier", he was able to take a clean whiteboard and draw the map while he was giving his pre-dive briefing. He was really becoming a professional DM and the map was key to it, a core part of his DM internship.

 

[DevonDiver]

By the end not only was his map accurate and pertinent, it was also ingrained in his mind so well that instead of just producing "one I made earlier", he was able to take a clean whiteboard and draw the map while he was giving his pre-dive briefing.

This is something I also look for. I think it is the 'mark' of a competant DM.