Thanks to all who have replied.
If that is the case, and you are planning at that point to complete your Master Scuba Diver Trainer Prep, then you need the specialty diver certifications before you can get the instructor certifications.
This is news to me. So thanks. I didn't realize that the specialties offered for MSD that can be taken during DM are what I would have to take eventually anyway if I ever want to be an MSDT. I thought that those specialty instructor courses were different, more advanced. But it sounds like you're saying that in order to take those specialty instructor courses, you have to take the specialty courses first. Got it. Makes sense.
It says on the PADI page about the DM cert:
Working closely with a PADI Instructor, in this program you expand your dive knowledge and hone your skills to the professional level.
I figured honing skills met honing skills. That's why I didn't think I needed to pay an extra sum to hone skills. But to hone skills
more - sure, I get that.
I asked if the DM who has taken the deep diver specialty course is better than the DM who hasn't, all other things being equal.
He is if he wants to dive in the 30-40m range.
So someone with 60 deep dives in the 30-40 m range (who has taken deep diving as one of the adventure focuses) is not as good as someone who has 60 deep dives in the 30-40 m range who takes the specialty during the DM. Fair enough. Two more dives or three more deep dives makes one have two or three more dives of experience. Every dive gives more experience. I get that. And I can see that it's worth $50 or $60. That's less than what I'd pay for 2 or 3 dives at a resort, being led by a good instructor.
Why do some many DMs feel that their professional rating also equates to an unlimited depth rating? There is nothing in the DM course that prepares you to dive at greater depth. Of course, common sense says that an increased level of diving ability, coupled with increased self-sufficiency, makes a DM safe to dive deeper.. but there really isn't any specific training for them to do so on the DM course.
I don't feel that a professional rating equates an unlimited depth rating, and I don't think I said that. However, I think a pro rating means I'm rated to 40 m. It should. It certainly should if that's not what it means. The term divemaster implies you have more than a cursory knowledge of diving. Deep diving within rec limits should be part of that. Again, PADI says on its site that the course is about honing skills.
About specific training - fair enough. I now understand that the DM course is not specific, but an overall honing of skills. And the specialties help with specific skills. Got it. Specialty=specific. To make a crude analogy to education, a Bachelors degree is a general degree, but the major is the specific thing. The DM is the Bachelors of diving.
Pre-IDC, the more time you spend with instructors in the water, the more useful tips, tricks and techniques you will amass.
Agreed. Makes sense.
The DM has to be Business minded to be able to sell him/herself on the dive market. A DM has to act like a professional at all times. Be customer service savvy. Understand marketing. All this is business related. Part of the DM course. The business of diving. Promoting good diving practices, teaching certain courses and selling dive gear or any other material related to the dive industry.
I get this. And being marketed to will help marketing to others later.
So to summarize, the specialties will
1) help me with skills that I'm still deficient in despite the overall honing of my current skills
2) put me that much closer to the MSDT
3) give me more experience watching the instructors instruct, since instruction is a future goal
4) teach me more the marketing side of the dive industry. I feel for this one, I should be very resistant to taking the specialties and then study how the instructor markets to me (hee hee hee).
5) make me a better/safer diver because the more I dive, the better I'll get.
Hmmm. I'm not sold on #5- that it makes me a better diver or a safer diver. All experience will make me better and safer assuming the DM course helps me break any bad habits I may have, that I dive within safe limits, and that I am not over-confident. But I am sold that it certainly wouldn't hurt to spend extra time on skills that have to do with saving lives (search & recovery, O2 provider, nav, equipment), getting a job (Nitrox, equipment, O2), or being business savvy and being good at stuff the tourists want to do (photog, video, naturalist).
Where I'm going, the following are offered:
Enriched Air, Gas Blender Nitrox and Trimix, Wreck, Deep, Night, Naturalist, Photography, Search & Recovery, Dolphin Rebreather, Equipment, Navigation, Videography
Of those, I'm already Nitrox cert'd and a DAN O2 provider (not sure if that DAN course is the same thing as what PADI will offer), and I have spent the last 3 years doing marine research, so I don't think I would benefit from the naturalist course - it would depend on the teacher's quals. But trying rebreathers is something that peaks my curiosity and something I'd like to learn about. Gas blending sounds interesting, too.
Basically, I love diving, and my whole reason for doing this is not to start a new career right now but to get better at what I love and be the best I can be; however, I've carefully budgeted for this course, and now I'm having to consider an extra $50/$60 per specialty. So maybe now is not the time for me.
I have to keep reminding myself that the ocean isn't going anywhere. If I spend $300 on specialties, that's $300 less that I have to spend on diving over my Xmas break in Koh Tao and eating yummy Thai food. Sounds like I can take these specialties any time. It doesn't have to be during the DM. Sounds like I could pick one up in Koh Tao probably.
But thanks to everyone for telling me more about these specialties.
Now I need to hit the equipment forums. I need a new knife.