How many dives until your DM

[Diver0001]

I respectfully disagree. Yes, teaching OW students can be mentally and physically demanding, but the diving is hardly challenging.

The diving......isn't diving at all. If you're actually conscious of the act of diving when you're engaged in courses then I would suggest that you're asleep at the helm.

....snip....

In general, the more diving you do, the better DM/instructor you are going to be.

Totally agree. I wouldn't want a DM guiding me who wasn't experienced in the conditions at hand....

R..

 

[MSilvia]

I recently attended a DM orientation with just over 100 dives under my belt.

I just finished up IANTD advanced nitrox, took DIR-F, and have one dive to go for recreational trimix cert., and my feeling is that I have a lot of diving to do to nail those skills down before I take on responsibility for other divers in any capacity other than as a buddy.

If I'm going to DM, and later instruct, as I want to, I want to be experienced in a wide variety of techniques, conditions, and facets of diving so I can fulfill those roles proficiently and professionally based upon my own experiences, and not just the agency dogma. I therefore opted not to become a DM candidate just yet.

That's just me though... even though I meet the meager entrance criteria set by the agency, I don't want to just be a pretty good DM. I think excellence as a pro demands experience and the skills, knowledge, and confidence that go along with it.

Start whenever you feel ready.

 

[GrierHPharmD]

I'm almost finished with my DM course, having started it with ~75 dives, now at 100. I've intentionally dragged out the course for the reasons that Wendy spells out above. I want to make sure that, when I'm a DM, people see me as a role model and a resource, not just some guy that took a course, demanding though it is at times.

If you have the time and have access to dive sites, I would highly recommend working on logging as many dives as possible in as many different conditions as you can. If possible, dive with a buddy who is better than you are and who can help you fine tune your skills. Then, when you complete the DM program, you'll have more confidence, since you'll feel that you've earned it.

Just my 2 cents,
Grier

 

[perpet1]

you must be very careful that friendly advice imparted to other divers is not misconstrued as instruction.

Exactly!!! Too many people do this because they like the cool word "professional". The point you make is that there is a liability that most are not aware of associated with the title. If you are not going to activly be a DM then why incur the liability.

If somone is really only interested in the knowledge then there are ways to get the knowledge without becoming a DM.

For thos that say I will get the certification now and gain my experience later.....
OK you are on a boat and not acting in the capacity of DM but just a diver. Now you strike up a conversation with somone and it comes out you are a DM. Now you offer an opinion on how to deal with a situation (even if you have never encountereed it). Now the person takes your advice and something happens that may or may not be directly related to your advice. As a felllow diver you would probably never be held accountable for your advice but you are MUCH more likely to be held accountable once it is knows you are a DM because afterall you are a "professional" and you know best how to deal with every situation.

 

[El Orans]

Personally, I had over 100 dives in several different environments and locations before I became a DM.

At the moment, I'm considering DM training for next year. By then I'll probably have approx. 125 dives.

I don't expect to work as a DM in the near future but I just like to teach and assist people with new skills. Part of my day job is teaching.

 

[diverbrian]

I had 40 dives when I started my DiveCon training and about 120 when I finished. I am sort of doing a reverse cycle.

I like divemastering and assisting with classes (when I first went into the program it was to improve my skills and make me more capable of handling the Buddies of Circumstance that I was getting as I am single and travel alone). That suprised me and I thought that I might like to become an instructor. Then, I noticed that the instructors don't have time to dive deep or just plain for recreation anymore. They primarily work with classes. If they plan something recreational, somehow the shop always finds students for them to give a classroom session to and to take out. I still get to dive for fun when I want to.

So, for now, I am happy with the level that I am at. I may go for my instructor's certification one day, but I am in no hurry. I would like normoxic tri-mix training for my own diving before I become an instructor and the tri-mix won't be happening anytime soon. I'll collect dives for now and wait my turn. I'll be a better instructor for it. As far as DM'ing, I have to volunteer to assist with classes and the instructors DM all the trips in order to get them comp'ed. But that is cool, in any profession, we call that paying our dues.

 

[love2godeep]

Wow, I was going to give my perspective as a diver-with-much-to-learn, but it looks like this thread was hijacked somewhere along the way.

Well, why not? In my limited experience, there's something a little unsettling about a divemaster/instructor who does not assign buddies, who is not observant, wno waves his/her arms to aid in buoyancy, and who grabs onto corals. Wrongly or rightly, I get the feeling that I'm with someone who doesn't know what they're doing--that maybe I have a better handle on the dive than they do.

I'm sure there are many reasons a divemaster would display such poor skills; but it seems to me that they are sadly in need of quality practice. I wonder if once they start being a DM, they kind of switch off the learning curve.

I'd vote in favor of many dives before you encourage people to entrust their lives into your hands.

 

[HammerNoMore]

Ok, I've split this thing up so we can get back to the original discussion...

 

[okinawascuba]

Well, at this point I have about 30 dives, and I'm about ready to take my Advanced cert in the next couple weeks. Once I get through that, I'll consider doing some other learning, but I never once considered becoming a DM yet. I guess it's a personal thing, but I don't think I have near enough experience to be telling others what to do or to serve as an "example". I think I'm a good diver, but objectively speaking, I have no idea.

I do enjoy teaching (my job involves plenty of it), and someday I expect I'll become an Instructor to pass on my love of scuba to others. Right now, that's a long way off because I know I need more experience before I'm ready to do that.

That being said, I might take a DM course before I leave Okinawa because the courses are so cheap here.