Why would you ever want to become Dive Masters?

[Diver560]

to be honest.....I enrolled as I knew there was a really cute& funny single DM candidate:blinking: in the next class offered. We certainly had a great time in class and even travelled abroad to Curacao with a local dive club. Though diving turned out to be our only lasting common bond, I will give her all the credit where its due in this matter.

Now having been a DM, I've certainly enjoyed some of the plusses described in previous posts and do feel more confident with assiting/advising others (in & out of classes) knowing I have an agency certification to help add a bit of credability.

One aspect I haven't yet read is that being a DM, for me at least, helps keep me a bit more prudent/accountable with choices I get faced with making from time to time. I mean, I am a Dork diver at heart and enjoy more than myshare of laughs, but I often ask myself "what would a DM do in this situation? knowing others are watching & expect a certain level 'professional' knowledge/behaviour from me. how would each of my past instructors be reflected by this...etc.etc.etc"

The great news is that it is upto the individual to choose where they are comfortable with their learing....the option to take a break a while is always there too. And as for the best reason to become a DM, from my experience, it really doesn't matter as its likely to change once you become a DM anyway....and then change again after some time goes by....and yet again and again as you meet others and have new experiences...or am I describing my dating pattern again???

 

[Diver560]

You have to pay extra for the decoder ring and superhero cape.

1st rule of DM club...do not talk about DM club.
2nd rule of DM club...do not talk about DM club.

 

[syonker]

Hi Gang,

I made the leap to DiveCon for three reasons:

1) I'm a Dad now, and the more safety I can practice and provide to others, the better off we all are.

2) I want to teach my own son to dive, and I have seen *soooo* many parents who are avid divers try to teach their kids before they enter class, and when they do they have extremely *bad* habits that need to be actively broken down (such as believing it's "fun" to turn off your brother's air underwater, or to steal his mask, or both - sheesh). Needless to say, I want to be a *qualified* teacher for my boy.

3) Frankly, it's been said before in this thread but I echo the fact that I couldn't see myself not teaching SCUBA, and helping to properly introduce others to something I love to do so much.

Regards,



-Spencer Yonker

 

[Slonda828]

I love how "Divemaster" becomes "Dive control specialist" in some schools. It's like when the Army starting calling forward observers "fire control specialists" and I had to explain to every living being what the heck my job was. It's like calling a fire fighter a "fire triangle mitigation expert."

 

[Web Monkey]

I love how "Divemaster" becomes "Dive control specialist" in some schools. It's like when the Army starting calling forward observers "fire control specialists" and I had to explain to every living being what the heck my job was. It's like calling a fire fighter a "fire triangle mitigation expert."

It's a different certification. DiveCon is DM & AI.

DiveCons can teach some classes independently and teach others with an instructor present.

Terry

 

[ClayJar]

I love how "Divemaster" becomes "Dive control specialist" in some schools.

Actually, even "Divemaster" means different things to different people. For PADI people, DM is entry-level professional and does not necessarily say anything about instructing. A person may become a PADI DM because they want to lead certified divers (such as by being a boat DM) while they may have even a disinclination to proceed to assistant instructor (AI) or Instructor.

On the other hand, if you're NAUI, AI is the entry-level professional certification, at which you can assist instructors with their classes but not lead certified divers independently. (This makes perfect sense in the context of NAUI's motto and approach "Dive safety through education.") Divemaster, instead of being an entry-level certification, is a higher classification that is a superset of AI. (When speaking in PADI terms, all NAUI DMs can be thought of as Divemasters/Assistant Instructors.)

Additionally, in NAUI-land, the NAUI Master Scuba Diver *recreational* course contains all the academics-of-diving aspects, with DM dealing *only* with leadership and instruction. In PADI-land, a diver may choose to become a PADI DM in order to get the academics-of-diving information with no intent to use the leadership and instruction portions, while with the NAUI system, that same diver would never need bother with DM. (The cynic in me would wonder whether PADI knows exactly what this disparity means. The realist in me doesn't wonder.)

In my understanding SSI DiveCons are more similar to NAUI DMs than to PADI DMs, although there is not a 1:1 matching there, either. (Without pulling out S&Ps and all that, basically a NAUI DM working under an Instructor can teach any part of the course the Instructor considers him competent to teach, but he cannot teach anything independently.)

All of this makes for a rather confusing conglomeration of certifications, each of which is slightly different than any of the others. Asking "Why would you ever want to become a DM?" to a PADI DM may yield quite distinctly different results in some cases than asking that same question to a NAUI DM. (I guarantee you not a single NAUI DM will tell you they took the DM course to learn more about diving physics and theory. :biggrin

 

[Slonda828]

It is interesting how each agency has its own flavor of DM. I think most of it is simply an issue of semantics. Generally, most people expect a DM to be able to execute certain things, as exhibited by the various polls around the board. I myself prefer PADI (even though I am mostly a NAUI guy) for the DM program, as it is more tailored to running charters and less toward being an instructor. Then again, we all know what opinions are like .

 

[RonFrank]

For most, DM is not the end of the line, rather a stepping stone on the way to becoming an instructor.

IMO, if you want to become professional, it is ridiculous to stop at DM. It basically entitles one to free air, maybe a free ride and hotel... maybe... and little else. Most DM's don't get paid, they just get some perks.

If you want to go pro, go all the way. It will cost you about 4k, but the good news is that you can make that back over the course of several years!

 

[tomboyy]

Thanks to everyone for responding to my question. Everyone was right ( on another thread) about Rescue being a very rewarding course ... it definately was not a gimme course. Looks like no schooling for me the rest of the year, just diving.

 

[Mpscubatoytech]

I have been a dive con for years. In the time I have done everything with students and love it. When I became a dive con the shop did not let anyone sign up for the class you had to prove yourself. When I was taking my rescues class I made a true save this diver had a heart attack at 90 feet I got her up and was working on her without thinking I have never seen her before at the shop. Then we got her the ER she was gone that did not stop me I only stop when the Doc told me to. When we got back to finish class the owner of the shop said he had no more test for me because of what I did after the class he ask me to become a Dive con with the shop. I did and I am still a dive con because I like working with everyone and helping out when needed. I will get to the next step in time but not yet. I think the best part is when I get some one that don’t like the feeling of scuba but they try to be a diver and I make it possible for them by working with them to me that is the best part of being a dive con.