Starting Diver Master training before 18th birthday

[ljpm]

Hi all,

My daughter is interested in completing her Dive Master course. She is only 17. Is it possible to start Dive Master training provided she is 18 before the completion of the course?

 

[scubadada]

You might also inquire with the training agency she will use and perhaps ask the shop

 

[boulderjohn]

For PADI, 18 years of age is a prerequisite, meaning she has to be at that age when the course begins.

But that raises a question. Why does she want to earn the divemaster rating? Is she intent on going to on be an instructor? Is she interested in working as a divemaster right away?

If not, if she is looking more to expand her diving abilities, she can take a lot of other classes that will help her diving tremendously. Then if she is still interested in the DM class at age 18, she will be more fully prepared to take it.

 

[Pedro Burrito]

If she is taking the PADI DM then here are the standards from the Instruction Manual:

Diver Prerequisites

• Certified as a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver and PADI Rescue Diver
• 18 years old
• Logged 40 scuba dives
• Completed EFR Primary and Secondary Care training within 24 months
• Medically evaluated and cleared for diving by a physician within 12 months

 

[boulderjohn]

I am going to be careful to avoid making the person I am describing identifiable,. I know someone who began the DM program at the earliest possible age, and he did not do it voluntarily. He did it, frankly, as a result of juvenile issues with the court system. He is now a very high ranking member of a major dive agency. Who knows? This could be the start of something big.

 

[JackD342]

If she already has those PADI prerequisites covered as much as possible, here are a few others to work on:

1. 60 logged dives required to complete course. Keep building the count.
2. Take Deep Specialty, as it will fulfill the Deep scenario requirement.
3. Take Search & Recovery Specialty, as it will fulfill the S&R scenario.

 

[Blasto]

Hi all,
My daughter is interested in completing her Dive Master course. She is only 17. Is it possible to start Dive Master training provided she is 18 before the completion of the course?

There are some places that run Divemaster Internships - much longer, 2-4 month long curricula, which conclude in a divemaster rating.

Such long courses are the proper way to get to divemaster, as the 14-day course is far too bare-bones to teach one the skills. Most are unpaid internships (actually, you pay for the privilege) that combine very limited dive-related work, assisting, unlimited diving, extra training, and finally the official DM course part.

Most of the time, the internship can be started without meeting the official DM prerequisites. For instance, on Koh Tao, one can get a ~$1,000 DM internship with no time limit, unlimited diving for life, great instruction, etc. The official prerequisites (age, 60 dives, medical) are due before receiving the actual DM rating. I mention Koh Tao because it's got year-round diving (and cheap life), seeing how right now is probably not the easiest time of the year to dive in Canada.

 

[ljpm]

Thanks all. I had looked up the requirements before I asked so am not that surprised. I was hoping someone may have known of a loop hole. She has met all the requirements except the rescue course, which she will take in the spring, and the age. Her birthday is in the fall so she was hoping to complete the DM course before University.

@boulderjohn My daughter would like to get her instructor certificate. I'm not sure she had thought through what exactly her plans are from there.

 

[TMHeimer]

I found the regular course at the shop was sufficient for what I was going to do (assist OW courses only). But I can see that an internship would be more thorough--assuming you can get one where the dive op doesn't overdo it with the "free labour". Lot of discussion on that.

 

[kelemvor]

I'm surprised you can embark upon DM training with only 40 dives. How many dives do you generally log during a DM class?

@Pedro Burrito and @JackD342 seem to be reading standards from a different manual. 60 seems more reasonable to me, but I assumed it would be like 200 or so.