Best Place to do become a DiveMaster in the US - Hawaii or Florida??

[hkdiver7737]

I'm considering doing a Divemaster this winter break somewhere in the US (US only, places I can go to without a passport). I'm currently a PADI Rescue Diver and would love to take it to the next level. What would people recommend? Mostly considering the Big Island in Hawaii and Florida. Any dive shop recommendations? Ideally looking to get this done in 3 weeks or so. Thank you!


A bit about me:
- prefer warmer water (dived in Monterey in July with a 7mm and got pretty uncomfortable towards the end of the dive)
- been scuba diving mostly in Central America/Caribbean and SE Asia
- Never Scuba dived in Hawaii or Florida, and never been to either

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Consider Rainbow Reef in Key Largo, FL

 

[lexvil]

Where would you rather be for this amount of time?

 

[Sea_Jay]

I'm considering doing a Divemaster this winter break somewhere in the US (US only, places I can go to without a passport). I'm currently a PADI Rescue Diver and would love to take it to the next level. What would people recommend? Mostly considering the Big Island in Hawaii and Florida. Any dive shop recommendations? Ideally looking to get this done in 3 weeks or so. Thank you!


A bit about me:
- prefer warmer water (dived in Monterey in July with a 7mm and got pretty uncomfortable towards the end of the dive)
- been scuba diving mostly in Central America/Caribbean and SE Asia
- Never Scuba dived in Hawaii or Florida, and never been to either

What exactly are you trying to accomplish? You *just* want to be certified as a DM - within the next 3 weeks? Or are you trying to attain your DM cert. and *also* work on a boat as a DM throughout the winter?

I am in South FL and I will tell you this....you will be hard pressed to find ANY shop who will allow you to get your certification and jump right on the boat. There is a hierarchy with these things....a vast majority of the shops down here have multiple DMs deckhanding & waiting for their opportunity; these deckhanding DMs are also employees of the shop.

South FL is a very populated area with a relatively limited amount of dive shops outside of the commercial guys like Force E and Divers Direct. You don't just walk in & start DMing. I can't speak for Hawaii but I would bet my next paycheck that it is similar.

 

[Zef]

Unless your intention is to become an instructor, I would recommend you skip the Divemaster certification alltogether and use that time and money to go dive some interesting places on your bucket list. The Divemaster certification does not take you to any "next level"....it does suck your wallet dry from anual professional membership dues plus the cost of profesional liability insurance which both increase from year to year....and unless you have find that utopian professional position somewhere, you will most likely not make enough money to cover those expenses working in those endeavors.

Showing up for a dive with a divemaster credential means nothing if you are not working as part of the staff for that operation.....it may actually hinder you as the working divemasters will most likely want to put newer/weaker divers with you due to your perceived experience level.

It boggles my mind how often this subject comes up where folks state they want to be a divemaster to improve/be a better diver/take things to the next level/etc. If one wants to be a better diver and take their skills to the next level then all one needs to do is dive more, preferably with more experienced divers...emulate them in the water and solicit their feedback after you get out of the water.

If your intent is to be an instructor, there are some recent discussions on ScubaBoard that discuss the ridiculously upward-spiraling cost of liability insurance compared to how much one makes teaching...the consesus, from what I read, is that it is not worth it.

My PADI divemaster professional dues is set to auto-renew (charge my credit card) in about a week...I am strongly considering canceling the auto-renew and just letting things lapse.

As stated, if you want to be a better diver then just dive more.

-Z

 

[Lorenzoid]

Hi @hkdiver7737 and welcome to ScubaBoard!

As @Zef mentioned, this sort of question does come up with some frequency here. A newer diver has some time to kill--maybe it's a few weeks, maybe they're taking a year off--and they figure taking the DM course would be something interesting to do with their time and maybe help improve their diving skills, even though they have no interest in working in the dive industry. It seems like the logical next step when you look at the training agencies' course progression charts, but it's only logical if you intend on working as a DM or becoming an instructor. Otherwise, while it might be interesting to do and keep you busy, that's about it. There are ways to improve one's diving skills that do not involve the DM course and likely result in a better outcome. They're not found on training agencies' course progression charts. If you're interested in suggestions, check out some previous threads where people have asked about what they can do to become a better diver.

But it you're dead set on the DM course, I'm sure either FL or HI would be a fine choice.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

A winter break seems to short of a time span to get a good DM course. I suppose it could all be squeezed in, but in my experience DM courses are more internship than anything else. They tend to last months, not weeks.

 

[formernuke]

Do not go to Rainbow Reef.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @hkdiver7737

You live in Boston, you're asking about a DM program in Florida or Hawaii. It seems like it would be most likely that you could get a job as a DM in the location where you trained. Are you going to relocate to one of these areas to work as a DM? I'm quite familiar with SE FL, Boynton, Palm Beach, and Jupiter. None of the operators in Boynton Beach puts a guide in the water. I'm pretty sure the mates work for tips. Perhaps they get a portion if they work and charge as a private guide. The operators I use in Palm Beach and Jupiter put a guide in the water, I do not know how they are compensated above tips. Many of the guides in all of these areas are also instructors and are probably compensated differently for these activities. Regardless, I doubt that it is a well compensated activity for all but the busiest instructors. Being an old, retired guy, I would not likely consider DM a career opportunity.

 

[RobPNW]

Seems logical to do it where you want to work as a DM.