Dive Master Course advice

[NZscuba]

Hi
I have a question about Divemaster courses. I am planning to do mine probably in the islands of Honduras. I'm comparing the different courses and don't know which one to choose. Some have accommodation inluded. some don't. Some have two cost price specialties, some have 3. One includes a PADI distinctive specialty such as Caribbean Dolphin Awarenes or Tec Support Diver - my question is - would this help improve my chances of getting a job after the course?
Also I have Rescue diver level and some specialities already - Deep, Night, Wreck, Nitrox, Dry suit
But what other specialities would be best to be a divemaster?

One has a course directed by PADI staff instructors and Platinum Rated Course Directors. In people's experience - does this make much difference to the course quality, or the employment chances after the course is completeed?

Is there anything else I should be looking at/for?
Thank you
Zoe

 

[Jim Lapenta]

The truth is that as a DM you'll be lucky to get any kind of employment unless you are willing to work for free or accept something close to an indentured servitude position.

All the platinum rating means is that they got a butt load of people to pay them money to get certified as "dive pros." Has no bearing on the quality of the instruction.

The other truth is that practically no dive center or instructor will hire a DM they did not train themselves. Too risky to do that and end up with someone they have to train in their methods and policies.

Most "DM's" that get paid anything are not DM's.
They have instructor ratings but are working as DMs because they can't get students to fund their diving and cover insurance fees, instructor dues, etc.

Where do you think you would like to work? That's where you should be doing your DM.

Thousands of people want to "live the dream" and become divemasters, thinking they can make money.
If you are a DM only and plan to live somewhere tropical and survive, learn how to bartend, wait tables, clean hotel rooms, or sell your blood plasma.

And then hope you can get a work visa if it's somewhere you are not a citizen. And hope that the locals don't get upset at a foreigner coming in to take jobs from them.

The other thing to consider is how the conditions in the area where you are hoping to do DM compare to those where you want to work. No shop or instructor is going to take a zero-to-hero warm-water DM to work in a cold-water destination or one trained in no current to work in one where the currents are strong or unpredictable.

If you want to take the "tech support diver" specialty (which is actually kind of funny if you aren't a tech diver to start with), take a couple of tech classes first and get about 100 tech dives in.

You should take, at minimum, Intro to Tech and Advanced Nitrox from an actual tech instructor before the DM training so you'll know which recreational BS to disregard in the DM class.

Tech training will show you the real risks of diving and possibly result in you putting off DM until you have a couple hundred dives. Or decide it's not worth it unless you plan to become an instructor.

Very rarely do DMs make money—at least enough to cover dues and insurance. Most end up losing money or paying to work as DMs by the time you factor in travel, food, gas, etc., that the instructor or shop doesn't reimburse you for.

Most who just have a DM rating work for the shop that trained them to be DMs. Which can mean some form of indentured servitude. They allow you to shlep tanks, clean gear, be a shill for the stuff they sell, and dive with students in exchange, maybe, for discounts on gear, covering you under the shop's insurance, and buying you a few slices of pizza and a coke.

Instructors can bring in money through teaching classes. Very few things a DM can teach.
Unless you are one helluva underwater photographer. But then you don't need to be an instructor to teach that. The good ones who do teach it don't work for shops. They have their own classes for people that already know how to dive.

Make money and work as a DM? That's more of a gimmick to get people to become instructors because that's where the real money is for Staff Instructors and Course Directors. DM courses help buy the appetizers at dinner. Instructor classes and IDC's are the main course and dessert.

 

[TMHeimer]

Yes, everything Jim said. I figure it's always best to take the course where you plan to be "working". I DMd four seasons and got paid $300 for assisting OW course (per course, not total....). But I've been told that was a very rare situation. Don't buy into the "I want to give back" or "I enjoy bringing my love for diving to others". Perhaps that is why owners take advantage of such people. It's a job, don't do it if your "pay" is free air & discounts (I got those too).