PADI Divemaster

[jo8243]

If you've done this course, how long did it take you to do the bookwork and the actual classwork? Do you feel it made you a better/safer diver?

Thanks

 

[ScubaFreak]

the whole thing took me about 8 months.
The best way to do the DM course is the internship.

Whether it made me a better/safer diver? I suppose it did. ALthough the DM course is mostly about being in a supervisory role and looking out for other divers. Your skills most definitly get brought up to scratch though.

SF

 

[scubadoguk]

If you've done this course, how long did it take you to do the bookwork and the actual classwork? Do you feel it made you a better/safer diver?

Thanks

Better is a way to say more experienced safer is not a word its a bunch of actions you make happen.
The DM course may be seen as a way to help others see diving the same but it also is a supervision role model for others.

 

[Tobagoman]

It took me about 4 months doing the internship. I have 20 years of diving experience and was a NOAA diver for part of that so I had plenty of experience and it made the course alot easier for me. The new things were the retail sections and actually supervising students which is experience you only get in this type of a diving role. As far as a safer diver, I think that is an individual trait. I have always considred myself a safe diver. What this course did was refine many of my skills to better be able to demonstrate them for teaching purposes.

 

[jo8243]

Thanks for the replies.
What do you do different during the internship vs doing it without an internship? Is the internship at a diveshop?

 

[verona]

The internship is where you work with real students on real courses. The other way is when instructors role play students. In my view, there is no substitute for real students. I did an internship with a dive centre and got to experience OW, AOW, specs and rescue students. It was great experience. You couldn't invent the things that real students do!

As for the book part, there is background reading you should do from the manual so you can do the knowledge reviews. We spent about 3 days all together having the academic presentations and the exams.

I took about 7 months to complete the course.

 

[johnny_bravo]

I started in May '04 (in the Internship Mode)...and so far I've completed:

1) Guiding Certified Divers
2) All the Confined and Open Water sessions with students
3) Rescue Scenario
4) Equipment Swap in the pool
5) Fitness tests in pool
6) Did the medical
7) Map and Emergency Assistance Plan
8) Demo 20 skills in pool

I saved the exams for the long canadian winter. I also need Divemaster Conducted programs (it's difficult to teach Skin Diver here in Canada) I should be certified in the spring. The shop I'm doing it with wants people to do it over a year at the most.

***And by the way helping students has made me a MUCH, BETTER diver...supervising other divers is a handful and your skills such as buoyancy and navigation start becoming like breathing...

 

[dwright]

I did the intern route and think that's the way to go as well...took me about 7 months...maybe 8 but I got a lot of class experience. I was thinking about becoming an instructor but now I'm not sure about that part.

 

[jo8243]

From the replies it seems like the typical time is 6 months to a year. Is that amount of time needed because you have to wait for a class to help with? I mean, you aren't busy every weekend for 6-12 months straight, right?

I'm not trying to take the easy way out or anything, just wondering how much actual time will be involved.

Thanks again for the info.

 

[emtdan]

It can be done in as short as 3-4 weeks, but some feel that students dont "get" it all in that ammt of time