The only way to do it if you want to dive...
Ratings
Review
I had a strong intention to pursue diving to its fullest and the decision of becoming a DM brought an enormous variety of options for education. IOP won this battle very quickly through their passion for conservation, introductions to Marine Biology and quite frankly; their attitude towards diving itself. I feel blessed to have learnt from these extraordinarily capable divers and make the connections i already know will last a lifetime.
This is a program where you work hard. They are not here to churn out DM's, you are expected to give your all because they give their all and it comes with an insanely detailed/comprehensive introduction to the various worlds in which are available to pursue after the program on top of your DM education, so beware...if you are a "lazy diver" this is not for you. This is Real Deal. It is taught with passion and fantastic ethic.
After that it comes to days on end of diving in a very special place, any question, pursuit of further knowledge or query answered, an insane achievement of managing everybody's expectation/demands/desire and skill level's at the same time and all of it no matter what resulting in the best dive's possible...this was truly a monumental way to transition from a dive enthusiast to a dive professional and even after graduating they're still helping me in every pursuit. I have built the utmost respect and love for these professionals and would recommend them to anyone pursuing the fields they are promoting.
Naturally my maniacal side would suggest more strong current dives and more tests in tough conditions / less of a safety blanket as sometimes it felt a shame to move at the pace of those least willing to really test their limits but i know thats just also my ego and wanting to be prepared for anything via an environment where im surrounded by people as capable and as experienced as you all.
Learn from the best in the arena so to speak. We are at the will of mother nature down there so manoeuvring her path is an utmost priority for those looking to be professionals imo.
I think it would be great to have a dedicated Currents workshop....and i mean that fully literally. You all have insane experience in these waters and i think a workshop on why they appear, what they are, what a (from experience) accurate course of action/prediction etc would be super awesome for the course. During my internship some interns would freak at a mild or moderate change or condition switch and everybody has their own limits but i'd fucking love to hear Pascal or Serena or Michaela talk about their ABC's of these currents. Even Romy and Arya because that shit cannot be written in an SSI text book. Thats real deal life experiences which those interns who seek to become Guide's and Instructors would benefit greatly from. Reading currents from the boat (big one!), emergency procedures etc....This could be expanded to shore entries and exits as we've seen some crazy ones at Crystal Bay and i've seen people basically losing their shit and abandon... I think the best DM's would benefit from more expansive (real life experience based) training in this because some rich demanding asshole customer who doesn't know this stuff might seriously cause problems in their professional future if they aren't prepared.
lastly i think you could approach the clean ups with a slightly different mentality....regrettably i write this because of people... NOT IOP....i had an idea to do it like a dive, 60 min or 70bar --- 60 min or a full bag. Many interns are half assed about this kind of stuff and generally not ready to work hard anyway so theres no loss there...those willing to do it clean up more and get more done quickly and those who do not still put in the time. They all wanna dive so chin up and crack on, they're just improving their own dive sites and doing something good for this shit show of a world.
Other than that i cant feel more blessed for the training i've received and the connections i've made. You guys are gonna be stuck with me a loooooong time xxx