When (in terms of dive experience) and where should I take the Divemaster course?

[Doby45]

Actually, I think we are in a somewhat similar line of thought. I also think the entry level to DM is rather low and I would expect a DM to have some experience if they are to lead a dive. I also agree its good to just go after rescue and dive for a while for experience (this is what I did). However, unless you are experiencing real emergencies or practicing simulated emergencies to gain rescue skills I just don't see how 200, 300 or even more dives would be better to start a DM than say 100 dives. For arguments sake, take a diver with 500+ dives who's highest cert is AOW without any rescue or EFR training. If he never practiced rescue, how is the amount of dives he's done going to help him in a rescue situation other than being more comfortable in the water? If someone is already at ease in the water and has practiced rescues and has gone through the motions of what to do in an emergency (even if its was simulated) with reasonable dive experience then I don't see why they would have to hold off and do even more dives. I would agree that in an ideal world all DMT's have more experience than everyone... but then even more experienced divers will come a long and claim you don't have the experience. It's a vicious cycle!

You are equating certifications to experience and that is not the case. You could have your drysuit certification and your 2 or 4 dives necessary to get that cert and on paper APPEAR to have experience you do not have. I have no drysuit cert and over 100 dives in a drysuit. I guarantee you that I have more experience in a drysuit than you do. Experience matters and dives, actual under the water in the wet world environment, build experience.

 

[DevonDiver]

And your equating experience with competence.

You could have 100 drysuit dives and still be incompetent to dive in a drysuit.

Both TRAINING (and practice) and EXPERIENCE contribute to the development of COMPETENCY.

 

[irsubmarine]

You are equating certifications to experience and that is not the case. You could have your drysuit certification and your 2 or 4 dives necessary to get that cert and on paper APPEAR to have experience you do not have. I have no drysuit cert and over 100 dives in a drysuit. I guarantee you that I have more experience in a drysuit than you do. Experience matters and dives, actual under the water in the wet world environment, build experience.

I think you are misunderstanding my point. True, you will have more 'drysuit' experience if you do 100 dives than someone who just completed a drysuit cert without any other experience (unless you using your drysuit incorrectly of course ). That is because you use the drysuit for each of those 100 dives which means you get practical drysuit experience each time you dive with it. I am making the exact same point about rescue. If I practice a few rescue scenarios each year and do an EFR refresher annually and you do not, I will gain rescue experience even if I only dive half or a quarter of the amount of dives you do. So going back to the original discussion (when is it a good time to start as a DMT - when you are able to focus on other peoples safety?), I don't think the amount of dives you do is all that important. I'm not saying jump straight in, only do certs and then straight to DM. But if you are a Rescue Diver who is comfortable in the water with reasonable experience I believe that is a 'good enough' time to start as a DMT.

 

[HantsDiver]

And your equating experience with competence.

You could have 100 drysuit dives and still be incompetent to dive in a drysuit.

Both TRAINING (and practice) and EXPERIENCE contribute to the development of COMPETENCY.

How?

I fail to see how anyone could be incompetent if they have done 100 dives. It's not rocket science - if it's too tight put some gas in. When you ascend let some out. I never had any training in diving in a drysuit - but consider myself quite capable of doing this. I've done around 800 dives in drysuits and have yet to have a problem.

 

[Erich S]

Years ago when I took my ice diving certification we got a one hour course on the use of a dry suit and no one doing the dives had any issues.

 

[KevinNM]

I fail to see how anyone could be incompetent if they have done 100 dives. It's not rocket science - if it's too tight put some gas in. When you ascend let some out. I never had any training in diving in a drysuit - but consider myself quite capable of doing this. I've done around 800 dives in drysuits and have yet to have a problem.

There are in fact people who have a lot of dives and are terrible divers.

 

[HantsDiver]

There are in fact people who have a lot of dives and are terrible divers.

And what has that got to do with proficiency with using a dry suit?

 

[DevonDiver]

There are in fact people who have a lot of dives and are terrible divers.

... and all of those assess themselves to be exceptional divers.

 

[Diving Dubai]

There are, over the last two pages, some very valid points raised. My perspective as someone who has just completed his DM is this.

Firstly, like any course or exam, there is a minimum standard required to pass. However just because you achieve the minimum standard, doesn't mean you are competent. For example, think about your driving test. We all managed to pass but in no way were we competent drivers. For the most part we all had to gain further experience driving in different conditions and situations. We've also scared the crap out of ourselves at sometime too.

Don't be in a rush to complete the course in the minimum time. use the course to gain as much experience and knowledge as you can

It is beneficial to have a good range of experience prior to starting. But it's hard to determine what that level is.

Certainly you'll need good basic dive skills particularly buoyancy (which you'll need to refine for pool work) and situational awareness

For instance: I had more dives than one of my instructors, I had more planned deco dives than two of my instructors and had dived in more challenging conditions (big currents) than two of them. But did that make me a better diver? Not really. I saw one of them retrieve an anchor, have their mask fail and still make a controlled buoyant ascent with said anchor. Not sure I would have been so good.

All 3 of my instructors were brilliant teachers, and had enviable skills teaching and dealing with students and could sense something was about to happen before it did. I may have had more knowledge in some areas than them, but that didn't' mean I was a better or more skilled diver - exactly the opposite.

By the end of the course, your should at least be able to guide qualified divers on sites in the location you trained. I would be useless in a cold water environment and equally useless guiding photographers looking for macro.

Like wise I wouldn't be confident guiding DSD divers on a second adventure dive.

Like any course the Dive master course gives you a foundation with which to build, post course you need to gain further experience and consolidate your training.

Depending on the direction you wish to progress post course, it will identify your strengths and weaknesses.

Anyone who enters the course believing they will leave as "A Diving God" on completion is a fool.