I would contact PADI and see what they say, even if you don't take his class. This just appears to be a money grab.
RichH
RichH
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He's trying to rip you off.I contacted a local PADI instructor for a DM course and he stated he requires the deep dive speciality as well as search and rescue for "safety reasons".
Of Course.He can teach me this for a nice fee of course.
Isn't the deep dive specialty required with PADI's AOW?
The DM requirements are in the PADI instructor manual, and you need to complete a deep (DM skill 5) and search & recovery (skill 4) scenario. Those 2 skills have very specific tasks that need to be performed, which are a subset of the deep and search & recovery specialties. You do need to have logged "at least 60 scuba dives including experience in night diving, deep diving and underwater navigation" and have be "Certified as a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver and PADI Rescue Diver". Personally, I would be concerned if an instructor arbitrarily required additional items when it looked like they were just looking to profit from me, rather than providing a good education. If your deep or S&R skills aren't up to snuff, the instructor should be working with you to get you where you need to be, and any remedial work should have already been factored into the quoted price for the DM course
This has got me to thinking. When I asked a local instructor about DM he told me I needed 5 specialty certifications before I started. I'll ask again and make sure he isn't confused with Master Diver...