Divemaster certification
September 25th, 2007 Filed Under Uncategorized
I recently completed the PADI Divemaster certification. I was interested in taking the course as part of my initiative to be a better diver; I liked the idea of revisiting and mastering the basic skills from Open Water (OW) class, as well as learning more of the science behind diving. Secondarily, it did sound interesting to perhaps work with a shop in assisting OW classes.
The DM course is basically four parts:
- Re-learning the basic open water skills to a higher level of critique than before, plus adding a few additional skills
- The study of the physics, physiology and other subject areas to have a better understanding of the principles behind the principles learned in the open water and other courses.
- An introduction to being a teaching assistant and run through of the programs a Divemaster can teach
- Review of some aspects of the Rescue course
The water skills part of the course focuses on the ability to have “demonstration quality” skills so that the Divemaster can demonstrate a skill taught in OW class to a student that may be having some difficulty and requiring one on one work. So all the fun skills from OW have to be reviewed and rehearsed to where the diver can not only completely nail the skill, but also do it in a way that shows the steps involved so a student can be watching underwater and be able to pick up on how the skill is performed. Some other skills are thrown in to help build task loading ability, like doing a BCD remove and replace underwater, and the lovely underwater gear exchange with a buddy while buddy breathing (the exchange of mask, BCD and fins). I found that mastering these skills gave me a higher level of comfort and confidence in the water. I also felt more self-aware…like how a golfer and bowler will become more aware of what is going on in their swing as they build experience. With more self-awareness comes the ability to better fine tune technique and equipment.
The bookwork part of the course gave me answers to why some things are they way they are. I particularly enjoyed the study of physics and physiology, like more information behind decompression theory.
A Divemaster can teach a few PADI programs, like Discover Snorkeling and Skin Diver. We took turns teaching skills from a course to the rest of the class.
The review of the rescue technique of dealing with an unresponsive diver found underwater is always good to run through while being graded by an instructor.
So did I get what I wanted out of the class? Yes - my primary objective was accomplished. Would I recommend it to someone who wants to accomplish the same objective? Absolutely.
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