Finally instructor

[seahorsey]

Just wanted to share my experiences becoming divemaster in October and now instructor. I'm a 49 year old farrier, female, married, and live in BC, Canada. Did my Divemaster at Bananarama dive shop in West Bay, Roatan. I was blown away by the time and attention lavished on me. Yeah, I helped out best as I could, but I felt I got the better part of the bargain for sure. When I went back there lately before my IDC, I tried to take over cleaning the rinse tank from boss lady Sofia. She ripped the brush out of my hand and said "You are not a slave. You are here to learn how to teach diving". That sums up the attitude there pretty well. I started my divemaster training with about 30 dives, as green as a Granny Smith apple, just 7 months after my Open Water course. Not really recommended. And still they got me where I needed to be! Working with several instructors will be an eyeopener. If you ever had even the slightest hankering to work in the dive industry, do your divemaster for sure! Not to mention it is an amazingly cheap way to get a whole lot of diving done - which was definitely part of the plan for me. It will raise your confidence as a diver to another level. Plus living, working and playing on the gorgeous white sandy beach at West Bay for 5 - 6 weeks is heaven, especially for frost-damaged Canucks!

When I got home and started to browse the PADI Wanted ads, I realized just how much better the job selection was for instructors. Ok, on to step two: instructor. I ordered the crew pack pretty soon and started reading. Halfway through realized that there is a new instructor manual now. Starting next month they will teach the IDC using that new, smaller manual exclusively, but for now both versions of the IM are still out there. Go for the new one!! SO much easier to find stuff in! It comes together with the Guide To Teaching, which you will also need, but not nearly as often. Don't spend any money on the old manual! I got mine exchanged for the new one, and kudos to PADI Canada for excellent customer service for that.

Bananarama currently doesn't have a course director on permanent staff, so I couldn't do the IDC with them (this may change, do inquire). So I picked the managers' neighbor . Will Wellbourn, he works with Coconut Tree divers in West End. Not as gorgeous for beach and turquoise waters as West Bay, but a lively colorful little town, and lots of nightlife if you're so inclined. Accommodation is easy to find. I lucked out with Casa del Sol, great value and a perfect location, 2 min. from dive shop and class room. Rooms are smallish but clean and cheerful, and it was nice and quiet when I was there.

As for the course itself, I couldn't have picked a better course director! Will was always incredibly organised, quick, helpful and thorough. Everything made sense, and all my myriad questions were answered fully and quickly. The slides used in his presentations were the same ones that constitute the PADI eLearning option for the IDC. God, was I ever glad I hadn't chosen that option! The chronically dry and stilted PADI language doesn't get HALF the info across than Will did! His examples and experiences made the reasons behind the regulations and procedures clear, and made the topics come alive.

I was also very glad I did the IDC not too long after the divemaster course (6 months), when the dive theory was still semi-fresh in my mind. Do yourself a favor, study up on it at home! You'll have enough to do at the IDC without having to worry about Mr. Boyle. Not needing to think about Physics and Dive Skills and the Environment etc made my days there a lot more stress-free and kept me at least marginally relaxed. At times.

Inwater sessions were a different story, there was no way to prepare for that, and my limited dive experience made me worry a lot. Will gave us lots of chances to make mistakes and learn. The big divemaster trainee pool at Coconut Tree gave us plenty of fake students to work with, which proved to be a big bonus when the Instructor examination came around. My classmate and me (yes, two of us only! Talk about a good instructor:student ratio!) were quite a bit better prepared for it than the competition, in my admittedly biased opinion. Turned out Will had been much more demanding in grading us than the examiner, Gary Newman, who was very nice and lenient, and did his best to make us learn and relax, and not just see the IE as a terrifying hurdle.

So, all in all, a wonderful experience! Now for the bigger step of actually going out and finding work, and doing this every day! I will say I now got confidence that, with lots of time and preparation, I could actually go out and do a competent job of it. It wasn't just about preparing to pass the IE (although it did that in spades), I learned so much in those two weeks that will stand me in good stead once I'm working as an instructor (which will require sorting out my 'other' life a bit before I can head out into the wild blue WARM yonder).

If I learned anything it's that the dive shop and the people make a tremendous difference. Go for someone you know a bit, and take your time preparing for the dreaded theory at home. I can recommend both Bananarama and Will (advertising as GoPro Caribbean) unreservedly. There just wasn't anything they could have done better! The people there are bright and quick and caring, helpful in all kinds of ways, and simply fun to work with, and safety standards are upheld rigorously in both dive shops. The courses are demanding enough to make you feel you accomplished something big and worthwhile, without being so stressful that it would totally freak you out. I can definitely feel a change in my attitude and self-esteem now I've returned home. I'm the Mother of In Charge now .

 

[Islandheart]

I really enjoyed your experiences and am looking forward to my IDC. How much did you spend on housing and how long were you there ?

Thanks,
Bob C.

 

[seahorsey]

I was there for three weeks in total. First week just diving and assisting with some courses at Bananarama, West Bay, where I did my DM. Stayed at Fosters' West Bay for that week, a funky place with all kinds of little or bigger cabins, $ 232 for 6 nights in their 'studio', the cheapest option there, I think. Gorgeous beach, nice location, spacious room. Took a few trips to the office to make everything work, and microwave only, pretty limited for cooking. But clean and quiet.

For the other two weeks of IDC with Will (GoPro Caribbean) and Coconut Tree Divers, I moved to West End, Casa del Sol. A real find! $ 360 for 15 nights, $ 24 a night. Great value and a nice place, 2 min to classroom, 4 min to dive shop. Just around the corner of where all the action is, and turned away a little from the main road, so it's nice and quiet, good security, but close for easy walking everywhere. AC is extra, but never needed it, house is well-built and shaded. Clean, cheerful, room not huge or fancy, but had everything to make it home for two weeks. Romantic backyard, a jungle oasis to sit and study (well marinated in Off). Or sip rum drinks.

Both places, but especially in West Bay, I suggest you look for something with at least basic cooking facilities. That'll save you much more than saving a few bucks on the room. Going out for every meal is not cheap and the selection of places there not overwhelming. In West Bay can be downright tough to find something edible and not TOO expensive.

It pays to talk to the owners, don't get discouraged by th prices posted on their websites - for a two week stay, and depending on the season, you can often get a much better rate. I pretty much contacted all the places there, and the deals finally offered weren't necessarily in relationship to their original price range. Some play, some don't.