Divemaster did NOT get in the water...

[Ana]

Really? 6 foot waves? May have appeared that way but I am pretty sure you would not get in the water with 6 foot waves...
But that might just be me...

To be fair vertical distances are difficult to estimate.

Less consider the rest of the post.. 1 vessel, 1 captain, 1 DM (or deckhand) and 4 divers.
I think the vessel could be a little as +/- 15foot, and be ok with the Coast Guard. 3foot waves on that small craft will make for a very sporty transit, as well as boarding. I can see how it would feel like 6', even very large values of each of those 6 feet.

 

[DangerousDan64]

Yes, if I return to the keys, I will choose my dive operator much more carefully than the last time. Dive masters in the water can help make a routine dive memorable if they point out things that you may not find on your own.

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

I learned to dive in SoCal - I never saw a DM get wet there exept once off a boat one stood on the swimstep and helped divers re-board.

All (5 ) of the So Cal boats I have been on do not have DMS in the water. They do the site briefing, log divers in/out times, do roll calls after each dive, answer questions and assist with divers getting back on board-cameras, fins (if you want to give them up) and weights --I always pull mine to make it easier to climb the ladder. the only time I have seen them get it is to help a diver.

mnnnn i am no so sure I agree that there was no need for a dm in the water with 6 foot waves... it was pretty rough and people were obviousely nervouse. I ended up leading the group and finding our way vack to the boat.

6 ft waves would make me call the dive, DM or not.

 

[nolatom]

I would recommend the Florida east coast drift dives (typically, West Palm, and points south (Jupiter is a bit deeper and more "adult swim"), where the Gulf Stream hugs the coast) for relatively new divers. Since divers and boat both "drift", you have essentially a "group" dive, clustered loosely around the DM who tows the surface buoy for the boat to follow. And, the current provides most of your travel velocity over the reefs, so you use fins mostly to keep you headed with the group, not for big propulsion. This means less finning, and more "distance" and time on a tank of air. You'll have to ascend without an anchor line, but it's not that hard, and good training at staying neutral for the safety stop.

Many of my earliest dives were drift dives out of Riviera Beach and West Palm, I learned a lot. The rest were on Wookie's boat way way offshore, in the "Texas Caribbean" marine sanctuaries, with lovely coral and some pelagics. No DM in the water, but dive shops had their own DMs with their groups. Both sites wonderful in their own very different ways. And a couple dives in Massachusetts Bay, which was "c-c-c-c-cold", even in July, and no in-water DMs. Just the satisfaction of having dived "The F&^%^#g North Atlantic Ocean!!", as the veterans on the boat told us newbies afterwards.

 

[Stoo]

Up here in Canada, I've never heard of a DM being on the boat, let alone dive with the guests. In Tobermory, you can hire an Instructor or DM to come with you, but I don't think it happens very often.

 

[caruso]

I would recommend the Florida east coast drift dives (typically, West Palm, and points south (Jupiter is a bit deeper and more "adult swim"), where the Gulf Stream hugs the coast) for relatively new divers. Since divers and boat both "drift", you have essentially a "group" dive, clustered loosely around the DM who tows the surface buoy for the boat to follow

I dived with 2 Ops in West Palm a few months back, one dropped me on top of the first of 2 wrecks which I drifted over. There were other divers VERY loosely scattered around, no one near me and in the swift current it would have been nearly impossible and not at all fun to try to stay close. There was a DM in the water but she was sort of keeping an eye from a distance. For much of the dive especially as it progressed I didn't see anyone and when I surfaced to wait for the boat there was no sign of any other diver. It certianly wasn't any sort of "close together dive together as a group" thing. The other dive Op kept things a bit tighter and we did sort of follow the DM around one particular area of wrecks and construction garbage known as "Toy Box" followed by a couple of wrecks where again we were pretty spread out from one another.

 

[Scuba Scott]

Most people think of a divemaster and dive guide being the same thing. I would not assume a divemaster will get in the water unless you signed up for a guided dive. If everyone is certified to at least the open water level the DM does not need to be in the water. If you want a guide to show you things under water that is often an additional service. If you want a divemaster to accompany you and make you feel safe that would be yet another service in addition to the guide.
That is just how I think of things but the reality is very different depending on where you dive. I even ended up on a boat one time (didn't realize it until I got back on the boat after the dive) the boat driver was also the instructor who got in the water with students. I was in the unguided group doing our own thing while the boat "captain" was teaching open water. Glad the boat was still there when I got back.

 

[Wookie]

I didn't read anything about the crew laughing and name calling.

Me either. But that would justify not tipping them.

 

[Landau]

Up here on the West coast of Canada divemasters in the water guiding dives are common but nowhere close to 100% - if you want an in water Divemaster definitely ask the operator.

 

[caruso]

Me either. But that would justify not tipping them.

Gotchya. I suppose if I was abducted by aliens during a dive trip I wouldn't tip the crew either.