Dive Master knowledge

I am not sure if I'll ever do the DM course, as I don't currently intend to be a dive professional. But I do feel I have a lot more to learn about diving.

Would you reccomend a Rescue Diver such as me buying the DM materials and doing self study ?i.e. DM Manual, encyclopedia, workbook etc

Outside of knowledge the skills you would learn on the course appear to be focussed around being an instructional assistant.

Cheers

Conor

How about the Master Scuba Diver rating?

Take the NAUI MasterScuba diver course. It is one of the most through and comprehensive courses I have seen. Most agency master diver ratings are just window decorations but this is a full course.

I have to chime in that the NAUI Master Diver course is a good one and well worth taking, but you also have a resource available to you that we don't have here in the US. I was in a BS-AC club in Reading for a year while I lived over there and they too teach some great courses, and because they have the clubs set up with the more experienced divers mentoring / teaching the less experienced, there is an immense pool of knowledge to draw on. I'd suggest you check this out too.

the NAUI and PADI "Master Diver" courses are very different. As I understand it PADI's class is more of a "how many cardds do you have" now lets get a few dives in...and done.

The NAUI course is a lot differnt....we made about 15 dives and did loads of stuff....night, nav, search and recovery, mapping an u/w area, setting up nav courses for AOW students to follow, reel work, lift work, recue work.....

And as always a lot of it has to do with your instructor too.

I have to concur on everyone's thoughts with the NAUI master scuba course. Very hands on with multiple dives required of varying tasks, and also a thorough academic segment as well.

If you want to increase your knowledge, the encyclopedia has lots of information. There are books that go into more depth (sorry pun) on specific topics but the encyclopedia is a good place to start before you dive (sorry) into those. The theory is sufficient and won't make you feel like you've gone in over your head (ahem!).

.....so far.

NAUI isn't really around in the UK as far as I can tell. If I remember right there was a UK representative who got into a bit of trouble and left people uncertified and out of pocket, I believe he has been replaced but you generally don't hear much about their courses over here.

The PADI Master Scuba Diver rating does appear to be card collecting, and although through doing specialties I will at some point probably meet the requirements (I am probably going to do deep, nav, EANx, wreck and already have DPV), there is no difference between a RD with 5 specialties and a MSD, except the number of cards they carry (and $15 less in their wallet).

I have looked at joining BSAC, but haven't heard back from the local club since I asked about transferring. They seemed to want me to transfer fully to BSAC, take out BSAC and club membership (insurance and all) at a cost of more than £100 without being able to know much about the club at all. Having said that I get the impression that their Dive Leader course would be pretty much what I am looking for.

But also I just want a way of improving my general diving knowledge outside of training courses and for this getting the texts might be an idea.

Cheers

Conor

Conor once bubbled...
I am not sure if I'll ever do the DM course, as I don't currently intend to be a dive professional. But I do feel I have a lot more to learn about diving.

Would you reccomend a Rescue Diver such as me buying the DM materials and doing self study ?i.e. DM Manual, encyclopedia, workbook etc

Outside of knowledge the skills you would learn on the course appear to be focussed around being an instructional assistant.

Cheers

Conor

Click to expand...

I don't think reading the DM manual will give you much unless you're planning on taking the course. The Encylopedia and knowledge workbooks can both be had on CD and it's not a bad idea to work through them. I don't know if most people would really have the motivation to do it all unless they had to, though. It's not difficult but it's a good couple of weeks of reading and trying to remember.

And it's true what you say. The DM course isn't really about becoming a better diver, it's about filling the roll.

R..

Big-t-2538 once bubbled...
the NAUI and PADI "Master Diver" courses are very different. As I understand it PADI's class is more of a "how many cardds do you have" now lets get a few dives in...and done.

The NAUI course is a lot differnt....we made about 15 dives and did loads of stuff....night, nav, search and recovery, mapping an u/w area, setting up nav courses for AOW students to follow, reel work, lift work, recue work.....

And as always a lot of it has to do with your instructor too.

Click to expand...

That's partly true. But you don't get the cards leading up to master diver for nothing either. The PADI "Master Scuba Diver" isn't a course at all. It's just a card that gives recognition to divers who have done multiple (5) specialties, Rescue and 50 dives (which typically means 35 or so non training dives).

The point is that the PADI master diver card, while in itself completely pointless marks the END of a process and it is not the process itself.

Also, this is not to be confused with the "Dive Master" card which is something entirely different.

I understand the NAUI has a different approach in getting to master diver but I doubt very much that NAUI master divers are much different in terms of skills and/or experience than PADI master divers. It doesn't appear to make much difference at any other level, why would it at this level?

R..