Best places to get certified?

[KalinB]

Hello!

I am a non diver and I am looking for a place that can take me from non diver to divemaster. I would like a place that offers some type of accommodation. I am 22 yrs old and I will be going solo! I live in the states but am open to basically going anywhere! Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I have done a lot of research and it seems like most places that offer these types of "internships" are outside of the U.S.

Thanks!!

 

[boulderjohn]

How do you know you want to do this? Don't you think you should give diving a shot before committing to it for a career?

I am a pretty avid diver. I really like it. I recently completed 30 dives in 10 days in the Philippines, a beautiful place to dive. As I was pulling on my gear for the dives on the last day, I felt a weariness all the way to my bones that told me I could never have been a divemaster, doing more dives per day than that day in and day out. It takes a special kind of person. How do you know you are such a person?

 

[RJP]

On what do you base desire to become a Divemaster?

Assuming you know what a Divemaster is and what they do (?) I always recommend that people do their DM training where they will actually DM. DMing in the Caribbean or Asia is very different from DMing in NJ or Charleston. Not everything you learn there will apply back home, and there are things you'll need to know back home that they won't teach you there.

If, however, you think you want to actually DM in the warm-water resort location where you will do your DM training, there are a few other things you'll find you need in order to have a shot at actually being employable...

• certification as a Scuba Instructor (Who would hire a DM to DM, when they can hire an instructor to DM when they are not instructing, and instruct when they are not DM'ing?)
• a boat captains license or experience handling a wide range of commercial vessels (Who would hire a Scuba Instructor who can't handle the boat?)
• experience repairing diesel engines (Who would hire a Scuba Instructing boat captain who can't repair the boat when it breaks down... which they do quite often.)
• experience repairing compressors (What good is a working boat with a Scuba Instructing captain if there's no air tanks for the divers?)
• experience fabricating diesel engine and compressor parts out of available scrap material, beer cans, and coconut husks. (What dive op has enough money to buy parts for these things? It doesn't matter anyway, since the parts aren't available in the resort location and would take three weeks to be shipped in from somewhere else even if they had the money.)
• fluency in two or three additional languages besides English (Qui va former tous ces touristes Allemands, Hollandais, et Japonais?)

If you've got all those things going for you... nothing can stand in the way of your dive career in some exotic location!

PS - The reason that those "internships" are not available in the US is that slavery was abolished here a number of years ago.

 

[KalinB]

I love the water. All of those things I still have to learn. That is why I was wondering where the best program would be. It is not slavery if I am receiving certifications that I could apply towards a possible career.

---------- Post added October 20th, 2014 at 08:14 PM ----------

That would be something I would decide as I go but I would like to get certified to be a divemaster so I can always have that option. I was thinking about working on a cruise ship or at a resort for a while and then going to a dive shop. I would like to travel for a bit. The good thing about careers--- you can always change it.

 

[RJP]

That would be something I would decide as I go but I would like to get certified to be a divemaster so I can always have that option. I was thinking about working on a cruise ship or at a resort for a while and then going to a dive shop. I would like to travel for a bit. The good thing about careers--- you can always change it.

The only thing of value that a DM certification offers you - dive career-wise - is the ability to enroll in an Instructor Development Course. Seriously... few resorts, if any, will hire a DM for anything. If there's a job open in any dive operation, you can bet that op will want to fill it with an Instructor. If there's a need for a DM... well they'll call it "an internship" and get some idealistic kid to do the job for free. (PS - cruise ships don't have dive operations anyway, they contract dive excursions out to local dive ops in whatever port they're docked.)

I'm not trying to throw water on your idealistic notion of a dive career. I'm just saying that you'll need to be an Instructor if you want any shot in hell at making a go of it.

And - as John said above - you really oughta do a "Discover Scuba Diving" program first to see if you like it and have any aptitude/ability.

 

[KalinB]

I would very much like to be an instructor. I was just looking for a program that could do it all from the beginning.

---------- Post added October 20th, 2014 at 08:41 PM ----------

Please everyone, I would love to go on to be an instructor, that is not my question. The only thing I am asking right now is where (if you know) the best program is that I could go to.

 

[TMHeimer]

All good and very predictable advice so far. But you want to know where to go. I would agree that you should go where you want to live and work. I'm sure you are aware (in this internet world) that your chances of making a comfortable living with a nice pension are very slim.

 

[KalinB]

I feel like no one is understanding my question....

 

[CptTightPants21]

If you are serious about this sport and your future skill, your number one priority is to find a highly competent shop in your area and get OW certified.

See if you can find some other users in SC and what their local LDS shop is--look for one with lots of technical divers/specialties and an owner/employees that have no problem talking for an hour or two on their methods and facts of this sport. That fact that you are on this board, puts you ahead of the curve of most divers and you will be able to ask detail oriented questions, gauge their answers and expertise from some of the highly qualified instructors on this board. If money was no issue, I might even travel and do GUE training or take the class from some of the more experienced members on this board.

Not all shops are the same and their are plenty of ****ty ones---I should know, I just took some new OW students out for some fun dives and the training they received wasn't just sub-par and inadequate, it was downright dangerous.


As per DM, I hate to rain on your parade, but I really hate the zero to hero bull**** with DM. To be a competent DM requires actual diving experience--not something that is learned in a class or even read on a super informative forum--diving, lots of it, in variety of locations, conditions, and people. I would not get DM until you at least had a beginner technical certification (Fundies, Intro to tech, etc) which proved your competency in the water from a basic skill level.

I would love to be a official DM or an instructor, but I am more focused on my own diving skill and don't have the time. Until that time when I get my instructor card (2-3 years), I will be assisting/training the divers below by example of how I conduct my diving--and that is something you should really think about.

Do you want to be a DM or do you want to be a diver.....because you can't be both at this stage.


Edit: Lots of people travel to Utila and Roatan to do DM

 

[Hawkwood]

On the contrary, folks do understand your question, very much so. You have had three people "answer" your question, all of whom are in the business: an MSDT; an OWSI; and, a DM.

Answering your question is the problem, not understanding it...it's darn near impossible to answer without understanding your expectations, desires, timing, needs, etc.