A Day in the life of a Dive Master

I wake up at 7:00am, jump out of bed, wolf down a bowl of cereal and Im out the door. Today is the first day of my Divemaster course and I do not want to be late. As I walk down the Queenscliff steps on my way to PRO DIVE Manly I go over in my head all of the training that Ive received up til this point. I arrived in Australia about a month ago as an Open Water diver and so far Ive had a great time in my Advanced and Rescue diver courses.

The Divemaster course, however, is the real reason why Im out here. As a recent Uni graduate I have opted to take an unconventional route and go for a professional career in Scuba diving. Because I am on holiday and my time is limited I will be doing the DM course full-time. I have heard this will be quite a commitment but theres nothing else that I would rather be doing.

Diving is a definite passion of mine; and working as a DM would be an ideal job for me. I get to be outside in the sun everyday, theres a very good chance Ill have an opportunity to work on boats (as long as I get my deckhand certification soon). I also already know that Ill like the people Im going to work with everyday. The employees at PRO DIVE Manly are an easy-going bunch but they share an infectious passion for all things involving the ocean.

Once I finish the DM course Ill have a chance to work alongside them for three weeks because PRO DIVE offers real work experience. If I do well on the course and show the managers that Im a hard working fellow then they may choose to keep me as part of the staff for longer. All these thoughts swirl through my head as I arrive at the front door of the shop. I pause to make sure I have all of my belongings, take a deep breath, and enter. Im a bit nervous but more just really excited. This is the first step in my career as a professional Scuba diver.