The final week of divemaster training essentially involves scuba diving two or three times per day! The latest one involved assisting advanced students on their first deep dive to 32 meters. While keeping a watchful eye on the group, we did come across four Whitetip Reef Sharks, which was very special. They all squealed with delight over this encounter once they could use spoken verse back on the boat.
The two elderly divers who I assisted the previous day, had a very different experience. They both vomited profusely (on the boat and underwater). The one immediately quit after that. The other persevered and ultimately enjoyed her second dive. To be fair, the current had been quite fierce and bobbed them all over the place.
It feels good to be in a more professional position. The thought of getting one person feeling passionate about scuba diving and experiencing the awe and wonder of what’s down there, is very rewarding. Another experience was assisting with something called Discover Scuba. This allows people to scuba dive at a shallow depth with minimal training. Your role as a DM is to basically drag them along by the cylinder valve and maintain their buoyancy. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to give SCUBA a go.
It still blows my mind how such a craft requires such low criteria regarding age. You can be a divemaster leading a large group of adults at age 18. The minimum age to be a fully qualified Open Waters diver who can decend to 18 meters, is 10. There is even a Bubble Maker course where you can scuba dive at 2 meters by age 8.
It was time to get fully geared-up as a divemaster. There had been lots of talk of a man named Max who is certified to sell secondhand scuba gear. Many of the Dive Instructors here have bought kit from him, so I gave him a ping and recently received my own BCD and regulator by post! I’m now fully-equipped with my own gear sans a dive computer. “Dear Santa…”
On a final note, I’m still getting used to shaving my face. I arrived with a full beard which I had not chopped off in more than 10 years! Upper-lip follicles assist water with leaking into your mask, so I did it all for the cause and it has made a big difference. I like to think of my old beard as an anti-aging investment that protected me from UV rays all these years. If I don’t look a few years younger, I certainly feel that way.
Next: Dive Briefings, Sharks, Buoy Lines and Bubbles
Previously: Open Waters Assist as a Divemaster
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