Recommendations for Divemaster training mid-August to mid-September

[Neikle]

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for some recommendations of places to do my divemaster training from August to mid-September 2022. To be clear, I am not looking to do this course in order to work in the dive industry, it is just something I have always wanted to do for fun, to improve my diving, and to see some beautiful things. I only have four weeks (could maybe push to five) in between my contracts so I am not looking for an internship, just a paid program that can be completed in that time.

I am currently a rescue diver, with about 130 dives under my belt, and would say I'm at a pretty average skill level - I'm confident in the water but recognise that most of my diving has been done in very easy conditions on the Great Barrier Reef. I love coral and have not really dived with much megafauna, so ideally looking for places that combines the two. Some of the places I was looking into are Egypt, Raja Ampat, or Madagascar, but from my understanding it's important to do your divemaster training somewhere that there are enough students to be able to sit in on an open water, advanced, and rescue course. I'm not sure what the dive industry is looking like in these places due to covid and conscious that I only have 4-5 weeks. The Galapagos would also be amazing but I've heard the conditions are quite challenging and also that they prefer to only train locals?

Social scene is not super important to me but obviously it would be nice if there was some stuff to do above the water as well, so any info about that is also welcome

Thanks in advance! Also feel free to tell me where NOT to go - all tips, horror stories and rave reviews are welcome

 

[Marie13]

Why do you think DM training will improve your diving skills? I’ve seen plenty of DMs (and instructors) at Midwestern quarries who have dreadful trim and kicks. That seems to hold for other places from what I read here. Why not just go somewhere you want to dive and work one on one with a tech instructor to improve your diving? No certs, just coaching.

 

[NorCalDM]

If you're not going to work in the industry don't do it as the current DM course is more about working with classes than dive skills. Take the money and use it to do as much diving in the 4-5 weeks as you can this will improve your diving more than anything.

 

[Lorenzoid]

To be clear, I am not looking to do this course in order to work in the dive industry, it is just something I have always wanted to do for fun, to improve my diving, and to see some beautiful things.

I second Marie's and NorCalDM's advice, which is advice that's pretty commonly given on SB to people who say they're interested in taking the DM course in order to improve their diving. You might improve your skills in the DM program, but that's not the focus of the program. If you want to improve your skills, look into a course such as GUE Fundamentals, or TDI Intro-to-Tech, or simply hire an independent instructor with experience in technical diving to work with you. The one thing such courses will NOT do is show you "beautiful things." You don't have to have technical diving as a goal to take these courses; your goal can simply be to become a better diver. Because being a skilled diver is the foundation on which technical diving is based, these courses will help you achieve your goal.

So be realistic and ask yourself what your goal really is. My advice would be to take the time to improve your skills now, and then some other time go off and have fun for a few weeks, or the same in the opposite order.

 

[rick00001967]

i could not agree more with everyone above.

my pro training did very little if anything to improve my skills as a diver. my cavern course however, opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at diving.

you may not be interested in overhead environments but doing a full cave course in florida or mexico with a good instructor would teach you volumes of skills to continue working on afterwards.

if not, as stated above, find a location you want to visit (malta maybe?) hook up with a good instructor and start with the basic tech courses so you learn plenty about deco theory, gas planning/management, nitrox or trimix gasses, narcosis, deeper diving etc etc

i know the path to becoming a dm or instructor often sounds like the best path to choose if you wanna be a better diver.....but it really isn't.

otherwise, if seeing lots of critters and coral etc is your goal, and to travel to a nice location and do some pro level training, maybe look into grand cayman? long way to go from aussy land though.

 

[MichaelMc]

If the skill level in the shop is very high then yours will likely be pulled up by example and tips. But if the shop or its instructors are mostly putting out generic divers (which is more likely), it will likely do little for your skill level. It will give you more water time. But that in itself will not improve your skill at things like buoyancy, propulsion and trim.

Wanting a month worth of generic water time for the cost of working as an intern is one thing. Wanting to improve your own skills is another.

Spending a month in a local pool on your own working on buoyancy, level trim, adjusting your gear, propulsion techniques and things like shooting DSMBs would be very useful. That same month spent herding and watching over students will not achieve that.

ETA: working half time as a DM candidate and the other half of the time on your own skills in the shop pool would be productive. I'm not sure how common half time DM training is.

+1 to a cavern (or cave) class, or to Fundies in rec gear.

 

[Neikle]

Thanks all, I appreciate the well-meaning advice, but I have no interest in tech diving and especially not cave diving. My reasons for wanting to do a divemaster are my own, and they include more than just improving my technical diving - I would like to work with students and people, learn to guide, get experience on boats, etc. So the original question stands, if anyone has any actual location or shop recommendations for August/September that would be great I will look into Malta and Grand Cayman, thanks Rick!

 

[Marie13]

Thanks all, I appreciate the well-meaning advice, but I have no interest in tech diving and especially not cave diving. My reasons for wanting to do a divemaster are my own, and they include more than just improving my technical diving - I would like to work with students and people, learn to guide, get experience on boats, etc. So the original question stands, if anyone has any actual location or shop recommendations for August/September that would be great I will look into Malta and Grand Cayman, thanks Rick!

Your original post mentioned nothing of that. Just improving your diving and getting a lot of dives in.

 

[formernuke]

Rainbow Reef is about a week for there DM program.

 

[Marie13]

Rainbow Reef is about a week for there DM program.

OP is an Aussie.