Most scuba certification agencies have a Master Scuba Diver certification. For most, the requirements are 50 logged dives and some number of specialties. Most require either Advanced Open Water or Rescue Diver certification. NAUI doesn't require any specialties, but requires eight training dives as part of the course. For most others, there is no course, it's simply an application after you have reached all the prerequisites.
So some would say that the NAUI Master Scuba Diver is better trained than the others since it's actually a training course. However, it only requires Advanced Open Water and no specialties. PADI Master Scuba Diver isn't a course, just an application, but you need to be a Rescue Diver and have five specialties.
So I suppose it's a wash. If you are a NAUI Master or a PADI Master, or an SSI Master, it's all about the same.
Regardless of what it is, I don't feel like a particularly experienced diver; in fact, I feel like a student. Sure, I have a lot more knowledge and skill than the average Open Water student, but I still feel like a student. I suppose if you put it in the context of school, Open Water is your Freshman year, Advanced Open Water is your Sophomore year, Rescue Diver is your Junior year, and Master is your Senior year. I think that about fits.
From here on out, it's graduate level courses. Divemaster is like becoming a college T.A. From there, Assistant Instructor, Open Water Instructor, Master Scuba Diver Instructor, etc are all various levels of graduate school/professorship. Sure you can learn with straight dive experience, but teaching can give you a whole new perspective on a subject.
I had never intended to become a scuba instructor. Not even Divemaster appealed to me six months ago. A lot has changed since then. A couple of months ago I said that I could see myself ending up as an instructor. Now it's starting to become a goal. Unless the Divemaster course changes my mind.
So now I'm a Master Scuba Diver, but I don't feel like a master. More like a master in training. Maybe all the tech stuff I've been doing lately has shown me a little bit of how much I don't know yet. Maybe the stupid mistakes I made last weekend humbled me. Regardless of why, I think accepting that there's a lot I don't know will help me in my training over the next year...
