Divemaster worth it if not going to work in industry?

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Salt

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Location
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I have my open water certification with 30+ dives. Just quit my corporate job and have some free time on my hands. Was considering going for my dive master certification somewhere warm. Looked like about 8 week investment and around $2800. Might be doable. But I don't really need the certification and I don't really plan on working in the industry. I just want to do a bunch of diving and keep my costs down. Is it worth it? Or am I better off just going somewhere cheap like Utilla or Thailand for a month?
 
Not if you don't want to work in the industry. If you want to just do a bunch of diving just do that. Maybe take a good AOW course. And definitely take a rescue class. Other than that just have fun. DM is not about getting a bunch of dives in and it won't make you a better diver. If you want to just be a better diver work towards a NAUI or SEI Master Diver rating. You'll get lots of diving in and more knowledge and skills than many DM's and some instructors.
 
Really that depends on you and what you want out of it. If your looking to just get dives in then Utila or Thailand is a much better choice especially since your dive numbers are low. There is no money really in being a DM and if you go on to instructor your not going to get rich at all. The only reason really to do it is because you like working with new divers and gain some satisfaction out of that or are going to go further in your training to instructor.
 
Get more dives in and do at least AOW with deep dive as a speciallity. With this you can ( theoretically ) dive anywhere. rescue diver is interesting as trying other agencies.
 
One of my favourite topics. To start we have to know what the $2,800 covers- room & board, etc. I assume that it's not just for the course, which normally might be 1/3 that much. I pretty much agree with Jim in that for the most part, DM course doesn't really improve your diving--much. It does force you to perfect your skills to demonstration level, so this IMO has to improve your own diving safety wise. Other than that, it is about leading people and to some degree, teaching students (at least helping with them with skills so the Instructor can re-evaluate them). As well, there is (with PADI anyway) a whole lot of academic stuff which is nice to know (some of the Physics was "watered down" in 2010 I hear). But if you take seriously the safety stuff taught in OW course, you really don't need to know a lot of the "whys" you can, for example, get DCS. There is also reading up on all of this to get the knowledge without paying a lot for the DM course. When I had no thoughts about DM it was recommended I buy the PADI Encyclo. of Rec. Diving to improve my knowledge, and there are many other books out there. I agree with Jim in that taking Rescue course should be a must for every diver. I did that with 26 logged dives--can't believe some people do hundreds of dives without this knowledge--some never taking Rescue.
 
AOW won't be enough for 'everywhere', NAUI doesn't look at AOW like PADI does, you'll need Rescue to equal AOW in a place that recognizes NAUI such as French Polynesia. Just say'n if you want to be technical.
 
I would say no--like others have said, get an AOW & Rescue certs. then spend that 2k+ USD on diving(somewhere warm & beautiful)..........
 
I got my PADI Divemaster rating in 2012. The only benefit I got so far from it is writing off what I spent on diving in 2013 (including my NAUI Tech Diver class) as business expenses.
 
For me, the rescue was the only truly helpful class as far as being a safer diver. It's worth taking. Otherwise I wouldn't go through all of it for the DM rating. Adventure-Ocean
 
I got my PADI Divemaster rating in 2012. The only benefit I got so far from it is writing off what I spent on diving in 2013 (including my NAUI Tech Diver class) as business expenses.

Eh? If you don't actually collect a wage and pay taxes on it, you can't write anything off. And if your writeoffs are more than anything you earn, especially if youre below 10k income on your "business", the IRS will be sharpening its pencil. After three years of that you are either bankrupt or its a hobby. Either way the IRS is gonna look at you then for sure. Danger Will Robinson.

For the OP, unless you like to teach stuff, take your cash and go dive your butt off. Forget the DM thing.
 
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