Is it worth getting your DM certification for the education?

[colin.wen]

I agree pretty much of what people said about the DM course is for Pro and leadership.
It is not really relative to diving skill.

However, I also feel I got some benefit after finished the DM course in my personal experience.

Before I have decided to take the DM, I always thought I wont need the teaching skill and I can improve my varied diving skill by taking different speciality course and more dives.
Then the reason I come to the DM course is because the QLD in Australia change the rule about scientific diver or scuba diving involved research criteria.
I either have to finish other different speciality (sampling & transecting) or go to DM, I end up choose DM because the scientific speciality is pretty waste money to me.

In the end I did not see I improve myself in diving skill and diving relative knowledge.
Because I use to read a lot of diving book and internet article and I also have done quite few diving hours by research purpose.

However, I did see the leadership experience happen to me. I start to see other divers who are colleague in our research team from DM's view.
And try to think about different way to communicate with other colleague when they have less knowledge than me in some certain subject.
The best thing is start to think how to complete our field trip when something failed instead of blaming on other people.

Which different is that I used to think they should know all the diving skill or knowledge and practise themselves before they start this subject.
Now I know the more important ability of a success leader of a team is not you are smart or have more intelligent than others.
The things only make you as a success leader is you bring the whole team into success.

That's something I learn from DM course, probably other people feel the same way or even realize it before they got DM.
But to me, that's something valuable I have from the DM course.

And the leadership is something you dont need? I doubt that.

my two cents.

 

[SeaKat]

Absolutely. Made me a better diver all the way around.

 

[Ihsan]

What's a better diver w/o the knowledge and education, if you are seeking the DM certification then make sure that you take your time in studying the material you'll be provided, I would specially recommend that you go through the Encyclopedia of Recreatioa Diving which is full of important information and will provide you with the WHY's of doing what we do in Scuba diving i.e. safety stops , ascent/descen speed limits, depth limits, the physiological effects, the physics of diving, equipment details etc.
As for the Master Diver certification, you will by default after doing a certain number of specialities acquire it, but its totally incomparable to the professional status of a DM
Good Luck

 

[Scott-D]

All, thanks for your great inputs. I certainly have some things to think about. I don't have time to work full time as a DM, but I'd LOVE to have the chance to help my favorite shop out on an as needed/able basis. I also love the idea of helping new divers find the joy of diving like we all have!

Thanks again!

And those were the exact reasons I decided to do it as well. I'm not done yet, but hopefully end of the month I'll finish the course!

I too have a full time career and as much as I'd love to, I can't switch. I first thought I'd take the DM course to become a better diver too. Surely all that information would be helpful, right? Then I started reading this comparison vs. that comparison & started having second thoughts & doubts. Would it really be worth the money & time? Would something else be better? Should I do the NAUI MD course instead? Maybe I'll just take that money & go on another dive trip instead. Lots of thoughts entered my mind. But then I decided to just do it, if nothing else I'll learn more information and maybe help the local shop with classes once a month or something.

I haven't regretted it one bit. First, I have a great instructor & I cannot emphasize enough how important this is. You'll spend a lot of time with him or her, so you need to be comfortable & able to say / question anything you think you need to. I'm lucky enough to have an instructor who not only wants to see me do everything right, but explain why as well. He'll also throw some 'trouble' into situations as well, just to see how I handle it. He goes quite a bit above what's the minimum, and I appreciate it.

And while much of the class is on leadership skills and demonstration of basic skills, I've found that helpful in being an overall better diver. Since you focus so much on repetition of the basic skills, you can't help but apply it to other skills as well. And don't underestimate the value of the leadership portions of the course either. It's made me more comfortable helping other divers, whether in a class or just diving on a trip. On the limited trips I've done since starting I've found myself more confident in helping someone else on the dive, even if they're a total stranger. The confidence in myself to do that not only helps them, but makes me a better all-around diver.

And I've really enjoyed the internship part, helping the instructors in the OW classes. Even in just the pool sessions, there's something about helping a student who's struggling on something and then just gets it. It may sound corny, but it's pretty amazing to see someone's eyes pop open & say "yea, I can do this" after you've helped them. Plus I'm meeting many great people in the classes, some of whom you'll swap contact info to maybe go diving sometime once they finish (if they're not already in the OW check out class) so you're meeting some new dive buddies to maybe organize a trip someday. You can never have too many dive buddies to get together later on in my opinion. So even if you're not going to be "a pro" in the truest sense & make it a full-time job, there's plenty of oportunity (even here 5 hours from the coast) to help out the LDS once every month or two, helping to share & spread your diving-joy.


Personally, I think too much comparisons is made between the PADI & NAUI courses. The $64 thousand question I think is do you want to take the DM course to only become a better diver, or to become not only a better diver but also help other divers on your dives or in class here & there? You don't need to be a full-time instructor to help others. If it's the former, then I say skip PADI DM and maybe do the NAUI (I don't know a lot about it so I can't talk to it's merits / disadvantages too much). The money & time spent on DM can be used elsewhere to make you a better diver I'm sure. But if it's the latter and you not only want to become better yourself but you want to help students or other divers become better (and I'm guessing it is since you've already said it) I say do it & don't look back.

I for one have found the DM course very rewarding, don't regret the time and money one bit & am really looking forward to finishing the course this month.

 

[docbonezz]

I am a PADI and SSI instructor. I was an open water diver for 22 years before getting my advanced open water certification. The only reason I did was because my kids were starting to dive and I wanted to at least be rescue certified in case of an emergency. With every certification I felt like I was a better diver. So I went ahead and got my Dive Master certification. Again I fely like I was a better diver. Same thing for Assistant Instructor and then again for instructor. If I knew then what I know now I would furthered my education a long time ago rather than waiting. But and this is a "big but"....... it really depends upon the Dive Master course you take. My instructor was excellent and very knowledgeable in how to teach a good Dive Master and Instructor. So if you are going to do this, find a good instructor.

 

[oottomc]

I live and have a full time job in Hawaii so I can't do the professional option (no matter how much I wish I could). I'm considering trying to find a place (I have a 1st choice) that will let me work towards my DM cert so that I can get the education that will help make me a better diver. I think learning how to teach or assist teaching others how to dive will help make me better diver too. Is the price/effort worth it? Should I just dive and focus on gaining more experience or does gaining more education while I dive make sense too?

Master Diver seems like a wast of $$$ doesn't do much for me other than assure I learn some other specialties that may or may not be of real value to me as a diver...

Thoughts, opinions?

hi
i just recently got my dm. your course work is scheduled around doing some of the potential classes that you are allowed to give presentations around....as a dm, you can lead cert. divers called disc. local scuba on tours., and give snokeling tours. however you are limited to what you can do... most dive shops will help you get your dive masters.
you need a certain amount of logged dives to apply... and the rescue course to be eligible.
i enjoy being a divemaster.....your instructor will help you though the course as a mentor
pointing yu into the right direction....good luck.
oottomc

 

[scubadiving]

Several years ago I decided to take the DM course in order to advance my skills, and to see if I was good enough.
I am so grateful that I pushed myself. It improved my skills by 500%, gave me greater confidence, made me a safer, more experienced diver.
It also enabled me to help others and teach periodically.
Divers love diving with me knowing that I am a Dive Master, especially my wife!
So I say go for it, knowledge is power

 

[Whitewatermike]

I think, with right instructor(s), a DM course will make you a better diver. For one thing, it involves a lot of diving with someone more skilled than yourself! You are also required to fine tune your skills to "demonstration quality." As a DM you are expected to set an example, which should motivate you to constantly improve your skills.

That being said, if you have no plans for assisting, or going the instructor route, IMHO you'd be better served by taking certain specialties, the NAUI Master Scuba diver course, and/or GUE and/or UTD courses. I mention the NAUI Master course as someone else stated, it is an actual course, whereas PADI's Master Diver rating is an award for collecting specialties (the same goes for SSI).

I recommend that everyone train at least up through Rescue, which I view as the single most valuable class in my brief diving career of 27 years. Once you've gotten to Rescue, then decide whether to go Divemaster or Master Diver as it is prerequisite to both. Along the way, I'd recommend Deep, Navigation, and Search & Recovery.

Here is another consideration which is largely speculative on my part (for all I know I could just be talking out of my butt:mooner:

To be an active, teaching status, DM, you are required to carry professional liability insurance ($320/year for me). Suppose you complete your DM and then decide not to assist and do not pay dues nor acquire insurance. You go out on a dive trip arranged by your LDS and on which your instructor may be teaching. You are out fun-diving with your buddy and are not part of the training. Suppose there is an accident on the boat and somebody decides to sue. There is a possibility that you are named in the suit because you are a, "dive professional," and were associated with that shop even though you had nothing to do with it. Odds are that you'd later be found to have no culpability but potential is there and is greater than if you happened to be just another recreational diver on the trip. Suppose you jump in to assist in the middle of the emergency. Good Samaritan laws may protect you, and again they may not.

During my DM training I had made several friends and dive buddies who were also students of the shop. Between the time I completed my DM and the time my insurance kicked in, I was sternly warned by my instructor not to dive with those people, even though we were just fun-diving. It went something like this, in reference to a particular diver, "I know you love John, I love John, he's a great guy, but don't think for a minute that his wife wouldn't sue the sh!t out of you and me if something happened to him on a dive." I would argue that I wasn't acting in a professional capacity of course, but making that argument would come at the $350 an hour my attorney charges to defend me.

Perhaps somebody trained in the law can debunk, or verify this line of thinking.

I took my DM course for the precise reason you are considering it: to become a better diver. During the course of it, I discovered how incredibly rewarding it is helping people make their first bubbles. I'd do it over again, and again. However, I do call it, "The Only Job You Have to Pay to Love." I work for a store discount, and a token fee for teaching refresher classes. The cost way outweighs the tangible benefits.

 

[Sortsol]

All,

Again I am thrilled with the great responses to this thread. There are definitely a lot of opinions about this subject and no "right" answer for everyone. It's great to read about those who chose to go through with a DM cert and also great to read about those who chose a different path.

I've decided to press with the DM cert and found a great Operation that has agreed to let me go through the DM certification process with them. (My first choice mentioned above.) They are a small but growing Operation here and are WELL known on Island. I can't think of a better group of guys to be associated with or receive my DM cert through.

Wish me luck and thanks again for all the thoughts and opinions. I hope people will continue to share their thoughts for others who may come after me!

 

[divermike1011]

Nice man! I'll see you around the shop... PM me on FB if you need anything!

Michael