If you had the opportunity to do DM training for free....

[hlcdlc]

but had no intention of working as a DM....would you do it?

The short story is I have the opportunity, as a HS math teacher, to possibly win an 8K grant to do something I find "personally renewing," which of course involves diving!

I have no intention of giving up my day job. But the very term 'divemaster' is something that the grant committee may understand rather than listing additional certifications I would like to obtain, kwim? Currently I only hold OW and Nitrox, but would get the AOW and Rescue before I did the DM course.

My options are only limited by the 8K budget. I can quite literally go anywhere in the world I choose.

Would you do it? If so, where would you go? My timeframe consists of a 4 week window next July. It could possibly be stretched to 5, but that would be the maximum as school would begin again!

If not.....what would you do? The committee likes to see educators as learners and to see educators outside their comfort zone. As a fit 45 year old woman, I think DM would serve both those purposes, yet I am confident I could complete the course.

I am looking for a destination (whether I do the DM or not) that is safe for a woman staying for a month alone. I've not been to a dive destination I consider unsafe, but then my DH, BTravlin, has always been with me too. I'd love to go to the Pacific as I have not been there.

Any suggestions?

 

[Garrobo]

No..............

 

[Cabbie]

I would do AOW and Rescue and then keep diving for fun. How about volunteering to participate in a whale shark tagging programme or similar ?

 

[Web Monkey]

but had no intention of working as a DM....would you do it?

The short story is I have the opportunity, as a HS math teacher, to possibly win an 8K grant to do something I find "personally renewing," which of course involves diving!

I'd go spend a month on Bonaire and dive whenever I felt like it.

Taking a DM class because you like SCUBA is like hiring yourself out as a free taxi driver because you like cars.

Terry

 

[jldodd]

I think the DM class has a lot of good information. I know of some divers who have taken the DM course without sending in the application. By doing so you can gain the knowledge and experience without being the "free taxi driver". Although if you are looking to get the Divemaster rating, you can do so without getting the liability insurance which would immediatley make you an "inactive" divemaster (in the states). Of course no liability insurance means you open yourself up to liability issues.

I think its all a matter of how much you want to further your dive education.

 

[herman]

If you have no intention of working with classes or going on to instructor, DM is a waste IMO (I am an active DM, still wet from a class as I type). Take your AOW and rescue and go dive. Taking some other specilties like UW photography might be good as well. DM is really more about teaching others than your dive skills. The "skills" you learn in DM are geared to teaching someone else to do them rather than doing them better. Mask clearing done "correctly" in DM mode is a slow painful process compaired to real world diving mask clearing. Besides, 4 or 5 weeks is really not long enough for DM IMO.
If it were me, I would buy a good camera, learn to use it and go to Bonaire for several weeks (safe for a woman traveling alone) and have fun diving.
You can always do DM later if you change your mind.

 

[hlcdlc]

I am not going to be awarded this grant just to go on vacation. There needs to be a tie-in: educator as learner, and being outside of your comfort zone as we ask our students to do everyday in the classroom.

Hence, I thought of doing the DM course.

The whale tagging would be a neat option, thank you for the suggestion. That is the sort of thing I am looking for, other educational scuba options besides traditional scuba education that the grant committee may find interesting.

 

[bfw]

but had no intention of working as a DM....would you do it?
.....I have no intention of giving up my day job.

Many divemasters retain their day jobs and work part time, or even uncompensated, as divemasters. However, if you're not going to do things only a divemaster can do, you shouldn't get the cert. It ratchets up your duty of care to other divers, and paints a target on your back for lawyers should anyone diving in your vicinity get hurt. In general, you don't want to get a cert for which there's a liability insurance program tailored to the cert, unless you will use the cert.

But the very term 'divemaster' is something that the grant committee may understand rather than listing additional certifications I would like to obtain,....My options are only limited by the 8K budget. I can quite literally go anywhere in the world I choose.

The Master Diver rating of any number of agencies would catch their eye just as much, and not set you up for liability. It would also be more suited for your goal of not taking a leadership or instructional role.

If it were me, with 8K and the ability to go anywhere, I'd go for an LA County OW card, take a GUE Fundamentals course, then pursue some specialties, and get a Science Diver rating from the organization that accredits zoos and aquariums, and if there was money left over, take some GUE tech courses.

 

[hlcdlc]

Excellent point, bfw, thank you so much. I doubt my education association's liability insurance would cover me underwater! lol

Master Diver might also be attractive to the committee.....excellent idea. Thank you!

How safe is Yap for a single middle aged female? Hm....

 

[TSandM]

If you love to dive, and want to challenge your skills, and have somebody else paying for it, go to Mexico and take a cavern or intro to cave class. Unlike a DM course, that will improve your own, personal diving skills. It will stretch your capacity, and introduce a completely new environment. The water is warm and clear, and the caves are unbelievably beautiful. 8K would buy you the equipment you would need, pay for your airfare and your lodging for a week of class, and a week of diving afterwards. It would transform your diving, and if you're anything like me, it will change your soul.

Include some cave diving pictures in your grant proposal. I have some you can use, if you like!