I was in the same situation as you last year - I wanted to be a better diver and dive more. My wife and I had done the PADI Rescue certification two years ago. Last summer we went with a group of friends-of-relatives on a Fiji dive trip. A few of the guys on the trip were PADI OW instructors and one was a DM, and they were also hardcore DUE faithful. The dive operator was awful, and it was clear in a few cases the only way to survive was to basically be responsible for our own safety. After talking to our newfound dive buddies in Fiji about a GUE Fundies or PADI DM class, it became clear the DM route provides a lot of good skills and the GUE fundies route provides a lot of good skills, but they weren't exactly the same. I found the PADI DM experience to be like an advanced Rescue class - with a lot more skills and knowledge thrown in. The GUE fundies seemed to focus on team diving, buoyancy and propulsion techniques. In the end, I decided to do the DM class, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think I also became a much better diver because of the experience, but I already had over 200 dives when I started.
From your profile, it looks like you've got less than 50 dives, and from your comment it seems you haven't taken the rescue class yet. Before you even start thinking DM, you probably should take the rescue class, then help out with several rescue classes to practice / refine all the skills thrown at you in the rescue class, then decide how you want to proceed. And just dive a lot more. You can become a DM with a ridiculously small number of dives, but you will get a lot more out of the experience with more and varied dives under your belt
I'm still planning to take an Intro to Tech class some time soon, for the propulsion and buoyancy skills (and mine are already OK), but I have no intention of doing any technical diving, just like I have no intention of being a dive professional with a DM card. The more knowledge and experience you have, the better equipped you are to make informed decisions with your diving, and to go diving in more situations
From your profile, it looks like you've got less than 50 dives, and from your comment it seems you haven't taken the rescue class yet. Before you even start thinking DM, you probably should take the rescue class, then help out with several rescue classes to practice / refine all the skills thrown at you in the rescue class, then decide how you want to proceed. And just dive a lot more. You can become a DM with a ridiculously small number of dives, but you will get a lot more out of the experience with more and varied dives under your belt
I'm still planning to take an Intro to Tech class some time soon, for the propulsion and buoyancy skills (and mine are already OK), but I have no intention of doing any technical diving, just like I have no intention of being a dive professional with a DM card. The more knowledge and experience you have, the better equipped you are to make informed decisions with your diving, and to go diving in more situations
