Aren't "100" Dives enough!?!

[Mario S Caner]

LoCz, Everything you've planned on doing, I've done so far, and then some... with the exception of rebreather instructor training. Some day soon, I'll be able afford my own rig, and I'll be working diligently to log a few hundred of experience prior to beginning instructor training.

About the only specialties I don't teach are the cave, cavern and video type courses, again because of lack of experience due to the absence of those environments in this area or the lack of gear... i.e. video housing.

So what I'm trying to say is that I know what you have ahead of you, and I can understand your enthusiasm. Hopefully the collective of quality divers and instructors on this site will be able to lend you a hand along the way.

If you don't have the PADI multimedia materials like the OW, Adventures in Diving, Instructor Manual, and Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving on CD-Rom I recommend you get them soon, it'll give you a big head start on what's ahead.

Happy diving!
Mario

 

[LoCz]

Great thanks for helping me out on that guys.

I got my OW crew pack 2 days ago and i v read uopto page 200
heh. You thibk i should also get the instructors pack before i do the 3 month course mario? I wasnt going to do that incase PADI made some changes to the course before i manage to get the time and money to do it.

Dee thx but its not as easy as that, i mean taking my time to instructor. I have a job that is at best torture so i need to get out of it as soon as i have saved enough money.
i have other academic qualifications but working in an office or a laboratory really doesnt appeal to me one bit. I said i would be diving around the British coast for a bit before i go, but diving here isnt cheap. So if i just keep diving twicw a week i will exhaust my funds. I will be getting most of my money for the trip by selling all of my belongings.

Every single dive i do from now will be done knowing that i will be teaching scuba in near future. Everydive will be a rehursal and after and during every dive i will run through every possible "safety breach" scenario that i can think of. So hopefully i can learn as much as possible from every dive i do from now until then. I am not very good at putting my feelings or opinions onto paper, because i have been writing scientific papers for the ast 6 years which really warps your writing skills , lol.

 

[King_Neptune]

LoCz,

I think the best answer is there is no answer ... Have I been in the CatNip again? No, let me explain...

One thing that logging 100 dives, 1000 or even 10,000 can not do is be used as a measurement of ones maturity, competience under pressure or even their general knowledge of the "basics". Actually, sometimes things tend to go in reverse as people become a little lazy or a little too comfortable with what they are doing. Sometimes I wonder if the diving industry couldn't benefit from a "Military Standard" called "Time in Grade" ... Meaning, not only must you pass any requiried test or what not but you must "serve" some "time" at each level to make sure you are well versed at each step as you climb the ladder. But even this could have its drawbacks.

=-)

 

[Remora]

LoCz

Collectively the posts have summed up my feelings on this topic as well. I believe on the experience issue it is not how many dives you have, but what happened on those dives or what happened to the group you were supervising and how did you handle it.
This, I think is the experience that everyone is referring to. You could have 1000 uneventful dives but it only takes one "eventful dive" (examples as per Dee's post) to know how you will handle a situation or not. The same holds true for dive supervision whether on shore/boat or in water.
Your intentions are good, if you follow through and are sucessful remember, "Instructor" is just a word; it is the person through knowledge,experience,deportment and attitude that people will listen to and ultimatley trust with their lives (or not).

 

[Mario S Caner]

LoCz,
I said nothing about the crewpacks... Buy the CD-Rom versions up front, pick up the crewpack's as you get to each stage. It's extremely important to cover all aspects of learning the courses. Not only will you see the info from different angles, but you'll also see them from the knowledge level that you are currently at, which is exactly what your future students are going to see. This way you can recommend and customize a particular students learning needs based on your first impressions.

Mario

 

[SubMariner]

You didn't leave much for me to add!

Some people think that once you become an Instructor, that's it... you stop learning. But as most have already said, a good diver (and Instructor) is ALWAYS learning.

Con Ed serves a dual purpose:

1) It keeps you from burning out. The Instructors I know who quit are the ones that never get past the first level of Instruction and do nothing but teach Open Water courses. Now, don't get me wrong... OW is a GREAT course. But like anything, if you keep doing the same thing over, and over, and over, and over... well...
It's important to challenge yourself & keep growing. That doesn't necc mean that the course has to be so rigorous that only a SEAL can handle it... but something new & exciting that keeps you fresh & interested in scuba.

2) It makes you more marketable. Most of us instruct simply because we love the sport & love to teach. But if you ever decide you want to make some $$$ at it, the only way to do it is through multi-level marketing/teaching. And you can't do that if all you can do is teach basic courses. Just think of it from a Dive Op's POV. What kind of Instructor would YOU hire?

Okay... enough yakking... go dive. Take courses. Learn. And most importantly HAVE FUN. Otherwise, it's just not worth it!

~SubMariner~

 

[LoCz]

Buy the CD ROMS upfront? i thought the CD roms where the same as the crew packs.

 

[SubMariner]

Nope... CD ROMS are not necc part of the crew pak. Esp ones like the Diving Encyclopedia.

~SubMariner~

 

[scubabunny]

Just thought I'd put in my two cents worth here. I'm a PADI Rescue Diver..and am going for my DiveMaster, slowly but surely. I've been cerified for almost 2 years, and still don't feel like I can take care of new divers. I can take care of myself and my buddy in any situation, but uncertified divers is another story. I have "helped" with a few small classes (being basically an "extra pair of eyes") and ended up being a nervous wreck! And dead tired at the end of the day! I always thought being an instructor was the "easy life"...getting to dive everyday for money. But I've learned different. Being an instructor is hard, grueling work, and I have seen many instructors forget why thay started diving in the first place...for the pure pleasure of being underwater!

I have over 170 dives, and still don't feel that I am ready to take responsibility for someone else's life (which IS what an instructor does). But, thats just me...some people are born to it.

As for saving money to become an instructor...have you thought about how much your own gear will cost? Instructors make good money some places...but they spend alot of it on TEACHING classes. Very few instructors can survive by teaching alone. I live in Guam, and work at a fairly big dive shop. We have over 30 instructors...and they all are teaching every weekend. But ALL of them have other jobs. Diving is not a cheap hobby. You can make good money being an instructor, but you put most of it back into being an instructor.

Don't mean to rain on your parade.
Just my two cents worth.
Good luck!

 

[LoCz]

This is no small undertaking i know. Yup all the finances have been sorted for my gear which willcost around 1400 pounds for the highest end gear. I will have to disagree with you on the "being able to make a living instructing full time". There are some well paid jobs out there for recreational instructors my uncles friend over here in england earns around 16 thousand pounds per year manning a dive shop and teaching. At the end of the day it depends what country and where in that country you decide to work.

Hmmmm i wonder actually, what is the average wage for an instructor or staff instructor in the USA.