June 2017

Pez Maya
PADI DIVEMASTER PROGRAM AT PEZ MAYA

Objectives
For the first time conduct a comprehensive and world class PADI Divemaster
Training Program at Pez Maya.
To train PADI professionals with an in depth knowledge of conservation.

Summary

Over the past couple of months the PADI Divemaster Training Program at Pez Maya
has been in full swing. We are now coming up on the first two candidates completing
their training. It has been a long road, but through dive skills workshops, rescue train-
ing, leadership presentations, and many hours underwater we have achieved a result
that can rival any dive center when it comes to producing an all-round confident dive
professional.

Report

There are many dive centers in the Yucatan Peninsula that provide and promote
Divemaster Training (DMT) programs to their interns and staff. Here at Pez Maya we
took that notion and expanded it to not only produce dive professionals, but to produce
dive professionals with a scientific background who can truly make a difference within
the world wide diving community.

From the start of the program the volunteers learn coral or fish identification, and
monitoring techniques, buoyancy skills, dive skills, leadership techniques, and many
more even before starting the DMT Program. This allows them to be very well pre-
pared and confident about moving towards a professionally based career as a
Divemaster.

Figure 1 Divemasters in training to hunt lionfish

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Once they are in the DMT Program they start to focus more on leadership skills, deal-
ing with potential diving problems and how to solve them, briefing and debriefing divers
on particular activities, and of course mastering scuba diving theory at a high level.
These interns also focus most of their time to continue developing their knowledge on
conservation issues, they help out on the training of new volunteers on fish, coral and
monitoring methodologies, haunting lionfish; they are also in charge of organizing Pro-
ject Aware activities such as Dive Against Debris and beach clean ups. During their
placement, they assist the staff on overlooking some of the data collection and report
writing.

The DMT Program at Pez Maya since its conception has definitely caught the eye of
many volunteers coming into the program who are not just looking into start a profes-
sional career on diving but are more interested in developing their scientific skills. More
and more candidates are extending their stay to be able to participate in a program
that is truly unique to GVI Mexico.

Figure 2 Our first two participants with their dive instructors

For more information on the projects here in Mexico, visit:

http://www.gvi.co.uk/location/yucatan/

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