My first 2 weeks of the Dive Master Internship in Costa-Rica

Dear Dive Master Diary, it’s been a while since I last wrote a blog. The Dive Master internship has officially started and it’s been interesting and diverse. We kicked off with a full day in class, divemaster theory. There’s a fairly sized PADI Dive Master Manual that every trainee has to learn, with a lot of physics as well. So the first 10 days that I got in Playas del Coco were mostly spent studying this Dive Master manual. There’s an exam to follow up on this Dive Master Manual that you need to pass with a 75% correct score. I haven’t taken my exam yet as I’m not convinced I really know what I should know yet. So some study sessions at a pool will be an absolute must.

A lot of people have been asking me what I exactly do all day, so I’ve decided to keep a dive activity track record or as I’d like to call it Dive Master Data You can find it right on this page at the Dive Master Data button, underneath the Diving menu. Basically, it looks like this:

A Dive Master Internship has a variety of different tasks. Here at Rich Coast Diving the aim is to get as much experience as you can in all kinds of different fields. My aim is to get as much blue dive squares on my Dive Master Data as possible, but I do realize that DM theory and DM pool skills are also important activities that need to be addressed. I’ve been told the longer I’m into the Dive Master Internship the more I’ll wish for a quiet day in the shop… but we will see about that!

Most of the time I have been diving though and so far it has been fun. The first week I joined instructors on their dives that were guiding a group of guests just to get back into the diving. These were very relaxed dives where I could really get an idea of the diving here in the Gulf of Papagayo. So far my first dive has been my best dive, two big white tip reef sharks! Amazing. I’m hoping to see a lot more sharks in my time here. I am enrolled to do the Shark Awareness Specialty and I really hope I get to go to Bats Island. Bats island is a dive site approximately 1,5 hour away by boat that on a good day has loads of Bull Sharks and Giant Manta Rays.

The last few dives that I’ve made have all been dives where I was assisting our Instructor, who is the only Platinum Course Director in Costa-Rica. My fellow Dive Master Trainees were all participating in the PADI Search & Recovery Specialty and the PADI Deep Dive specialty. Since I’d already done those specialties in Spain and The Netherlands I was assisting in the courses. My job was to bring the lift bags, bring ropes to practice knots underwater and help out during navigation if someone went off course.

The schedule right now says that tomorrow we’re going to practice Dive Master Skills in the pool. Basically, there are 24 skills that a Dive Master has to master on a level that he can also demonstrate it to a student that is learning how to dive. So it’s not so much being able to clear your masker or make a controlled emergency swimming ascent but it’s mostly about being able to demonstrate how that is done.

So yeah, that’s what I’ve been busy with. On my off days, I made a trip to Liberia and have been working on my thesis mostly. To be continued amigo’s!