I am thinking about doing my Divemaster training (DMT)

What do I need to consider?

The Divemaster course prepares you to deal safely with various stressful situations and to guide divers at different dive sites. As this is the first professional level, you need to allow 1-2 months for this course. Thorough preparation for such a long course is important.

You need to save enough money to pay for the course itself, your equipment, rent and daily living expenses.
You should also consider where you want to do the course and for what reasons.

Professional or not?

First the crucial question:
Do you want to do your Divemaster course for your personal development or to work in the diving industry afterwards?
Your ambitions will influence your choice of store and training.

If you want to develop personally and use this course to do so, you should focus on the areas in which you want to develop. You should also communicate this very clearly, as otherwise the training will be designed to prepare you for working in the diving industry.

If you would like to work in this industry afterwards, you should focus on a good education and the opportunity to gain experience afterwards.
In this case, you should be aware that the course is not conducted like all other previous courses. The instructor rarely only has time for this course, it tends to run alongside it, as you will be learning how to assist, guide, deal with customers, store and dive site organization, etc.
Especially if you plan to become a diving instructor afterwards, this course is an important foundation for your future career. The better the Divemaster course, the better you will be as a diving instructor.

The choice of dive store

It is advisable to choose a dive store that you already know and like. If this is not possible, you should think about where you would like to dive and choose the store accordingly.

Have you thought about all this? Great. Then start your search. Research the various stores there are, read through the homepages, reviews etc etc

See the article How to choose a dive shop

In addition to these considerations, there are other questions you should ask.

What questions to ask?

Ask the dive store questions to avoid misunderstandings, e.g. about the training structure, the included services and costs, accommodation and living costs during the training as well as insurance and work requirements.

Here are a few examples of helpful questions:

• How is the training structured?
• How much time will I spend in the water with the instructor?
• What is included in the price (equipment, certification fees, training material, dives)?
• If not included: What additional costs will I incur, or what equipment will I need?
• How much will my accommodation and daily living costs be?
• Am I insured against diving accidents during the training, or do I need to have my own insurance?
  • Do I have to sell without being paid for it?
  • There are stores that expect you in the DMT to bring customers into the store or to sell without receiving commission, although permanent employees receive this in the same situation.
    Clarify this beforehand and decide for yourself whether you want this or not.
  • There are also stores that pay DMTs commission for completed sales. This gives you a better incentive and allows you to earn some money on the side.
• Do I have to work in the store? If so, how long, how much and how often do I get time off?

Which organization to choose?

The choice of diving organization for the Divemaster course depends on your long-term goals.

If you are taking this course for your own development, it doesn’t really matter.

If you want to become a diving instructor, it is helpful (but not essential) to choose the same organization as for the later diving instructor course. The course already teaches the relevant standards, skills etc. that you will learn later on in the instructor course. In this way, the Divemaster course guarantees seamless training in the same organization as the instructor course.

There are a few differences in the structure of the training.

The PADI Diver Master course is a course that includes all diving theory in addition to assisting and guiding training.

SSI has divided this course into 3 steps. The “Dive Guide”, “Science of diving specialty”, “Divemaster”.
The “Science of Diving Specialty” can be taken at any time after an “Open Water Diver” certification. “Dive Guide” is a course and only in the combination of a certified Dive Guide in professional status with Science of Diving Specialty can the Divemaster certification be applied for.

(As of April 2024, changes are expected to be introduced soon)

A certified and active PADI Divemaster may conduct refresher courses independently.
A certified and active SSI Divemaster is not allowed to do this. In SSI, only an assistant instructor may conduct a refresher.

Read more in What exactly is the difference between PADI and SSI?

What does the Divemaster training include?

The Divemaster course is one of the longest and therefore most intensive courses.
You need to plan at least 3 weeks (I would personally only recommend this if you have previously completed all courses with the same shop/instructor) and up to 2 months just for this course.
My personal tip: take the time you need to feel confident (especially if you want to work as a professional). Of course, this depends on your previous experience.

Prerequisites for this course

As in all other articles, I will only discuss PADI and SSI as a training organization.
SSI divides the content that PADI teaches in a course into 3 steps.
All information mentioned below are excerpts from the PADI Instructor Manual 2024 or the SSI Instructor Manual as of April 2024.

PADI DIVEMASTER COURSE:

• Minimum age: 18 years
• Certified PADI Advanced Open Water Diver and PADI Rescue Diver
  (or equivalent certification from another recognized dive training organization)
• 40 logged scuba dives
• Participation in the EFR Primary Care and Secondary Care courses within the last 24 months
• Medical certificate confirming fitness to dive within the last 12 months
• Junior Divemaster course: At least 15 years of age, at least 20 logged scuba dives, parts of the official course, no PADI members, no certified assistants, at least 40 logged scuba dives at the end of the course, exercises to be performed are marked with an * below

SSI DIVE GUIDE COURSE:

• Minimum age: 15 years (at least 18 years to be able to work in active status as a Professional Dive Guide)
• 40 logged open water dives, with at least 25 hours diving time
• SSI certification Diver Stress & Rescue
  (or equivalent certification from another recognized dive training organization)
• SSI certification Deep Diver | Deeper than 30 meters
  (or equivalent certification or proof of at least 5 experience dives)
• SSI Certification Navigation
  (or equivalent certification or proof of at least 5 experience dives)
• SSI certification Night & Limited Visibility
  (or equivalent certification or proof of at least 5 experience dives)

SSI DIVE MASTER:

• Minimum age: 18 years
• 60 logged open water dives with a minimum dive time of 40 hours
• SSI Science of Diving certification (no equivalency allowed)
• SSI certification Professional Dive Guide in active status (no equivalency allowed)

What is taught

The Divemaster course covers a variety of topics including self-help underwater, creating dive site maps, dive briefings, assisting on courses, independent guiding and dealing with diver problems.

PADI DIVEMASTER COURSE:

• Theory part *
  • Role and characteristics of the PADI Divemaster
  • Supervision of general diving skills for certified divers
  • Assist in the training of divers
  • Programs that can be conducted independently by the Divemaster
  • Diving physics and physiology
  • Marine and fish science
  • Equipment knowledge
  • Diving business
  • (organizational standards)
• Creating an emergency plan for a dive site *
• Endurance exercises for water skills
  • 400 m swim *
  • 15 min treading water *
  • 800 m snorkeling *
  • 100 m towing an unresponsive diver *
  • Underwater equipment exchange
• Rescue of an unresponsive, non-breathing diver *
• Diving skills workshop (Skill Curcuit)
  • Learning to demonstrate training exercises
• Practical application skills
  • Preparation and management of the dive site *
  • Creating a dive site map *
  • Dive briefing *
  • Search and rescue scenario *
  • Deep dive scenario
• Program workshops conducted by the DM
  • PADI ReActivate Program (Refresher)
  • Supervision of snorkeling
  • PADI Discover Scuba Diving in Confined Water
  • PADI Discover Scuba Diving further open water dive
  • PADI Discover Local Diving in Open Water (Fun Diver guide)

• Practical exams
  • Open Water Diver student divers in confined water
  • Open Water Diver student divers in open water
  • Student divers in a continuing education program in open water
  • Certified divers in open water
• Fulfillment of the professionalism criteria *

Further requirements for graduation:

• At least 60 logged scuba dives
  with experience in night diving, deep diving and underwater navigation
• PADI membership and license agreements

Authorization in active status:

• Authorization to accompany certified divers on recreational dives
• Act as a certified assistant in courses
• Training and certification PADI Advanced Snorkelers
• Conduct PADI Discover Snorkeling Program
• Conducting the PADI ReActivate program for certified divers
• Participate in the PADI DSD Leader Workshop
• Participate in the PADI Assistant Instructor course
• Participate in the PADI Instructor Course

SSI DIVE GUIDE COURSE:

• Theory part
  • What is a dive guide
  • Preparation for the dive
  • Execution of the dive
  • Diving emergencies
  • Your career with SSI
  • (organizational standards)

• Water fitness
  • 700 m snorkeling or 375 m swimming
  • 15 min treading water
  • 25 m snorkel dive
• Snorkeling Skills Workshop
  • Learn to demonstrate snorkeling training exercises
• Open Water Diver Skills Workshop
  • Learn to demonstrate open water training exercises
• Workshop Diver Stress & Rescue Skills
  • Rescue of an unresponsive, non-breathing diver including 100 m towing
• Evaluation of the dive briefing
• Evaluation of dive management
• Workshop on night and deep dives

Requirements for graduation

• At least 50 logged open water dives with at least 32 hours diving time

Authorization in active status:

• Authorization to accompany certified divers on recreational dives

Professional Dive Guides in active status may also

• Training and certification SSI Snorkel Diver Program
• Qualify for the SSI Divemaster level by successfully completing the Science of Diving Specialty program

Dive Guides are not allowed to

• Dive Guides are not allowed to
• Conduct, teach or assist in SSI training programs for non-certified divers

SSI Science of Diving Specialty

This specialty program can be carried out at any time from a minimum age of 10 years.

Contents:

• Diving physics
• Diving physiology
• Decompression theory
• The components of the Total Diving System & accessories
• The underwater world

SSI DIVE MASTER

In addition to the authorizations of an active SSI Professional Dive Guide, the SSI Divemaster may act in active status:

• Act as a certified assistant
• Assist on open water training dives
• Qualify as a Training Specialist for the SSI Ecology Specialty programs
• Participate in the SSI Asstistant Instructor course
• Participate in the SSI Instructor Training Course

In addition to all these contents and criteria, all professional divers should demonstrate exemplary behavior, as both divers and students are guided by our behavior. This includes perfect buoyancy control (preferably with a correctly executed frog kick), exemplary environmental behavior, fish knowledge and so on.
You see, no matter which organization you choose in the end, a very extensive knowledge should be passed on here. Now you can decide for yourself whether a 3-week course can teach you all this adequately.

In my personal experience and opinion, DM training is the most important foundation for becoming a good diving instructor.
Unfortunately, this course is too often seen as just another diving course that should be completed as quickly as possible. As the instructor is often not given extra time off for this course, the instructor has more work and less time.

But if you find a store that takes the trouble to conduct the divemaster training in the best possible way, takes the time to do it and prepares the students so that they can then go into the water with customers anywhere in the world in places they don’t know and guide them – jackpot.

DMT Internship – Yes or no?

Once again, there is no universal answer.
There are good ones and there are bad ones.

Options

There are paid internships, which are primarily about gaining experience during or after completing the course.
With this option, you spend a certain amount of time (2-6 months) in a store, are trained and gain practical experience, but are a paying customer the entire time.
This also gives you the opportunity to address any shortcomings in the training without having to feel uncomfortable.

However, internships are generally understood to mean unpaid training in return for subsequent work.

At this point, I would like to address all so-called influencers who think they can “buy” diving training for the equivalent of a few reels.
If you make such a request, please be aware of how much the training you are asking for will cost and work out how much you can afford to pay.
Only then will you have any chance at all.
Asking for a DM training course worth around €1,000 and offering 1 reel per week for the duration of the training would be the equivalent of €250 per reel for a 1-month training course. If you can offer these prices, you no longer need free training.

Pro and Contra

Personally, I’m not a fan of unpaid work in the first place, but I also did it in my early 20s to pay my monthly sports fee, for example.

Whether in the diving industry or others. Internships can be good, but can also be exploited for free employees.

There are stores that “beat” the training in 1 month and then let the candidates do a full-time unpaid job as a guide for the remaining months.
Or the candidates do a lot of fun dives, get certified at the end, but have only seen the certifying instructor for 3 days.

However, there are also correctly conducted internships, where there is intensive training with the diving instructor. You then gain experience by working as an unpaid divemaster.

Either way, you have to bear in mind that you also have to cover the cost of living each month in advance.

What questions should you ask yourself

• Do I want to be a paying customer and therefore have the chance to claim the corresponding training?
• Is it really cheaper if I do an internship?
  • The time that has to be added after the actual training to work through it has to be financed in advance. So is it cheaper for me to pay 1-2 months of training + living costs, or 6 months of living costs without income?
• How is the training set up and what exactly is expected of me afterwards?
• What happens if I can’t complete the internship period?

My advice

Ask for a detailed training plan including costs and value. This will give you an idea of how the training will be organized and how long it will take.
If the store is unable to present this to you, this is actually already a negative sign.

Of course, such plans can change depending on the store’s workload, weather conditions, illness, etc.
But then you also have something in your hand that you can use to determine whether all content has been completed or whether you are behind schedule. For example, if you fall ill and your training is delayed, what happens to the internship?
What happens if the store causes the delay?

We often make the mistake of forgetting that this training is also a kind of service contract. So approach the search in the same way. Ask for some kind of contract or written commitment.
Don’t blindly run into a training course just because you’re excited that you’ll soon be living abroad for a few months.

Also, don’t think of the training as a diving vacation with a party.
No matter how much fun everything is, you are working during this time and representing the store as if you were permanently employed there.
Of course you should be allowed to have fun during your time, no question. But the store also has to be able to rely on you, plan with you and can’t afford to have a sleepy, hungover DMT in the store in the morning.

What does professional diving equipment mean?

If you want to continue with your career immediately afterwards, you should also consider buying all your equipment in advance or during your course.
As a certified divemaster, it’s easier to get jobs if you have your own professional equipment.

• Fins, mask and snorkel
• Buoyancy control device (BCD)
• Breathing regulator system with primary regulator and alternative air supply, inflator, pressure gauge
• Weight system
• Dive computer
• Appropriate cold protection for the local diving conditions (wet or drysuit)
• Compass
• DSMB (surface signal buoy)
• Surface emergency signal (whistle, horn etc)
• Knife or cutting tool
• Logbook

“Zero to hero” Dive Master Course?

Meaning

In both divemaster and instructor training, “zero-to-hero” means that someone can become a divemaster or instructor practically in one go without any diving basics.

Here, too, there are pros and cons.

Pro and Contra

The clear advantage is that you complete the entire training in one store and possibly even with one instructor.
This can be a good thing, as the instructor gets to know you very well through the time spent on the various courses and therefore knows exactly what you have already learned and what you have not.

Contra may be that the training is carried out with the absolute minimum requirements and is therefore not good in the worst case. Or that the appropriate time and intensity is not spent.

---

Conclusion

I personally paid for all my training. I calculated and saved everything in advance and have done well with it. However, I also deliberately took my time with my training.

If you can’t do this but don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to train, do a lot of research and find the best option for you.

In my personal opinion, Divemaster training is the most important foundation for good instructor training later on, so I would always recommend taking your time with this. Or to do the training with the same instructor if you have completed all other courses with the same instructor beforehand, as this instructor will then know you very well.

My personal recommendation is: Enjoy the time working as a divemaster before you do the instructor course. You gain a lot of experience, can teach in a certain way and, above all, enjoy many, many fun dives without having a legal obligation for your divers. It’s a great, fun and exciting time.

If you are working towards becoming an instructor, be aware that teaching new divers is also exciting and a lot of fun, but there is also the legal responsibility for the safety of your divers.
The better prepared you are and the more diving experience you have gained beforehand, the better and easier the job will be.