What to do next.......

[kr2y5]

You are doing 200-foot tech dives, carrying additional cylinders, but your TODO list of future classes does not include any tech training, I think you may be looking in the wrong direction. A major component of tech training is learning about your limits, and learning to problem solve in the water under stress, it goes well beyond buoyancy control or familiarity with "advanced" equipment.

 

[Tabascocat]

You are doing 200-foot tech dives, carrying additional cylinders, but your TODO list of future classes does not include any tech training, I think you may be looking in the wrong direction. A major component of tech training is learning about your limits, and learning to problem solve in the water under stress, it goes well beyond buoyancy control or familiarity with "advanced" equipment.

I have pondered that idea for awhile now. Yes, I have done some deep dives, carried extra tanks, etc, etc but that is not the norm for me. This was only a few occasions and rarely will I go below 120ish now, age is catching up

I didn't one day just say "hey guys, lets see how deep we can go". I learned and know my limits after many, many dives in different conditions. I am more into Caribbean diving now, high visibility and checking out the marine life. I have been working on the wife to get certified(6 years now) but she is deathly afraid of being out in open water, just floating there like a sitting duck.

Just returned from Cozumel and this time......I did get her to snorkel off a dive boat, not just the shore. Progress

I don't fully understand tech diving just yet but will check into it, there are some parts that interest me, specifically mixed gases and wrecks.


Whatever path I choose, I appreciate all of the opinions.....some very good advice/options

. If I was 25 again, things would be different. All I know is if I don't get two cracked upper molars removed(thanks to a fastball below the orbital), I won't be doing much below 90ft. I started to feel some weird pain when I hit 110ft at Punta Sur. Thank goodness I skipped Devil's Throat this time, might not have been pretty and I don't want those suckers to pop!

 

[Omisson]

A little introduction about my diving background. I got certified in 1988(am now 44) and have dove quite a bit, mostly in the Caribbean. Have been underwater well past 500 dives ranging from drift, deep, cave and shipwrecks. I consider myself a well-advanced diver but only have the basic OW along with nitrox.

I feel most comfortable drift diving off boats, love the adrenaline. Also, going deep is a blast as well. The deepest I have gone is 192 at Maracaibo(Cozumel) and the best drift diving I have seen was off Barracuda(also Cozumel).

My buoyancy control is pretty solid, rarely have a problem with that unless using new equipment. I have dove in a few caves off the Yucatan peninsula. The dive shop knows my(and buddies) skills and lets us dive wherever we want, have been diving with them for years. On occasion, if our DM wasn't feeling well, he would let us lead the group on simpler dives, mainly the shallow ones.

I am known for sucking air though and don't know why, it just is what it is....so I always go to the steel 100 tank to hang around longer. Many times, my DM would throw me an extra tank in the water to carry around for when I was low and just throw that reg in my mouth when needed.

In short, I have seen and done most all of it and am now looking to move up the certification chain.

A few questions arise:

1. I stopped logging dives long ago, might have 30 in there. Is that a problem going forward or can I forge(vaguely recall some) and add them to the book?

2. Is the AOW class a must or is there a way to go forward to rescue with my experience?

3. I have heard that rescue diver isn't needed anymore to go to DM as long as some certification class is taken(forgot name of it) and pass a physical, is this true?

4. Finally, which way to go...DM or MSD, leaning towards DM because I like to teach and give some of the knowledge and experiences that I have had. I am not looking to make a living from this, just love being in the water and sharing what I have learned.


So, as I understand it, I need the following to start divemaster:

1. OW
2. AOW
3. First Aid & CPR training (preferably with automated external defibrillator (AED) training)

4. Physical
5. 50 logged dives

I swear a dive shop told me that rescue diver was no longer needed, just the AOW, which seems mundane to me but if I have to take it, I will.

Any thoughts and/or recommendations welcomed

Wait hold on stop.

This worries me on many levels. You want to move into being a dive professional but have done deep/decompression diving without training and cave diving without training or certification. This sends up huge alarm bells.

You do realize you become responsible for others as a DM- and you are not even being responsible for yourself?

Some dive shops have let YOU lead clients WITHOUT being a DM? Holy liability batman! Please tell us the shops so we can tell every diver to avoid them. Let me know what agency they are so I can report them too- please for the safety of all concerned.

You are - with all due respect- a life endangering disaster waiting to happen.

Go take a Cavern, Intro, and Cave course and complete them. Dont ever dive a cave again without this training.

Go take Intro to Tec, Adv Nitrox and Deco Procedures and complete them. Do not ever dive below 140 feet again without them.

Then IF you do those things to prove you can actually be responsible - them take courses to become a DM.

Do the scuba world and yourself a favor before someone- maybe you- gets killed.


Dan-O

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

 

[Tabascocat]

Wait hold on stop.

This worries me on many levels. You want to move into being a dive professional but have done deep/decompression diving without training and cave diving without training or certification. This sends up huge alarm bells.

You do realize you become responsible for others as a DM- and you are not even being responsible for yourself?

Some dive shops have let YOU lead clients WITHOUT being a DM? Holy liability batman! Please tell us the shops so we can tell every diver to avoid them. Let me know what agency they are so I can report them too- please for the safety of all concerned.

You are - with all due respect- a life endangering disaster waiting to happen.

Go take a Cavern, Intro, and Cave course and complete them. Dont ever dive a cave again without this training.

Go take Intro to Tec, Adv Nitrox and Deco Procedures and complete them. Do not ever dive below 140 feet again without them.

Then IF you do those things to prove you can actually be responsible - them take courses to become a DM.

Do the scuba world and yourself a favor before someone- maybe you- gets killed.


Dan-O

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

You can relax some, the stupid things I have done were well over 20 years ago when I was young and dumb. The deep dives and cave dives were all accompanied with a few professionals(DM's and instructors), especially the caves. We followed a guide line along with depth rules. We did not just go into the cave willy nilly on our own.

As for us leading a few down to do a dive, they were shallow dives that we have done 50 times with the same DM. We were all a group of friends or acquaintances, no strangers among us, no novices, etc. That dive shop is no longer in business due to a storm in 2002 I believe.

Thanks for the vote of confidence though assuming I am a threat to society . I probably was when I was 22 years old but not now! People do change and mature :cool2:

Like I said, that was a long time ago when most of us have done questionable things.....on land or in the water. Rest assured, I am nothing but responsible now and have been for awhile. I don't push the limits, pretty much scared to go back into a cave and have stayed above 120 for the last 8 years.

 

[DownbelowDiver]

In short, I have seen and done most all of it and am now looking to move up the certification chain.

A few questions arise:

1. I stopped logging dives long ago, might have 30 in there. Is that a problem going forward or can I forge(vaguely recall some) and add them to the book?

2. Is the AOW class a must or is there a way to go forward to rescue with my experience?

3. I have heard that rescue diver isn't needed anymore to go to DM as long as some certification class is taken(forgot name of it) and pass a physical, is this true?

4. Finally, which way to go...DM or MSD, leaning towards DM because I like to teach and give some of the knowledge and experiences that I have had. I am not looking to make a living from this, just love being in the water and sharing what I have learned.


So, as I understand it, I need the following to start divemaster:

1. OW
2. AOW
3. First Aid & CPR training (preferably with automated external defibrillator (AED) training)

4. Physical
5. 50 logged dives

I swear a dive shop told me that rescue diver was no longer needed, just the AOW, which seems mundane to me but if I have to take it, I will.

Any thoughts and/or recommendations welcomed

Hi Tabascocat

Your dive history is one of the most colourful I have heard of, it’s amazing! As you’ve put it: ‘sharing what I have learned’, is a statement that rings true for many who become professional divers.

I’m one of the PADI IDCS Instructors at Downbelow Marine and Wildlife Adventures and I’m also a member of the Go PRO team who oversee all of our professional dive training at our premier PADI 5 Star IDC Dive Centre based in Borneo.

Learn to Dive - PADI 5 Star Dive & Adventure Centre on Gaya Island | Diving Sabah? Dive Downbelow!

I’m assuming you would like to certify under the PADI dive training organization? The pre-requisite requirements for enrolling on the PADI Divemaster course you can find at this link:

PADI Divemaster | IDC Asia

So as you’ve read, you DO need to be qualified as a PADI Rescue Diver, or the equivalent in another dive training organization. As well as this, you must have 40 logged dives to begin the course and 60 to certify.
As far as your not logging your dives anymore, your dive computer is satisfactory proof that counts toward the pre-requisite for number of logged dives.

PADI Instructors must show proof of your pre-requisites to qualify you for the next certification, and for the benefit of your Instructor, they need your previous paperwork to protect themselves against any liability too. It’s not a matter of whether you can do the skills of the PADI Divemaster, but there are rules and regulations set by PADI Standards, which PADI professionals must abide.
You will learn all about this during the PADI Divemaster course though!

To fulfill your adventurous streak, our professional internship programs are fully inclusive to allow you to comfortably reach your goal to become the PADI professional. It includes UNLIMITED scuba diving within the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park consisting of 49 dive sites, which is where our island beach house is based. Our dive operations conduct 3 dives a day, every single day of the year: boat dives, jetty dives and shore dives!
Not only this, but our internship candidates are offered discounted prices on dive packages to world-class dive destinations, such as Sipadan Island!

Any other questions you have on how to become a PADI PRO, or about what we can offer you in Borneo, feel free to message me or contact our HQ direct!

Happy diving, Tabascocat!

 

[String]

Unfortunately what could have been a helpful post has been clouded by shameful advertising. It detracts from the thread.

 

[spc751]

I think that the first thing that an ow diver who is cave diving and deep (192") diving needs to work on is wisdom.

 

[Tabascocat]

Well, completed AOW this past Sunday, got the CPR/FA last week and now just awaiting the next Rescue class to start. Still not sure what to do after but I am enjoying the classes.

Probably going to take a buoyancy and photography class before we hit Roatan, I want to be able to take better pictures and further develop some skills.