Well, after many months of indentured servitude I got my SSI DIVECON certification
. Actually it really wasn't that bad. The classes I assisted in were great and I have to say I enjoyed it immensely.
For those not familiar with DIVECON certification, it encompases both Divemaster and Assistant Instructor. I went through my local dive shop, did the pool portion(s) as well as the OW portions. I assisted in a number of OW classes both pool and OW.
The toughest part was probably the final exam. I passed on the first try, which surprised another instructor that was being trained to eventually be a Divecon instructor (he failed the first time). The exam was "a bear" IMHO. 150 questions covering the whole class (including snorkeling). For those considering becoming a DiveCon one piece of advice.
"READ THE FINE PRINT IN THE MANUALS"...yep, some questions covered some things that I read "in passing".
As far as the pool and OW portion, those were pretty easy. It really builds upon what you should already know through OW/AOW/RESCUE. Now there were some things that as a DiveCon my instructor taught that I think were valuable outside the scope of the materials. Basically seamanship, how the shop does things...etc. Since the shop owns it's own beachfront house and boat, I had to become aware of how the boat operates and what the procedures were for students staying at their property. Also, I learned about filling tanks, compressor maintenance as well as equipment repair.
I have to say I'm really glad I did this with my LDS. Unfortunatley they don't have any instructor courses planned for the future. But, after speaking with the owner, he's fine with me taking an instructor course elsewhere and than assisting with other instructors for a while to get my feet wet.
The question now is PADI or SSI? I've done courses with both and they each have their benefits and drawbacks...hey nobody's perfect (no not even DIR
).

For those not familiar with DIVECON certification, it encompases both Divemaster and Assistant Instructor. I went through my local dive shop, did the pool portion(s) as well as the OW portions. I assisted in a number of OW classes both pool and OW.
The toughest part was probably the final exam. I passed on the first try, which surprised another instructor that was being trained to eventually be a Divecon instructor (he failed the first time). The exam was "a bear" IMHO. 150 questions covering the whole class (including snorkeling). For those considering becoming a DiveCon one piece of advice.
"READ THE FINE PRINT IN THE MANUALS"...yep, some questions covered some things that I read "in passing".
As far as the pool and OW portion, those were pretty easy. It really builds upon what you should already know through OW/AOW/RESCUE. Now there were some things that as a DiveCon my instructor taught that I think were valuable outside the scope of the materials. Basically seamanship, how the shop does things...etc. Since the shop owns it's own beachfront house and boat, I had to become aware of how the boat operates and what the procedures were for students staying at their property. Also, I learned about filling tanks, compressor maintenance as well as equipment repair.
I have to say I'm really glad I did this with my LDS. Unfortunatley they don't have any instructor courses planned for the future. But, after speaking with the owner, he's fine with me taking an instructor course elsewhere and than assisting with other instructors for a while to get my feet wet.
The question now is PADI or SSI? I've done courses with both and they each have their benefits and drawbacks...hey nobody's perfect (no not even DIR
