PADI Divemaster - Switching Schools

[Futsukayoi]

I had done all my academics and completed my exams day 1. After 4 weeks I had finished almost all of the other items for my PADI divemaster. Another 4 weeks later I have extended my stay twice beyond the planned time but only completed a couple of additional items. The Instructor keeps promising to come up with a schedule to finish the last few items (snorkel swim, tired diver tow, rescue scenario, object search and recovery and underwater equipment exchange) but it keeps getting pushed back. Now I am cannot extend further and don't see that I will get a chance to complete. In fairness it is a small operation and they did not expect their DM to get sick and 2 indstructors to have accidents. They lao had a couple of problems with their boat. However as I had a couple of hundred logged dives and know thedive sites pretty well for the last several weeks I have mainly been used as an unpaid DM to lead fun divers. Good experience if there was some balance with getting my stuff done,without that balance very frustrating.

It would be really costly for me to come back again to spend more time finishing with this operation and frankly I still could not rely on any new timescale agreed.

Is it possible for me to switch to complete with another operation without having to repeat everything I have done (i.e would they accept the items already signed off on my forms) or would I be forced to go through it all again (probably not possible for me as I cannot afford to take that much extra time of work).

Thanks

 

[Crowley]

Sorry to hear about your experience, I hope it works out somehow...

The remaining items could realistically be completed in a single day, including a long lunch break, so the length of the delay does surprise me somewhat. Given that I work in the business, I know very well how overloaded an instructor or can be when there are too many guests and you're short-staffed - so there is at least one explanation, but anything beyond that would make me want to ask some serious questions.

Yes, you can move to another dive centre to complete the DM course without having to repeat the whole thing. Your current centre needs to complete the paperwork so far as it stands and this should be accepted by another school, although they may expect you to participate in a few extra days of training to ensure you were taught to appropriate standards in the first place.

Good luck

C.

 

[DevonDiver]

Yes, you can get a referral with the DM course, same as any PADI course (below IDC).

I did my DM primarily in the UK. During that time I took a 1 month vacation to Thailand. Made photocopies of my DM paperwork/sign-off sheet and took those with me. Managed to gain some extra experience on my vacation, especially in respect of 'supervising certified divers'. Updated my paperwork to reflect that...and took it home to finish off my DM course there.

 

[Simon-]

Totally concur with the 2 posts above.

Everything you have done to date will (should) be recorded on the dm sheets, verified by the instructor.

Get the sheets and finish it where you want