Tag: Divemaster

There are two separate certification levels you can get that have very similar names: Divemaster, and Master Diver. One is a professional certification, the other is kind of like a certificate of achievement. What’s the difference, and why does everyone keep mixing them up?

The thing that makes it even more confusing is, for the most part, you take the same path to get to both Divemaster and Master Diver. You start with your Open Water certification, get your Advanced Open Water certification, then get your Rescue Diver certification.

From Rescue Diver, the path splits into two options: Divemaster, and Master Diver.

The Master Diver path ends. There are no further certifications that require Master Diver as a prerequisite.

The Divemaster path continues, and is a prerequisite for all the professional certifications like Instructor.

Master Diver doesn’t teach you new skills, and there’s no dedicated course you have to take in order to receive the title. There are requirements you have to fulfill to qualify:

• 50 dives

• Rescue Diver certified

• 5 specialty classes

Then you submit an application through a dive shop and get a spiffy new card!

What are specialty classes, then? Specialty classes teach an already-certified diver a specific scuba skillset, rather than teaching how to dive in general. Some are really technical and can be difficult, some are super easy and you basically just have to pay for the class to get the certificate. Some classes just teach you knowledge, others certify you to go to new depths or environments.

_{Courtesy of PADI}

Specialty classes like Coral Reef Conservation or AWARE Specialist don’t require dives, just a short classroom session. You don’t learn skills. I took both and thought they were valuable!

Classes like Emergency Oxygen Provider don’t require dives either, but they’re very hands on and teach you skills (usually first aid).

Classes like Underwater Naturalist, Boat Diver, or Night Diver require dives and teach you new skills, but don’t give you new permissions. Anyone can dive at night regardless of whether they have the Night Diver specialty certification; the class is still a good idea to take if you’ve never done a night dive before.

Classes like Cave, Deep, and Drysuit require dives– more than the average Specialty class– and give you permissions to do new types of dives. These are classes for which the type of diving carries more risk and/or you need to use specialized equipment, so you really need good training. No dive shop or guide will let you near a cave if you don’t have your Cave Diver certification.¹

Enriched Air Diver is a weird one because you aren’t required to dive for the class, but you can’t dive with enriched air unless you have the specialty class.

Since you don’t take a “Master Diver” course, this is considered a Rating rather than a Certification. However, nobody in real life calls it a Rating (except me, because I’m that nerdy about this stuff).

Divemaster is a whole course and it’s very involved. I have a couple comics on here about my Divemaster learning experience!

Here’s the thing: you can be BOTH a Divemaster AND a Master Diver. They are not mutually exclusive! If you are at least Rescue Diver certified, with 50 dives or more, and 5 Specialty classes, it doesn’t matter if you’re an Instructor or Divemaster or a Course Director, one of the highest levels where you can teach Instructors. You qualify, you can get the rating. Most Divemasters I’ve met have never applied for Master Diver though– I think they see it as a waste of time and money since they’re already professionals.

I think it’s an excellent excuse to get another spiffy card. I want to be a Divemaster and a Master Diver! Maybe I can combine the two names and call myself a Master Divemaster…

It’s a common question I see online: is getting Master Diver worth it? The general consensus is, no. I think it’s worth it, depending on what you want from scuba diving.

For example, if you’re an Open Water certified diver and you’re just interested in diving on vacation maybe 1-2 times a year, then any further certifications wouldn’t be needed. Unless of course you love diving and are interested in training more for the love of the sport.

If you’re a Rescue Diver, you’ve already got a huge requirement out of the way and you’re probably really interested in scuba. In this case, having Master Diver as a goal would be great in my opinion. Taking the 5 specialty classes and getting in more dives will make you a better, safer diver. I think it would also make you better prepared for if you wanted to become a Divemaster.

In sum, the biggest differences between Divemaster and Master Diver are the required training and what you can do with the certifications. You need to do a specific training course to become a Divemaster, and you then get to professionally guide people and potentially make money. Master Diver has requirements you fulfill on your own time, and is not a professional certification. You can be both if you’d like.

So, what do you think: would you be interested in becoming a Master Diver someday? Or maybe even… a Master Divemaster!

Courtesy of diver below

1. Well… they shouldn’t, but shops and guides make terrible decisions too. Don’t! Go! Cave! Diving! Without! The! Proper! Certifications!!! ↩︎

We last talked about the Gear Exchange, and how I initially failed it.

“Instead of exchanging masks, divers remove and replace their own masks.”

The PADI Instructor Manual had the info! That’s official, baby! And with just that one little change, I felt much more calm. I successfully completed the Gear Exchange the second time through, and it was shockingly easy when I had the right mindset.

With the hard part over, it was time to work on some other tasks.

I had no instruction on how to create the Emergency Plan or the Map. There’s also not a lot of guidance online!

Ah, Rescue Scenario #7! This is an assessment for Rescue Diver too. When I did it over ten years ago, I had to pull a fellow diver onto shore. This time, I had to tow the diver to a boat. I can barely remember my Rescue Diver training, but I feel like this time the assessment was so much easier.

I’m never going to live down the fact that I couldn’t tie the damn bowline. I was doing so well, but it was like all my practice and skill disappeared the moment I got underwater. I got water in my brain or something hah! And don’t even get me started on the 5 Point Ascent/Descent…

And the struggle didn’t end there. The next part of the course felt like a complete disaster. Nothing I did was right, and anything I thought I did well wasn’t good enough. Endless issues, endless frustrations. The stress kept building until it basically turned into a negative feedback loop: the instructor would get stressed, which would make me stressed, which would make the instructor stressed, which made me stressed… you get the idea. It was miserable, to be completely honest.

Oh boy!!! This is a long one because there’s so much that happened and so much to say about it.

A dive shop I visited told me about their Divemaster program, and I figured, why not do it now when I have the time and the motivation! Divemaster used to be a dream of mine as a kid, but as an adult I put the idea on the back burner . I have some chronic pain issues, so working a very physical job was probably not in the cards for me. I also had been enjoying just taking Specialty classes, and didn’t feel like I needed a professional rating.

Despite my many reservations, I decided to go for it. I thought if anything, it would make me a better diver. Plus, if I got in enough dives, it might be a cheap way to fill up more of my logbook!

Now that I’m done with the course I have mixed feelings about my training. Spoiler Alert: I passed! But I didn’t enjoy the experience. We had to figure out the training schedule as we progressed through the course, which made everything difficult because we had such a limited timeframe. As much as I like to think I’m spontaneous, I’ve discovered I learn a lot better when academic activities are streamlined and mapped out in advance (as much as possible).

All things considered I did get the certification, and after a lot of thought and rest… I think I did indeed become a better diver. And I did get in a ton of dives for cheap once I did the math.

Divemasters, once certified, can run and assist several programs. I have personally never met an instructor who had a divemaster as an assistant–it’s probably not cost effective– but that is a career option. Another career option is leading dives as a solo guide, and that’s been my experience.

Equipment! I love scuba equipment. Every time I walk into a shop, I want to buy *everything* even if I don’t need it. I just love all the tools! I needed to buy a few things for the course, and my wallet wept… I mean good grief, who knew a simple dive light could cost so much! Why is my beloved hobby so expensive!?

My course experience was unfortunately marred by some weird behavior from a potential instructor. Happily, I was able to switch to another instructor, but the last-minute nature of the change, the drama, and the fallout contributed to an already stressful learning environment. It’s a great reminder to really check the people who are going to be taking care of you. Plus, never accept bad treatment!

I found the eLearning to be pretty easy. The final module covers the harder topics, but you get access to reference material for the final exam. I was afraid the test was going to be extremely hard because everyone I talked to spoke about it fearfully. I’m terrible at taking tests, but with a little dedicated study I passed with 95%. Not too shabby.

Like I said, it’s an expensive hobby! There are so many costs associated with this course that aren’t talked about–I could barely find info online!– so if you’re considering taking the course yourself I hope this cost breakdown helps you plan/budget.

Nobody EVER believes me when I tell them I need extra weight. I’m buoyant! I’ve had a surprising number of Divemasters and Instructors comment that it looks unprofessional to wear a lot of weight. I think that’s dumb. I’d rather look unprofessional than not be able to get under the water, or shoot up to the surface at the end of a dive.

Ah… the gear exchange! Nightmare!

I do not panic under water. I haven’t ever been in a life-or-death situation that I can remember, but I really don’t panic when I’m diving. This is the first time I’ve done that! I was overexerting my lungs, clearing the ill-fitting mask, then having to hold my breath… it was a recipe for disaster.

For all that I internally panicked though, I somehow kept it together enough that the instructor didn’t realize I was panicking at all. According to him, I was very calm and everything was going great when I suddenly signaled to abort the dive. He was so confused on the surface.

Oof, I cried my eyes out after. I felt like I could barely breathe the rest of the day. It’s upsetting to me that I can consciously understand that I am not in danger, but have my body do its own thing and decide there’s a life-threatening emergency happening. I learned some interesting things about myself that day.