Question on SDI divemaster requirements

[Progen]

So I'll be embarking on this course soon enough in my attempt at world domination and I've seen on a lot of sites plus official SDI standards that the Night and Limited Visibility specialty is a must but I was told by the trainer that it wasn't so who's right or wrong and how right or wrong were they?

 

[tursiops]

The standards say (as part of the list of prerequisites):
"Certified SDI Advanced Diver or equivalent; advanced certification must include verifiable experience in
deep, navigation, night, and limited visibility specialties."
It is not crystal clear. If you have the cert card for these four specialties, does that constitute "experience" or just "training"?
Or does it mean, you need to show logged dives in these four topics....not necessarily the specialty certification?

So the spectrum is from (a) no knowledge of these subjects, through (b) having done a number of dives in each, through (c) being certified in each but no dives post-class, to finally (d) have the cert card and having done a lot of each kind of dive.

The (a) end of the spectrum is not going to make you a very good divemaster. (b) is tolerable. (c) is important because as a divemaster you'll be helping with these classes...and how do you do that if you don't even know what is in the class? (d) is where you want to be, regardless of what your trainer says.

 

[Progen]

Version 13.0 of the leadership standards, dated 1/1/2013 stated specifically :-

Advanced, Rescue, CPR, First Aid, 40 logged dives, Deep diver specialty, night & limited visibility specialty

I'll of course be going for my Rescue and CPROX (hope the trainer will give me the full CPROX1stAED to get me all covered) soon and I have the Deep Diver specialty from PADI so I'm covered there. It's only the Night & Limited one which I'm short of although it's something I wanted to get earlier but it's difficult to arrange night trips over here.

 

[tursiops]

Version 13.0 of the leadership standards, dated 1/1/2013 stated specifically :-

Advanced, Rescue, CPR, First Aid, 40 logged dives, Deep diver specialty, night & limited visibility specialty

I'll of course be going for my Rescue and CPROX (hope the trainer will give me the full CPROX1stAED to get me all covered) soon and I have the Deep Diver specialty from PADI so I'm covered there. It's only the Night & Limited one which I'm short of although it's something I wanted to get earlier but it's difficult to arrange night trips over here.

Well, that's interesting. I'm looking at V13.0 of the Leadership Standards right now, dated 1/1/2013, section 3.5, and it does not say what you just stated it specifically says! The full section 3.5 is:
3.5 Student Prerequisites
1. Minimum age 18
2. Certified SDI Advanced Diver or equivalent; advanced certification must include verifiable experience in deep, navigation, night, and limited visibility specialties
3. Certified SDI Rescue Diver or equivalent
4. Provide proof of current CPR, first aid and oxygen provider*, where local law permits
5. Provided proof of at least 40 logged dives (see 3.11 for number of dives/hours required for graduation)
*Note: SDI CPROX, CPR1st or CPROX1stAED courses may be combined with the SDI Divemaster program by qualified instructors

It says "experience in deep, navigation, night, and limited visibility specialties" it does not say "Deep diver specialty, night & limited visibility specialty" as you stated. And it *does* mention navigation.

The point of my earlier post was whether or not these things are required, you need them to be a good DM.

What were you quoting from, that it is so different than what I just pulled off the SDI Instructor web site?

 

[Progen]

As mentioned earlier, it's from section 3.5, version 13.0 of SDI's Leadership Standards from the 1st of January 2013. I guess somewhere along the line, the word 'specialty' came into the picture to replace 'experience'. Anyway, according to Dennis from SDI, the specialty rating itself is not required but experience is a must.

 

[Teller]

If you have a question about standards its always best to call your agency HQ and ask. Get the answer right from the source.