Saturday morning I finished the open water portion of my Rescue Diver class, and passed with flying colors! I’m pretty psyched.
For those of you who aren’t divers, this doesn’t mean that I can do anything like drop out of a helicopter into the North Altantic during a storm or anything like that, but I should stand a better chance than before of helping someone out who is having trouble. It’s really a good class for improving your diving skills and increasing self-reliance and self-confidence.
The best part is that the instructor pulled aside one other student and me, and asked if we’d considered going on to Dive Master, as he thought we had the skills and attitude for that next step. I don’t know if I will do that or not, but it was nice to be complimented like that.
Nicely done, congratulations. Dive master is a big step, but think of how much fun it would be to plan dive trips to the carribean and be able to negotiate those sweet dive trip rates around your schedule.
Every diver should really be a Rescue Diver; IMHO, this is really the minimum skill level that anyone should be at if they are diving unescorted. There is nothing so fearful as being out away from the boat, or out beyond the surf, and having your buddy come up face down and unresponsive. Kudos to you for aspiring to this training, and practice your skills regularly.
When I was instructing I would do this with any AOW or Rescue Diver student who seemed basically competent and level-headed. Instructors are almost always hurting for DMs. Not that you shouldn’t feel complimented, and being a DM is a great way to get out regularly and dive without having to pay for boats or air, and if you are working through a shop they’ll generally give you the at-cost discount (or cost plus some nominal percentage, much lower than retail markup). On the other hand, it can get really, really tiring dealing with students who don’t take the skills seriously, or flake out halfway through a dive because they don’t know how to swim, et cetera. But working for a good instructor it is a usually positive experience on the balance.
Again, good job, and good luck in your diving endeavors.
