Divemaster course, where??

[Mousy]

Hello,

I am planning to do my Rescue and Divemaster course/internship during the summer of 2004 (July and August). I am now searching for a good location to do this. Of importance are:

1. Good intructor/dive school
2. Good diving
3. Cost (I am still a student ) Not only the cost of the course is important but als the cost of living there for 2 months.
4. Nice surroundings (people etc.)

I was thinking about Roatan or Utila.

Anyone any advise??

Thank you in advance!

Mousy :mousy:

 

[Pettifogger]

Somewhere in New Jersey, Mass., Great Lakes is probably the best place to get those certs...

If you can rescue someone wearing a set of Steel 120's, a drysuit and 30 pounds of other gear from 50 feet in silt out conditions, all while wearing 7 mil. gloves in 50 degree (F) water, you can rescue just about anyone, anywhere.

Similarly, treat the training like any other. Practice and learn the skills in the worst conditions you can do them in (high current, low to no vis./at night, in numbing cold) so that when it comes time to do them for real, it is always easier than what you practiced...

My favorite skill, 1 mask, 1 set of tanks, 1 regulator, 1 B.C. in 55 degree water. Surface dive to the guy with the tanks (sitting at 30 feet), switch gear, and swim 100 yards underwater while buddy breathing... during an algae bloom. (God Bless Dutch Springs)



That being said, I wish I had done mine in the Carib. By your list, Roatan would work.

 

[SubMariner]

My favorite skill, 1 mask, 1 set of tanks, 1 regulator, 1 B.C. in 55 degree water. Surface dive to the guy with the tanks (sitting at 30 feet), switch gear, and swim 100 yards underwater while buddy breathing... during an algae bloom. (God Bless Dutch Springs)

Which agency had you do THAT?!

Geez. What's next? A one mile breath-hold swim u/w with a Buick on your back?

 

[Pettifogger]

I was under the impression that all Naui dive masters had to do the switch and swim, or was it insructors? - I forget... Doesn't matter, I did it for MD/DM. Actually, I think the skill is only REQUIRED in a pool (12 feet). We just did it on a platform at 30 feet b/c that seemed a little more "real."

Getting to him was easy (no thoughts of turning around at the halfway point - just keep going). Once the gear was switched, the rest was pretty easy. The only hard part was because the other guy didn't have fins, and was essentially being dragged, it got a little tiring - so we had to adjust our breathing timing... the guy with the gear doing the pulling had to breathe more...

The water temp. and bloom just made it a little more interesting... You really, really have to relax, take your time, trust your equipment and your dive buddy...

"Trust your buddy... but if he takes more than three breaths before letting you breathe once, kill him..."

 

[puertoricandive]

hi mousy if your close to puerto rico and would like to do you rescue and divemaster here in sunny puerto rico. i would be glad to help you with your certifications. i'm an instructor

 

[MikeS]

If it is to lead dives or help with instruction, you should take the DM course under the same conditions. Taking a DM course in the warm clear water of the tropics will not prepare you for helping with OW training in the cold water and limited visibility of a quarry.

A typical DM internship with a local dive shop will expose you to the economics of the dive industry. I don’t imagine that happening at a “school.”

Good Luck,
Mike

 

[d33ps1x]

True it is.

 

[erichK]

Which agency had you do THAT?!

Geez. What's next? A one mile breath-hold swim u/w with a Buick on your back?

Not quite...but I sure found that the certification in cold murkey water last year prepared my wife and daughter well for the diving we later did off Cuba's Isala de la Juventud and Playa Giron. All three of us easily mastered and enjoyed even 100+ deep dives in those crystal clear, 82 degree waters. This experience also stood us in good stead when we did a bit of B.C. cold water diving, some of it on our own, this summer.

The Advanced OW course that daughter and I did in September in Saskatchewan's cold lakes, this time wearing drysuits, was the best possible prep for our live-aboard cruise off northern Vancouver Island this October. With only a few dozen recent dives for me and fewer ever for her (she's 14!), we would have been a real burden on other divers without our cold water experience.

One BC dive operator told us that he'd seen fairly seasoned divers with little cold water experience get into serious trouble and even cut their charters short because they were overcome by the extra skills and stress involved.

A rescue diver trained in 80+ degree gin-clear water may not be much help on such places!

erichK