Experience as a trainee divemaster

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Most of my DM's have been female because they have the right attitude

:)


By attitude you mean boobs right? Lets face it, in a resort area what better way to get the hoards of young men on YOUR boat than having eye candy for them. Its always nice when the eye candy is a badass diver as well.
 
No I dont


In my experience they have the right work attitude - willing to take on any tasks that will make the dive center run smoother - they are better at listening and reacting to the customers needs and wants, they are usually conservative with there diving, don't have a macho image to keep up.

Scott
 
I am finishing my DM training and have to lug tanks, fill them, fit gear to customers that are diving with us, etc.. The Master Instructor is on my case about any little mistake - presentation, training, or my own personal diving. She constantly reminds me that all the divers especially the newer ones are watching me so it is my responsibility to properly display all the techniques that are taught in the classroom. If they see the DM doing differently then they will think, "Oh well, I really don't have to do it the way they taught me in school." A couple of times when I was following I would swim with my head down and feet up at about a 45 degree angle, something I do when looking for photographic subjects. How she saw me is beyond me ( dive instructors in the service weren't as sharp as she is) she be yanking on my fins scolding me with her finger and later chastising me in the office.
Taking the DM course has given me a new found respect for the professionals in the recreational diving business, though I still get aggravated when I am diving and the DM yanks on my dive fins when I am about to depress the shutter button on my camera and gives me the buddy up sign because my dive buddy went off chasing something else. But with all the divers they have too look out for I can't blame him/her. There are a few shops and boats that know me and let me dive the reef as long as they can see my bubbles and I stay close to the boat but I will not give out their names.
 
No I dont


In my experience they have the right work attitude - willing to take on any tasks that will make the dive center run smoother - they are better at listening and reacting to the customers needs and wants, they are usually conservative with there diving, don't have a macho image to keep up.

Scott

Call me crazy, but the winking emoticon after that sentence doesnt convey that...
 
OK your crazy :wink:

I put them to show I am being friendly as I know that sometimes conversations here can get heated.

I will edit it and remove it as it seems to come out wrong

:)
 
I am finishing my DM training and have to lug tanks, fill them, fit gear to customers that are diving with us, etc.. The Master Instructor is on my case about any little mistake - presentation, training, or my own personal diving. She constantly reminds me that all the divers especially the newer ones are watching me so it is my responsibility to properly display all the techniques that are taught in the classroom. If they see the DM doing differently then they will think, "Oh well, I really don't have to do it the way they taught me in school." A couple of times when I was following I would swim with my head down and feet up at about a 45 degree angle, something I do when looking for photographic subjects. How she saw me is beyond me ( dive instructors in the service weren't as sharp as she is) she be yanking on my fins scolding me with her finger and later chastising me in the office.
Taking the DM course has given me a new found respect for the professionals in the recreational diving business, though I still get aggravated when I am diving and the DM yanks on my dive fins when I am about to depress the shutter button on my camera and gives me the buddy up sign because my dive buddy went off chasing something else. But with all the divers they have too look out for I can't blame him/her. There are a few shops and boats that know me and let me dive the reef as long as they can see my bubbles and I stay close to the boat but I will not give out their names.

Few would disagree with what you are saying about setting an example when diving, but I don't really see what it has to do with DM candidates humping kit.
 
" A couple of times when I was following I would swim with my head down and feet up at about a 45 degree angle, something I do when looking for photographic subjects. How she saw me is beyond me ( dive instructors in the service weren't as sharp as she is) she be yanking on my fins scolding me with her finger and later chastising me in the office.

I have been diving for 20 years now and was a recreational diver for 6 prior to becoming a PADI Pro. I teach many Divemasters and currently have over 60 candidates to date for this year alone that I have mentored. So, who is to say that what you are doing is not diving for you? Where is it written how you are to dive. Can you be near the bottom, in mid water or near the surface and still be diving? What about upside down or over the sand and not the reef, is that diving? It seems to me that many instructors think that this sport or hobby or fun activity we have needs to be done only one way. I say bull! You get out of the sport, and it is a sport, what you individually want. If you do not mess with the marine life and stay with your buddy you are following proper dive procedures. Of course there are other things you need to do but to say that you looking for marine life and adjusting your body angel is wrong is just crazy.

On being screamed at and told you are not doing it right by your instructor is another issue all together that I do not care to entertain.

---------- Post added November 5th, 2014 at 12:35 PM ----------



---------- Post added November 5th, 2014 at 12:37 PM ----------

I am sorry but an divemaster in training or a DMT is not allowed to lead a dive or give a briefing unless an instructor is present. During the training process they cannot take on any duties of what a divemaster will do unless under the direct supervision of an instructor. Now that does not mean all of the schlepping gear. Of course that they can do and in the DM course they are required to do some of that in several different practical applications, dive site set up, open water confined and open water open assists, DSD workshop and certified divers workshop. Here is where they learn how to do more of the job a divemaster has to do in the real world. But to make your DMT fill tanks, do all set ups, and basically be a slave to the dive shop is wrong. I have seen this happen and have been told stories by my IDC candidates of what they went through in their DM training and I am shocked at how many instructors abuse and miss use DMT's.
 
Hi swim93 :)

Yeahhhhh....that treatment sounds a bit unnecessary :/

I work at Downbelow Marine & Wildlife Adventures as a PADI IDC Staff Instructor and our 5 Star IDC Dive Centre is based on teamwork - essential to running our daily operations. This means: Instructors do their 'bit' too! How we treat our Divemaster trainees at our centre isn't based on whether they are paid or not; professional dive training needs to be just that...professional! Professional or not, really, another DIVER has no reason to ask another diver to do anything that they wouldn't get 'stuck in' and do themselves, right?
We offer professional internship programs to both local and international candidates and, for example, when assisting any of our PADI Instructors, they are responsible for carrying their own tanks and HELPING the Instructor with the logistics of the dive...but our student divers are required to be independent too!
Well that's MY opinion based on how I like to work! :wink:
Hope all is well with your dive training overall, swim93!
 
there are great instructors, good instructors and crap instructors. Working with a great instructor as a DM (or a student) is a far better experience. Here in So Fla, many DMs are in-water dive guides for local dive ops on our drift dives. In this case, the DM is totally responsible for divers in the water. Boat crew and DM haul stuff for paying customers. A DM "should" have highly developed skills at least to the level of instructor.
 
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