Does it make sense to enroll in a Divemaster course with no intention to work with?

[Centrals]

I wouldn't do it because I have no desire to turn professional.
However, if someone wants to do it for whatever reason then go ahead. I really do not see any reason to get any approval from anyone on internet.

 

[TMHeimer]

I daresay the quality of DMs you’ve seen is better than what I’m used to. A lot of the DMs I’ve seen at Midwest quarries have barely better trim than the OW students they’re helping with. I’m told many of them are zero to hero types and seeing them in the water, I’d believe it.

It must be different in the Midwest. Here (well at the one shop I worked in Halifax) the DMs (and instructors) all had excellent trim and basic dive skills, certainly way above those of a novice diver. There was one guy I worked with who wasn't as good as all the others and he wasn't around for long.
Could be you better shape up or the N. Atlantic will kick your a$$.

 

[yle]

Talking to the Dive Shop, they said it is cheaper to enroll the Divemaster course (plus specialties) rather than paying for avulses courses. He show me the prices and the courses are cheaper when its packaged with the "career plan".

I don't intent to work as a DM neither show off my DM credential. I just like to learn more about things that I like. And if the cheaper path is towards a DM, why not?

Does it make sense? Or I just describe a Master Scuba Diver (MSD)?

A few thoughts:

Enrolling in the DM course, plus a few specialties, because it's "cheaper" is on my list of the top 10 most nonsensical things I've heard from a scuba shop. The "career plan" selling point is also on this list. (Does the "career plan" include a "career offer" of employment?)

The DM course is expensive and time consuming. What do you learn? The best analogy, I think, is...

---> The OW course provides students the basic skills they need to be open water divers. They then use their experience to develop these skills.

---> The DM course provides students the basic skills they need to assist other divers, work as a guide, work as as an assistant to an instructor in a class. They then use their experience to develop these skills.

In that respect, the DM course won't necessarily provide you with better dive skills. It will show you the basics of what you need to know to work in the dive industry. If you're looking for skills you will use when diving, please consider the chorus of responses on this thread that are directing you to courses more relevant to what you want. (Also, your dive shop will tend to direct you toward the classes they teach... not necessarily the classes you need.)

Master Scuba Diver? Not really what you're looking for. It's a marketing ploy, primarily aimed at new divers that want a card that will make them believe they "outrank" those around them. Find courses that will teach you useful skills; avoid courses that have fancy titles of "___________ Diver"

 

[Storker]

I want to go diving and am not at all interested in dive leading

Whenever I dive, there's a dive leader. For club dives we have a club DL (mostly to ensure that # of heads surfacing = # of heads submerging and making sure folks don't stay below much longer than planned. If any of those fail, call Emergency Services). In every buddy pair or threesome, one buddy is assigned to lead the dive. Makes for less mess. A boat needs a captain, a dive needs a leader.

Sometimes I'm the club DL, sometimes I'm the leader of the buddy pair and sometimes I'm happy to have my buddy lead the dive. In any case, having dive leadership skills in your toolbox is A Good Thing. IMNSHO, of course.

 

[leavenotrace]

They have a DM card they can wave around for attracting attention.

AND the shop got paid plus they'll be home within a week - can't complain on the beach if they're already back at work on the mainland.

 

[bfw]

Ever hear the saying "Those who can't, teach"

DM involves a completely different skill set than advanced diving. It's as much about communication and other people skills as it is about diving. As mentioned in this thread, there are DM's whose dive skills are atrocious, and there are very skilled divers who couldn't teach those skills to another person to save their life.

Note that education is a college major all on its own, and that, when Massachusetts started testing education grads on basic academic skills and knowledge to get their teaching licenses, they had to water down the tests almost to a 4th grade level to get 50% of candidates passing. Note also, that not until the college level are the instructors people who majored in what they are teaching.

You can train an elephant to carry around 500 lb. logs for you - but that doesn't enable you to carry around 500 lb. logs.