Life as a Divemaster Trainee

Why do people take the Divemaster course (DMT) in the first place? Over the years, and especially during my DMT now, I’ve met plenty of pro divers with different reasons on why they enrolled in the first place. Some take it because they have known all along that they want to work in the diving industry, others aren’t so sure about it and want to explore this kind of lifestyle – this being my case– and others just want to dive lots in a short period of time. However, most of us agree in one thing, the DMT is a very satisfying and rewarding experience.

You may be wondering, what exactly does a Divemaster do? That’s a fair question to ask… I can confidently say,  plenty of things. There are many steps along the way to become a competent Divemaster. From learning new words in order to understand the “dive slang”, going over the dive theory, filling up tanks, handing out the right gear to customers, working in social media, designing and re-designing emergency action plans, all the way to leading fun dives, learning how to create a customer-divemaster relationship based on trust and, most importantly, building up your confidence to respond to difficult situations.

The day-to-day varies depending on how busy the dive center is. Some days, you barely have enough time to eat in between dives and are pleading, internally, for a break. Then, what we call dry days arrive and we are pleading, not internally this time, to get back into the water. Truth is, diving is so magical and rewarding, that we don’t want any dry days, even if we are exhausted.

Bottom line, the life as a Divemaster is a roller-coaster of emotions, experiences, learning processes and very satisfying moments. Whether I decide to devote my life to diving or not, is yet to be seen, but one thing is for certain, the sense of responsibility and accountability that the Divemaster program has taught me will be invaluable in many aspects of my life.