Welcome to Arizona Diver Magazine!

Thinking About Going Pro?

By John Flanders, Master Instructor / Instructor Trainer
December 18, 2008 - Posted to AcademyofScuba.com
jflanders@academyofscuba.com

This is your year to do something new. Perhaps your bucket list includes a jump into Scuba or possibly advance your diving and become a dive professional. Whether you are at step 1, 2, or 50 in the process, it’s important to plan your quest out. Both tactically (how is it going to fit in your life) and financially – becoming a Divemaster is not like hitting the lottery.

The first thing I ask every Divemaster Candidate (“DMC”) to think about is, “are you sure being a dive professional is for you?” It’s a lot of work, with very little financial reward. The terms babysitting and herding kittens come to mind when I think of some of the duties of a Divemaster. And, while it may seem glamorous diving all over the world in exotic oceans, the reality is you may spend more time filling tanks.

Working with students and certified divers is an unquantifiable reward. There is no way to measure the impact you have while escorting someone into the lifetime of adventure a dive class can foster. If that reward is yours, now is the time to find the place to start your professional training quest.

Professional diving is still an industry of apprenticeship. Most dive shops foster a professional program amongst their top divers and find help from within. Like many apprentices of olden days, there is a cost to this. Thus, it is important to find a dive shop and instructor that wants to help mentor you into this position.

Finding the right place to do your Divemaster training is essential. It's got to be more than simple math, the cheapest price, or blanket statements like "we're the best". You have to find a shop whose training style is comfortable to you, because, someday you will be training other divers, hopefully, at that facility. You have to do more than just “bang for your buck” research. In this economy, you, as a DMC, have to feel confident that you're getting the best value for your training dollar.

Let me share with you a couple of thoughts: When someone asks me about my Divemaster class, they usually get one or several of the following responses (not necessarily in order):

1. When a candidate has completed our divemaster training, I would let them teach my children to dive (implied safety).


2. We invite you to compare our program to any of the competition, if you do not find it to be the best value, most complete, most diverse, and most comprehensive divemaster course offered, we will pay a $25 scholarship to the Divemaster program of your choice (implied quality and value).


3. Throughout our program, we have scheduled candidate conferences. These are review processes that show you exactly where you are in the process and allow us to make sure we are meeting your needs. It is in these conferences that we will guarantee you are meeting your potential and we are training you in the best way for you to succeed (implied customer satisfaction).

There’s a lot that goes into being a Divemaster. These are just a couple of examples of what to look for in a Divemaster program.

What is most important is you know exactly what training you are getting and at the end you and your instructor will feel confident that you can safely work with non-certified and certified divers.

Notice, I never mentioned agency in this section. Agency is irrelevant. If your shop trains its divers in one agency, you need to be a Divemaster for that agency. If your shop trains its divers in several agencies, you need to be a Divemaster for all those agencies.

Setting the Track
You’ve made the decision to become a dive professional, or maybe get on the “Go Pro” track. Good for you. The question becomes, are you ready? Let’s take a look at a typical training quest. This of course, is assuming that you are doing it part time, but will commit several hours per week to it. The following could be considered a conservative set of goals. It blends training with experience and lots of practice.

• Year 1: 50 dives - Rescue Diver, Nitrox, Drysuit, UW Navigation, Deep, and Buoyancy
• Year 2: 100 dives - Divemaster and maybe Solo Diver
• Year 3: 150 to 200 dives - Work a ton as a Divemaster / Assistant Instructor
• Year 4: 300 Dives - Instructor (continue working as DM) issue 25 certs and get MSDT
• Year 5: 400 Dives - IDC Staff Instructor (participate in 2 IDCs) Issue 100 certs
• Year 6: 500 Dives - Master Instructor Issue another 100 certs
• Year 7: 600 Dives - Issue another 100 certs, start thinking about Course Director

Yes, there are quicker ways to do it. Does it fit your needs? Will you be qualified ... not just certified. Yes, you could be more conservative than the above schedule. Go at your pace - no one else's.

As a diver and even Divemaster, it is important to take lots of specialties so you know how the course is sold, organized, and taught. As a Divemaster, you will be assisting with these classes. If you don’t know how it is run, how can you assist? As an instructor, take what you learned as a specialty diver and improve and apply for instructing the specialty.

Some Quick Tips

• Try to learn from several different instructors so you can see different styles so you will emulate what helps you best.
• Spend lots of time on Scubaboard.
• Attend DEMA.
• Dive Weekly – no matter what mud puddle you have to jump in.
• And, most importantly, have fun.

Good luck on your journey.