fazo
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Does anyone have any idea how long you need to spend at a PADI resort to get dive master certification assuming you have done all your reading etc before hand? I plan on going to Cozumel next spring. Thanks
dive master
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I know there are people who want to do the DM course in as short a time as possible, but isn't one of the great things about the DM course the "internship" option? If one is about to make the big leap of "going pro," why not take as many weeks as you can spare, since presumably you're going to be spending a lot of time in your new career?
I also realize that some people take the DM course just for a notch in their belt or for personal satisfaction / extra knowledge. I'm not sure I'd get a lot of personal satisfaction or extra knowledge from having crammed through it in a week, and not long ago I turned down an instructor's offer of doing it that fast (in Cozumel as a matter of fact). I plan to do the DM course, but I'm waiting until I have a month of time available for it, which I am hoping will happen about two years from now. I plan to do it with the idea of transitioning into a second career at some point, so I want to take my time and learn all I can possibly learn about taking care of other divers.
I'm not criticizing the OP's or anyone else's choice to do the course as quickly as possible. It's a personal choice, and I suppose that's why PADI gives two options.
I also realize that some people take the DM course just for a notch in their belt or for personal satisfaction / extra knowledge. I'm not sure I'd get a lot of personal satisfaction or extra knowledge from having crammed through it in a week, and not long ago I turned down an instructor's offer of doing it that fast (in Cozumel as a matter of fact). I plan to do the DM course, but I'm waiting until I have a month of time available for it, which I am hoping will happen about two years from now. I plan to do it with the idea of transitioning into a second career at some point, so I want to take my time and learn all I can possibly learn about taking care of other divers.
I'm not criticizing the OP's or anyone else's choice to do the course as quickly as possible. It's a personal choice, and I suppose that's why PADI gives two options.
yes,it can be done in a week..BUT I do not know what you will get out of it.All your time on island will be spent in class..And where are you going to use this new rating you will have? It would be difficult to find opportunities back home at a LDS because you did not do the course with them.Most LDS like to grow their own DMs.Thinking to work at a resort as a DM? Truth is almost 100% of the DMs you see on the island resorts are Instructors.
Why do you want to be a Divemaster?
Ahhh HA ha ha! Love it!
Ahhh HA ha ha! Love it!
The short (and only correct) answer it "it depends". It depends on what you have in house coming in, it depends on how much effort you want to put into it, it depends on how your instructor likes to do it and it depends most of all on your performance.
The slightly more nuanced answer is that you should call ahead and talk to the instructor you intend to take the course with and ask him/her how they do things. Generally, they have some kind of rough time line that they work with.
R..
RonFrank
Contributor
Most of the folks that I know that have done DM have done so through a local shop, and that can take a month or more.
IMO doing it in a week would be rushing through it. Doing it while in Coz or on Vacation is a great way to ruin a vacation, unless you spend a lot of time ON vacation.
A fellow student whom I took OW with rushed through the entire process, going from zero to DM in less than six months. The last time I saw him I asked him to check my air, and he turned it off....
That is not the guy I want giving me diving advice!
IMO doing it in a week would be rushing through it. Doing it while in Coz or on Vacation is a great way to ruin a vacation, unless you spend a lot of time ON vacation.
A fellow student whom I took OW with rushed through the entire process, going from zero to DM in less than six months. The last time I saw him I asked him to check my air, and he turned it off....
That is not the guy I want giving me diving advice!
If you just want the card it can be gotten in a short time but to become a good DM it takes a lot of class time and even more OJT. On average, a DMC in my LDS will take between 4 and 6 months to complete and often times more. It just takes that much time to work through all the requirements we have, we are one of the top 100 PADI shops in the southeast and do a lot of certs. We require you to intern 2 complete OW classes with real students - that means being there on the orientation night all the way through the wrap up secession and 2 other courses, preferably AOW and rescue. There is no getting by, low scores on your skills demonstrations have to be mostly 4s (on a scale of 1 to 5) with some 5s in there as well. More than a couple of 3's and it's back to the pool.
One thing about DM that many do not realize is, it's not about your dive skills, they should be very good before you even consider DM. It's about working with students, helping them become good divers and assisting the instructor, keeping the class flowing and watching out for problems before they get out of hand. Its a lot of work, very little pay and a lot of commitment but in the end to me its worth it every time I see the smile on the face of a new diver. I actually hate to see a class end, I miss the students. If you want to be a DM and work with students, find a good shop near home and go through them. If all you want is a card or to improve your dive skills, there are better courses that will give much more and cost a lot less in time and effort.
One thing about DM that many do not realize is, it's not about your dive skills, they should be very good before you even consider DM. It's about working with students, helping them become good divers and assisting the instructor, keeping the class flowing and watching out for problems before they get out of hand. Its a lot of work, very little pay and a lot of commitment but in the end to me its worth it every time I see the smile on the face of a new diver. I actually hate to see a class end, I miss the students. If you want to be a DM and work with students, find a good shop near home and go through them. If all you want is a card or to improve your dive skills, there are better courses that will give much more and cost a lot less in time and effort.
My goal, when I retire in a few years, is to be able to assist disabled veterans thru scuba. there are several organizations in US that provide that service. I am not looking for compensation, I have been fairly successful and just want to give back. I served in Vietnam about 40 years ago. I was lucky and came back in 1 piece. My father & father-in-law were both in WW II and came back without significant injury. So our family has been blessed. I beleive that rergardless of your feels about the conflicts our service men and women fight we need to support them. Those old enough to rememmber, when many came back from Vietnam they were not given the respect etc they deserved for serving.
A very noble goal and well worth doing. To serve them better you need to be as good a DM as you can be and that cannot be done in a week or 2 class, esp when you are diving in gin clear warm water with other DMs and instructors as fake students. That is not the real world for most of us. It takes lots of time in the water in lots of different conditions with many different students. Find yourself a good shop that has an active training program, runs classes often, grows their own DMs and instructors and sign up with them. The more classes you have with normal students .and you will meet some interesting ones the better prepared you will be to deal with the special needs these vets may have.
And I missed you are new to the board, WELCOME.
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