Greetings Everyone

[CanonDiver]

Greetings SCUBA Board Members,

I am happy to be here and look forward to learning from from you all. I’m a Marine Vet and currently a PADI Rescue. I am currently still on the fence about going Divemaster or just doing some extra specialties. The whole liability factor with being a DM makes me nervous. I am currently planning out and buying a BP/W setup. My next BCD was going to be the Zeagle Ranger, but the BP just looked too appealing.

I currently live in Maryland so diving is. It as easy for me as it used to be when I lived on Oahu, Hawaii. I will also be looking into making a dry suit purchase in the next few years and have my eye on the DUI CF200.

Again, glad to be here.

 

[drrich2]

Welcome to ScubaBoard. What's the diving in your current area like? It's one I don't see trip reports about.

What is it about the Divemaster path that appeals to you? Do you want to participate in guiding divers or assist instruction (whether for the love of sharing diving, or for discounted dive trips where you do some work)? Or is it just about more dive training, hoping to improve knowledge and proficiency?

If the latter, there are threads about that. GUE Fundamentals is an option often spoken of, but their gear requirements are strict. It includes BP/W, but what type of harness you use is an issue from what I'm told. There are other options; I haven't take Fundies or similar courses.

Richard.

 

[Marie13]

My OW instructors tried to push me to do DM. I refused. Hell, no! Liability was one issue, but I also wanted to do my own diving, not cat herd students in a low viz quarry.

If you want to improve your diving, DM is not the answer. Another suggestion for improving your diving is doing a cavern class in FL or MX. It can be done single tank, with a few gear modifications (like adding a long hose). Will really improve your buoyancy and other skills.

 

[TMHeimer]

Yes there are many threads (some lately) about reasons to become a DM.
You will improve your "24 PADI pool skills", but that is about it as far as your own dive skills,
and not worth the cost of the course by any means.
Good reasons to do it are two--Having an interest in assisting in the training of others and/or DMing on charter boats (herding cats is definitely part of it as well as hauling tanks, but by no means the whole picture)-- and getting paid a SALARY to do it. If neither of those things exist I would not do it.

 

[CanonDiver]

Welcome to ScubaBoard. What's the diving in your current area like? It's one I don't see trip reports about.

What is it about the Divemaster path that appeals to you? Do you want to participate in guiding divers or assist instruction (whether for the love of sharing diving, or for discounted dive trips where you do some work)? Or is it just about more dive training, hoping to improve knowledge and proficiency?

If the latter, there are threads about that. GUE Fundamentals is an option often spoken of, but their gear requirements are strict. It includes BP/W, but what type of harness you use is an issue from what I'm told. There are other options; I haven't take Fundies or similar courses.

Richard.

Diving in my current “area” is almost non existent. Most diving near me is limited to fresh water quarries that are hours away. This is a drastic change from when I lived on K-Bay and could shore dive by walking from my house.

Divemaster is a mix between learning more as well as being able to certify people (once IDC). I can deal with random customers pretty professionally, but I can totally see myself getting really annoyed at some customers. After I got PADI Rescue, a few divemaster/IDC’s I dove with more regularly, would sometimes ask for me to keep an eye out on some of the customers. Especially if we had a bigger group. I enjoyed just being a safety net and often found watching less experienced or rusty divers more entertaining than a dive site I had visited multiple times. In the Marine Corps I spent some time as a Range Saftey Officer (RSO), so I got used to people watching for safety issues. I think I would enjoy training a small group of students at a time and it would also be cool to be able to certify friends and coworkers that had an interest. Although I could see that causing conflicts of sorts depending on the personality of the student clashing with my own. I did ballroom dancing for years learning both men and women's parts (to lead better) but as much as my wife wants me to teach her, she just does not take instruction from me well or I am just not a good of a teacher as I think I am. Haha

I have not heard of GUE and only recently learned of something similar I think called UTD. I will look more into those. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I am currently looking at using a basic hogarthian harness with a BP/W.

 

[CanonDiver]

My OW instructors tried to push me to do DM. I refused. Hell, no! Liability was one issue, but I also wanted to do my own diving, not cat herd students in a low viz quarry.

If you want to improve your diving, DM is not the answer. Another suggestion for improving your diving is doing a cavern class in FL or MX. It can be done single tank, with a few gear modifications (like adding a long hose). Will really improve your buoyancy and other skills.

After writing my longer response just now I think I can sum up the DM appeal better. I wouldn’t mind having the underwater leadership and mentoring experience. I think I would approach the actual job of it as a part time gig or side hustle since it don’t need the extra money, but it would help offset the cost of maintaining my gear and buying new underwater toys.

Learning more technical diving to include cave is on my list. Really tight squeezes in caves underwater scares me as well as lights going out. Haha. But I like concurring my fears and learning how to get overcome them. Not super keen on having to travel for training, but I’m also not willing to move to Florida. At least not anytime soon.

 

[Marie13]

After writing my longer response just now I think I can sum up the DM appeal better. I wouldn’t mind having the underwater leadership and mentoring experience. I think I would approach the actual job of it as a part time gig or side hustle since it don’t need the extra money, but it would help offset the cost of maintaining my gear and buying new underwater toys.

Learning more technical diving to include cave is on my list. Really tight squeezes in caves underwater scares me as well as lights going out. Haha. But I like concurring my fears and learning how to get overcome them. Not super keen on having to travel for training, but I’m also not willing to move to Florida. At least not anytime soon.

Beginning training has no squeezy stuff. Lots of caves have very wide tunnels anyway. You also carry three lights. I really disliked the idea of traveling for training but due to a variety of circumstances, I’m off to MX for full cave in August. And I despise flying and all associated with it. My idea is traveling is a road trip.

 

[CanonDiver]

Yes there are many threads (some lately) about reasons to become a DM.
You will improve your "24 PADI pool skills", but that is about it as far as your own dive skills,
and not worth the cost of the course by any means.
Good reasons to do it are two--Having an interest in assisting in the training of others and/or DMing on charter boats (herding cats is definitely part of it as well as hauling tanks, but by no means the whole picture)-- and getting paid a SALARY to do it. If neither of those things exist I would not do it.

In Hawaii I tended to help the DM’s haul tanks anyway so I’m kind of used to that. We would meet at the dive shop and take a van to the dock or dive site. Loading the van / boat was never required but I have a hard time just watching someone do things like that when I could also help. Plus it ment we got to the dive spot faster. Haha

My wife is a chef and also a diver. We have talked about one day running a liveaboard for a small group of divers as a retirement plan. Doing DM would be a first step and would let me peek into the world of the professional side of things to see if that is something we actually want to do. And we 100% realize it would be a lot of work, but neither of us want to retire to a couch or recliner (well I kind of want to but I know it’s not good for me).

 

[CanonDiver]

Oh, one other thing. Since moving to Maryland I have looked for volunteer opportunities with no real luck. I am apparently on a long wait list to volunteer at the national aquarium and the nearest volunteer fire department with a public saftey diver program is almost an hour away. I might still do the public saftey diver thing, but unlike everyone else that lives and works in Maryland, I enjoy not having a super long commute. Haha