Scuba Diving International (SDI) hosted me at their headquarters in Stuart, FL for a jam-packed trip of training and learning about the dive industry!
One of the most exciting things I accomplished during my visit was completing my Divemaster certification! This meant starting my journey as a professional in the diving world, which has been a goal of mine since I became a diver.
What I found interesting about this training was the core focus on leadership and demonstrating dive skills at a high quality. As a Divemaster, you might lead others on a dive or even assist an instructor during a dive course. This means having a lot more responsibility and being held to higher standards as a diver.
Much of the training was doing skills I have done countless times during my time as a diver, but at a “demonstration level” quality, meaning someone could actually learn a skill from you demonstrating it. During my previous training, I learned and practiced fixing gear issues and rescue drills to the point where many of these skills have become second nature. Having to do these skills in a way that someone could really understand what you were doing was a challenge at first, and I had to keep reminding myself to take it slow!
One of my favorite memories from the course was practicing guiding dives and being the person in charge of pointing out cool things! One of the students I was guiding was recently Open-Water certified and hadn’t had that “wow” moment underwater yet. It was a beautiful, sunny day with great visibility, and in the distance, a spotted eagle ray appeared! After making sure everyone in our group saw it, we were all transfixed, motionless, as the ray swam past us. Having that beautiful experience with this student and seeing their excitement afterward was so special and made me even more excited about becoming a Divemaster.
During my visit, I also gave freediving a try! I had never done any formal freediving training, so I learned a lot about the physiology and safety associated with freediving. Practicing static breath holds was my favorite part! I went into the training with no expectations, thinking that it would be wild if I could even hold my breath for 1 minute…and I was able to do 2 minutes! This was such a fun experience where I was able to push myself beyond what I thought I was capable of. We had some bad weather roll in, so conditions weren’t good to go out and train in the open ocean, but I am so excited to continue my training in the future after getting this introduction. Another highlight was getting to sit down with Stephanie Miele, SDI’s COO to learn more about the dive industry and what it means to be a woman in leadership in the industry.
A huge thank you to SDI for having me and sponsoring these amazing training experiences! Special thanks to Sofia and Brian for being incredible instructors!
Thank you to the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society and our sponsor Rolex for making this scholarship experience possible. I would also like to thank Reef Photo and Video, Nauticam and Light and Motion for my underwater camera setup as well as Aqualung, Fourth Element, Suunto, Halcyon, and DUI for my diving equipment.
