Join our Divemaster candidates on their PADI Divemaster Course
Cyprus is perfect for getting started in the diving industry. With our PADI Divemaster Programm you will get the perfect preparation for the future as a PADI Divemaster.
To give you an insight into this varied and great training, this year's candidates summarize their course in an exciting blog.
Overview
Get ready - The introduction week
Week 3 - coming soon
Week 4 - coming soon
The introduction week
written by Pascal
On Sunday, April 9th, the big adventure started: Daniel did the introduction for the Divemaster course in the afternoon. First there was an insight into what we can expect in the next few weeks. After that some administrative work was done. The biggest change from Switzerland to Cyprus is the road traffic. We hoped that we would get a bit more time to get used to driving in left-hand traffic, which unfortunately wasn't the case.
Immediately after the introduction, we went to Agia Napa to have dinner together and some drinks. As prospective role models for divers, we left the pub at 10pm and headed home.
On Monday, April 10th, fun dives were on the agenda. We packed everything and went to Cyclops Cave. Here we were allowed to accompany an adventure dive for the AOWD which was a deep dive. The weather was fine and after 40 minutes we came out of the rather cold water. Then we warmed up briefly and drove to the second dive site, which was at De Costa Bay. When we arrived, the weather unfortunately changed and the sea was already very choppy. Dani briefly explained the characteristics of the dive site and how to read the waves. After a brief discussion we decided to drive to another dive site as the conditions were too difficult.
After a short drive we arrived at Green Bay, where a strong wind welcomed us. Again, we decided to forgo the dive. Then we went back to the shop and the first day came to an end.
Tuesday, April 11th, started with the theory on Emergency First Response, which is a necessary course to start with the Dive Master Course. After short practical exercises, it was already time for a quick break, during which we went to get our diving certificate from the doctor. In the afternoon, we went to the beach to practise and consolidate what we had learned in various scenarios.
Wednesday and Thursday we spent with the Rescue Diver Kurs, which took place at De Costa Bay. The water was cold and choppy, which made it a little harder. Various topics were covered such as self-rescue and rescue scenarios above and below water. The focus was on the infamous rescue exercise number 7 which consists of bringing an unresponsive diver to the shore or to the boat and giving him recue breaths every 5 seconds. At the end of the course, we had to act through the full scenario of a missing diver. The aim was to locate a diver, bring him to the surface and pull him safely to shore.
The whole exercise was very stressful and everyone was already cold, which made it a bit more difficult. When we got back to the dive centre, we were allowed to complete a short test and then enjoy a beer together.
On Friday we started later and as luck would have it, the weather was suddenly nice.
Of course, there was no dive planned for that day. We had to spend the beautiful day preparing a presentation and planning a clean up.
So we learned as future diving professionals that you can't always rely on the weather.
Week 1 - Skills, Skills und Skills
Written by Sandra
Now we finally started the first official week of the Divemaster training. The weather was getting better and better and the whole gang was in a good mood.
On Monday there was a change of plan and wehad the chance to accompany the first DSD. Of course we were a little nervous, but the conditions were almost perfect and the nervousness was forgotten. First, the procedure and all the equipment was explained to the trial divers and then there was a short repetition of the diving rules. After the theory block, we headed to Green Bay and everyone got ready for the dive.
It was a great experience when we were allowed to accompany the two newbies on their first breaths under water.
At first the exercises were repeated and checked by Daniel. We could observe the whole thing from a safe distance. When everything was done, we finally started the actual dive. When we arrived at the "Fishrock", we took a few more pictures and then went back to the starting point. The two clients were overjoyed with the experience and astonished at how quickly the time underwater passed.
Once everyone was out of the water, we headed back to the diving centre for a well-deserved lunch.
In the afternoon, the first swimming tests were due. Before we started, however, we decided together with Daniel where the tests should take place. After a short discussion, we chose De Costa Bay. The first test was to swim 400 metres in a specific time. As we all wanted to turn around as little as possible, we decided to swim 2 x 200 metres. We also needed a canoe for safety reasons, which we first had to put onto the pick-up.
Daniel showed us how to do it properly. To our amusement, the canoe time on the pick up only lasted a few 100 metres and then it flew off the loading platform onto the road. Don't worry, no one was hurt 😊.
As soon as we arrived at De Costa Bay, we started with the 400-metre swim. After everyone had done the first test, we were allowed a short breather before starting the second exercise, which was much easier. On the way back we had an ice cream as a reward for passing the tests.
On Tuesday, the first skills were on the agenda. We all went together to Cyclops Caves to practise the first 12 skills. The weather was perfect to do the skills on this beautiful coast. Dani first showed us the skills that have to be performed on land. These included the buddy check and the assembly and disassembly of the equipment. As it was getting hotter and hotter, we could hardly wait to jump into the cold water.
In the water, we were shown the other skills, which we then had to repeat. We were in the water for about an hour and it was getting cold.
When we were done with the skills, we went back to the diving centre where we cleaned our equipment. Later, we had a short chat about the organisation of a dive site and then we had our well-deserved closing time.
Wednesday was mainly spent improving the skills and keeping them in mind. So we went to the beach independently and practised the skills in the water for about an hour. After lunch we gave a presentation about the characteristics of a Divemaster. Daniel was very pleased with our presentation and we had a great learning effect.
On Thursday, practising the skills was also on the agenda. In the morning we had a workshop on briefing at Cyclops Cave. Tamara showed us what we have to pay attention to and what a briefing includes. Everyone did a briefing and it went well for everyone. In the afternoon, we practised the skills again independently. In the evening, Daniel showed us three different knots, which we had to master for the next day.
On Friday morning we practised the skills again independently. After we came back, we went to eat together and then took care of the preparation for the upcoming clean up, which we organised on our own.
Before we went to the clean up, Daniel wanted to see if we could do the three knots we had learned blindfolded. For this purpose, we had to put on a diving mask which was taped.
To his delight, all four participants could already do the knots blindly. Fortunately, 8 people took part in the Clean Up. We managed to fill about 8 rubbish bags in one hour and then dispose them correctly. After the Clean Up we finished the day enjoying a beer together. The day was very successful and satisfying, so another very nice day came to an end.
Week 2 - Maps and charts
Written by Joel
The second week of the Divemaster course startet in the morning with endurance tests in 800m snorkelling and 100m "tired diver tow skill". The water was still a bit chilly, but once the exercises started, everyone warmed up a bit.
After lunch we continued with the theory of how to create a map of the dive site. As an example we had to map the divesite called "The Hole". After some initial difficulties in finding the entrance to "The hole", we went out again in otder to find it from above snorkelling. Which we then, lucky us, managed very quickly. The next day we went straight out to dive and map it. The days after we used to practice the 24 Open Water Skills that we have to be able to show in demonstration quality. Daniel introduced us to a few more dive sites, for each of which we have to create our own emergency plan. This means gathering important information about the dive site in case of an emergency, as well as how to handle procedures of first aid on that specific location. We are to solve the tasks set independently as a group, which helps a lot with the later requested skills in planning as a Divemaster.
As unfortunately the weather changed a bit we used the days to go through some more theory to give a presentation on the topic "decompression", which is a very complex but at the same time important and interesting topic. The presentation was then immediately transferred into another short theory block to increase understanding and knowledge.
At the end of the second week we organised another beach clean up at our local Pernera Beach. In one hour we were able to fill 2 big rubbish bags with rubbish. The most obscur item found was the front axle of a quad bike.
Week 3 - Search and Recovery
Written by Luca
On Monday, we started the fourth week with the second part of the diving skills. This includes skills such as swimming without a mask, taking off and putting back on equipment underwater, or dropping lead weights in an emergency. To go through these skills, we went to Cyclops Cave, where we first practised a few skills on land, so that we could later put them into practice in the water. Underwater, Daniel showed us each skill and we repeated them. Despite a few difficulties, everyone managed the skills quite well and gained experience on what to watch out for when practising. Especially taking off and putting back on the equipment turned out to be a challenge for everyone, two of the Divemaster trainees had some difficulties and did a little dance with their BCDs. Nevertheless, they handled the situation calmly and eventually managed to put their equipment back on without help. Afterwards, we discussed in the dive centre what was learned, what went well and what still needs to be improved.
On Tuesday we dedicated ourselves to the Search & Recovery skill. First we discussed when to use it, which search patterns can be used and how to choose the right lifting bag for a heavy object and use it properly. We then carried out the search patterns on land, practising again the use of a compass. Finally, we went to De Costa Bay to put the theory into practice. We split into two buddy teams and searched for small key rings using two different search patterns. We quickly realised that these search patterns work very well when executed correctly and that small objects can be searched for very efficiently.
Afterwards, we lifted a concrete block with the help of a lifting bag and moved it a few metres.
As the original plan for Wednesday was postponed, we had time to practice the skills we had learned on Monday on our own. We went to De Costa Bay in the morning and saw a sea turtle and two seahorses at the beginning of our dive. The sea turtle was later identified as Marie-Christine from our Xenios database. After we had all briefly observed the three sea creatures, we turned our attention to skills and everybody showed improvement compared to Monday.
Finally, on Thursday, we had the Rescue Excercise 7 Test and the Equipment Exchange Stress Test. The Rescue Excercise 7 was practiced extensively by all of us and therefore everyone performed the exercise well. The Equipment Exchange Stress Test on the other hand was new to all of us and we had to deal with many unexpected situations while exchanging equipment with the buddy. Nevertheless, everyone managed to perform the exercise calmly and everyone said afterwards that it was an interesting experience that was a lot of fun.
For Friday, skills practice was on the schedule again and we drove to Green Bay in the morning. When we arrived there, we saw that there were a lot of waves due to the wind, so the conditions seemed rather bad. After careful deliberation we decided to do the dive anyway to experience what it is like to dive in sub-optimal conditions. The dive out of Green Bay was a bit affected by the swell, but once we were a bit deeper it calmed down again and we were able to practice our skills well.
There was still strong wind on Saturday, which upset our plans. The plan was to do two deep dives at Cyclops Cave, but because of the strong wind there were too many high waves and we decided to postpone this. Instead we did a dive at De Costa Bay to retrieve the seahorses and practice how to use DSMBs properly, which was very educational for all of us.
Finally, on Sunday there was a trip to the underwater museum MUSAN as part of the workshop for the PADI Skin Diver course. Here we learned how to lead a snorkelling trip and how best to approach and solve problems. We also tried our hand at freediving and saw a group of cuttlefish. This was a very good end to the week.
Divemaster Course Information
When does the next PADI Divemaster course start?
Our PADI Divemaster courses always start in April and run until the end of May.
What are the prerequisites to participate?
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