...If they can afford the course, any beginner would reap tons of benefit from studying and completeing a DM course...
The DM Course is
not where you learn anything about diving. That is what the normal pre-requisites are for (the zero to hero courses teach the prerequisite courses of: Basic, Advance, and Rescue and then the DM course all in one course along with getting the pre-requisite number of dives). But when you take them all in a manner of a few weeks, you don't have time to internalize and absorb the knowledge, gain exprience and get comfortable with it so that it is second nature to you.
...
Why not learn all you can learn as early in your diving as you can? Whats wrong with that?
Because you need to master the basics before you move on to more advance stuff. Taking the Basic open water course in the usual 4 days (which is IMHO too fast) the average diver has challenges maintaining 15 foot safety stop and controlling their buoyancy. This should be mastered (not just barely demonstrated but mastered) and be second nature before adding deep diving, night diving and other Advance level dive skills, or becomming responsible for novice or unlicenced divers lives. In short, learing all you can is good, but you need to do it IMHO in small bites, learn a new skill, practice it until it is mastered and second nature before taking on another new skill. This is how you were taught in school, new skill, do homework to practice the new skill over and over and over and then add another skill. It makes no sense to take Deep Diving when you have 6 life time dives and can't maintain your buoyancy and hold a 15 foot safety stop.
... It seems to me that most of your comments are more in the distrust of a beginner going straight from 0 dives to DM or Instructor and then actually working in the industry. ... Maybe PADI ought to update their certification and offer DM and a seperate certification when you want a job in the industry.
They did. That is the difference between a Master diver (non-professional, can't work) and a Dive Master (professional who can work in the industry and is required to have insurance etc). A DM is expeced to be a professional with both skills and experience, who is responsible for the safety of all around them and for rescuing them and more importatly taking action early to prevent the need for a rescue in the first place. A little realized point is that DM is not a permanate rating like BOW, AOW, Rescue. The DM and Instructor cards have Expiration dates and requries annual renewal. A DM must have current CPR/AED and insurance and renew their DM card. A DM is expected to not bolt for the surface and to stop those who are, a novice diver is not normally the person who I wold want to risk my loved ones life on being able to do that.
...Not having to go to more schools but it might be that you have to have 100 dives or more in the area where you intend to be employed. If a DM wants a job in Roatan then he/she should have some level of experience in that dive area.
We agree. the DM should have experience in the local area they are working.
DM training is about learning to manage groups, being a dive guide, being a dive safety, and assisting under the supervision of an Instructor in teaching skills the Dive Master (DM) has
mastered. The DM course does not normally teach any additional diving skills and does not hone diving ability, that is suppose to be done before the course and is a pre-requisite of the course. The course of DM and Instructor were all designed with the idea that the students taking the courses were experienced divers. The Zero to Hero courses take those requirements and address them at the minimum level and zip them through. Requirement 50 dives, OK everyone in the water, 20 minutes at 20 feet, surface, wait 10 minutes, drop down again for 20 minutes at 20 feet. That is 2 dives, change tanks, rinse and repeat. That means you get a DM with about 17 hours underwater total lifetime experience. Is that really who you want being responsibile for the dive safety of you or your loved ones? So no, we are not opposed to anyone getting additional knowledge, we just want them to do it in a fashion that gives them adequate expeience and time to really do learn the skill and obtain mastery skills that are used in a sport that can kill or paralyze if not done right. Mastery (my definition) is being able to do the skill from muscle memory without thinking about it in an emergency. Example - buoyancy, mastery = sit in lotus position, legs crossed, hands on knees for 5 minutes at a set depth (+/- 2 feet), and in ocean, maintain desired depth thourghout the dive without yo-yoing up and down and maintain 15 foot safety stop without holding onto anything.
The OP has clarified that they do not intend to work in the industry. Great, all the more reason not to take the Zero to Hero Dive master course (Untrained person, to Dive Master), spend over a thousand (USA) dollars to do it, spend many hours in training and get a card that expires in 1 year and don't even know if they will like diving before commiting to a huge amount of money. Nope, take BOW, get 20-50 dives under your belt, then decide if you want to take the next bite Advnance Diver, dive another 20-50 dives, then take Rescue.
