Suggestions on best way to get educated?

[Av8jen]

My son is moving to Puerto Rico to take his best friend up on an offer to work in his dive shop and eventually become a dive guide out there. So my son just got his open water cert and we’re going to Hawaii this month so we should get 4-6 dives in there. He’s considering a LOB for a week somewhere, where he can get 30+ dives in, and some even offer a master dive cert package. I’d love to hear some feedback whether this would be a good way to go and if so, suggestions on packages? Or if anyone could offer guidance on the best way for him to get some valuable experience before going in Oct. Thanks!

 

[drrich2]

I think you're going to have trouble finding a 1-week liveaboard with 30+ dives; the most I got, doing every one offered, was 27.

Shore diving in Bonaire can conceivably rack up a higher dive count, particularly if you stay at an oceanfront resort with a good house reef and dive it nightly, but that's a lot of diving. If he's young, fit and driven, he might pull it off.

If he wants to clear 30 dives on a liveaboard, it's probably going to take a bit longer than a week.

 

[FF / EMT]

A master diver or a dive master, sorry to play “semantics” but they are two different things.
Also he should read the fine print, is he doing this course and is basically “slave labor” for this lob, or is he getting paid a reasonable wage on top of that.

One other note; if he just got his OW, he’s too green to be a DM

Two other note: careful working for friends, your son needs to go in with the expectation that he could get fired, and as long as he’s good with that and the two remain friends, but in general it’s bad ju ju to have friends work for you, almost as difficult as having family.

 

[boulderjohn]

He just needs to get some dives in to build some experience right now. If his best friend owns a dive shop, I would assume the friend is going to take care of the training required to be a dive guide. That training should include what it takes to become a divemaster. If he is not a divemaster and guides dives, he will be taking a serious risk by being uninsured.

I assume the friend will start off by giving him some sort of Gofer rolle in the shop while he is getting his training. How good will that training be? There is no way to know for sure. Ask the friend for details on how he will be trained and what his certification will be when he is done.

 

[rx7diver]

... I assume the friend will start off by giving him some sort of Gofer rolle in the shop while he is getting his training. ...

(This was my first thought.)

To the OP: If your son knows about boat maintenance, including marine motor service/repair, and/or scuba compressor operation/maintenance, all the better for him, I think.

rx7diver

 

[-JD-]

Check out Allstar Livaboards' Blackbeard's cruises. It is inexpensive, bare-bones, and a hell of a lot of fun!

He should be able to do advanced open water onboard and pick up quite a few dives. Around 20 depending on time of year, weather, etc.

Since you are with the crew (who were all at least DMs except the cook on my boat) all day and evening unless you are in the water, you get a good chance to learn about their path. You are also thrown in with a huge variety of folks and I hung out with 20s to 70s and I think we all learned from eachother.
I'm in my 50s and if they would let me work for passage, I would still be there ...

 

[drrich2]

I keep some old Blackbeards related thread links handy in case I need to reference them. These are old, but much of the info. may still be useful. One thing about Blackbeards - it's my understanding most of the dives don't have a guide leading them. I have not dove with them; I've been following trip reports about them for years, as they are quite popular.

JlcNuke’s 2017 My Blackbeard's Cruise Report - My Blackbeard's Cruise Report Includes some need-to-know discussion about bathing and bathroom concerns.

T.C.’s Report on Blackbeards May 2014 - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/bahamas/484271-trip-report-blackbeard-s-cruises-24-30-may.html

Kimbalabala’s Blackbeards review 2013 - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/wo...-liveaboard.html?highlight=Blackbeards+review

Craig66’s Question thread about Blackbeards - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/li...stion-about-dives-blackbeards-liveaboard.html

 

[yle]

Or if anyone could offer guidance on the best way for him to get some valuable experience before going in Oct. Thanks!

Valuable experience takes time; not a good idea to try to get valuable experience quickly. Book knowledge can be crammed quickly, but experience... by definition... takes time.

If your son is planning to guide divers, he definitely should not be trying to get experience quickly. He should take it slow, and learn well. If he does this, years from now he'll reflect on his decision and appreciate how wise it was.

 

[yle]

Check out Allstar Livaboards' Blackbeard's cruises. It is inexpensive, bare-bones, and a hell of a lot of fun!

He should be able to do advanced open water onboard and pick up quite a few dives. Around 20 depending on time of year, weather, etc.

Since you are with the crew (who were all at least DMs except the cook on my boat) all day and evening unless you are in the water, you get a good chance to learn about their path. You are also thrown in with a huge variety of folks and I hung out with 20s to 70s and I think we all learned from eachother.
I'm in my 50s and if they would let me work for passage, I would still be there ...

We did Blackbeard's some years back. There were five crew, but none of them were instructors and there were no classes offered. Not sure doing AOW during the trip is a standard option.

 

[yle]

My son is moving to Puerto Rico to take his best friend up on an offer to work in his dive shop

Just curious... where's the dive shop, i.e. which part of the island? I've dived a few places around PR, done some homework so I have a basic idea of what's out there.