Why is becoming a DM considered not worth it?

[Isa.nerwen]

DM will not make you a better diver. It is not for that as others have said.
The other consideration is have you considered how many people you will piss off volunteering to work at a shop and dive with people?
Those are jobs that people should be paid to do. You volunteering may mean the difference between a local being able to eat or not.
In some areas it will be illegal to work without a work permit or visa.
It is true that there are segments of the industry that seem to encourage taking advantage of people and using them as free labor under the false pretense of being an "internship" that is really more like indentured servitude.
Working for free or "volunteering" devalues the professional ratings that many of us worked hard for.
It is also why in some areas you can swing a dead rat and hit half a dozen dive "professionals" who have been used, abused, and are now burned out working as bartenders, wait staff, housekeepers, and selling blood and other body fluids to make rent.
Take some tech classes if you want to become a better diver.

I've already commented I'm considering intro to tech too, I will check with the dive shops directly when I'm onsite.
I don't think it's so easy to volunteer in Thailand, I will probably do it as a course and not as an internship.
I've found only one place that offers internship and for some reason it's double the price than the course, it kinda defeats the point. Also I would definitely not work illegally.

 

[Isa.nerwen]

Master Diver, as in Master Scuba Diver?



Oh, that's the one where you pay PADI for another card; no additional training required beyond the OW, AOW, RD and 5 "specialities". If ever there was a pointless non-"certification" it's that one.

Yeah that's kinda my thought about MSD.

 

[Lorenzoid]

For fun, to look at a wall, to look up, to relax, etc. and if I don't want to change depth, or I want to minimize drag/effort, or whatever other efficiency reason, I will adapt the trim to the topology, the environment, and my trajectory

"For fun," "to look at a wall," "to look up," to prevent cramping, to follow a slope up or down--those are all "reasons" as I would define the word. If you're not breaking horizontal trim for any of those reasons or some other reason, get back in horizontal trim, as it can provide the advantages others have mentioned.

 

[Still Kicking]

"For fun," "to look at a wall," "to look up," to prevent cramping, to follow a slope up or down--those are all "reasons" as I would define the word. If you're not breaking horizontal trim for any of those reasons or some other reason, get back in horizontal trim, as it can provide the advantages others have mentioned.

Being able to orient oneself in any desired position and maintain neutral buoyancy while performing complex tasks are hallmarks of a squared-away diver.

 

[NorCalDM]

You may want to look at Laguna Gili Dive Center in Indonesia. The Course Director "Goto" is awesome and I have personally dove with him in the Philippines. The also teach side mount and other tech courses as well.

 

[LI-er]

DM will not make you a better diver. It is not for that as others have said.
The other consideration is have you considered how many people you will piss off volunteering to work at a shop and dive with people?
Those are jobs that people should be paid to do. You volunteering may mean the difference between a local being able to eat or not.
In some areas it will be illegal to work without a work permit or visa.
It is true that there are segments of the industry that seem to encourage taking advantage of people and using them as free labor under the false pretense of being an "internship" that is really more like indentured servitude.
Working for free or "volunteering" devalues the professional ratings that many of us worked hard for.

The DM program will certainly make one a better diver because the diver will undergo additional training, and do a heck of a lot more diving, and have a better understanding of equipment and how divers think and act, especially when under pressure.

Just because a diver might not be paid, and is trading his or her time and labor for training and experience does not devalue the course.

In my area there are 2 local dive operations practically begging for a DM candidate because they can't find paid labor. So it's not always about "putting someone out of a job because you got someone to do it for nothing".

Why would someone "piss off a lot of people" by volunteering to work at a shop and dive with people?

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

The DM program will certainly make one a better diver because the diver will undergo additional training, and do a heck of a lot more diving, and have a better understanding of equipment and how divers think and act, especially when under pressure.

Just because a diver might not be paid, and is trading his or her time and labor for training and experience does not devalue the course.

In my area there are 2 local dive operations practically begging for a DM candidate because they can't find paid labor. So it's not always about "putting someone out of a job because you got someone to do it for nothing".

Why would someone "piss off a lot of people" by volunteering to work at a shop and dive with people?

They probably can’t find paid labor because nobody is stupid enough to work for next to free.
They love DM candidates because not only does the shop get money for the DM course but the “candidates” have to do an internship. Win win for the shop.
They strung me out for over a year because they didn’t want to give up that free slave labor.

 

[Bob DBF]

In my area there are 2 local dive operations practically begging for a DM candidate because they can't find paid labor

What are they paying, and what are the hours? That's the usual problem with finding help, you don't pay enough for what you want done, or there are not enough hours to make it worthwhile, or both. DM candidates are just free labor, and no one else will work for free, or close to it.

 

[Still Kicking]

What are they paying, and what are the hours?

DMs get paid in hugs and high fives. You can't put a price on those LOL.

 

[Bob DBF]

DMs get paid in hugs and high fives. You can't put a price on those LOL.

If that's what pays the rent...