From open water diver to instructor. Cost?

[DownbelowDiver]

...or should I take it much slower...?

I have only 7 dives of experience so far and don't even know if I could handle diving every day. It's probably not realistic either to go from rookie to instructor in just a couple of months....

Should I take classes at a slow pace with bits and pieces, or did other instructors here make a $10 000 decision as well?

How long did it take you to go from open water diver to instructor? How much money did you spend on it on the road?
And when did you realize that becoming an instructor is the career that brings joy to your life?

Hi zyntherius

If you’re asking all these questions, there’s a reason: something is holding you back? It could just be your own doubts, but you should listen to your own reason. Everyone has a different perspective, so it’s a decision only you can make.

I took many years to finally take the ‘big’ step into my professional diving career, but now with hindsight it was such a simple decision for me. But that’s me! No one can tell you how your experiences will be like and when you realize diving is your life’s passion.

Your questioning indicates to me some misgivings you have whether the dive lifestyle is for you, so in that case, take your time to learn about diving and build on your skills.
I did a 3-month internship program at Downbelow Marine & Wildlife Adventures in Sabah, Borneo, and now work as a full time IDC Staff Instructor on the Go PRO team. Those 3 months prepared me with the dive training I needed to conduct PADI courses and programs as a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor, but nothing compares to teaching in the real world of the dive industry. The PADI system of dive education, either for recreational or professional diving, is to prepare you as much as possible, yes, but experience is everything.

PADI IDC Go Pro Internships | Instructor Development Course IDC Malaysia, Asia

Experienced instructors are whom employers seek, rather than the professional rating of a diver, that’s how valuable experience is, and how much our Go PRO team of PADI Instructor Trainers encourage our Go PRO interns to be as involved whenever possible to truly live the dive lifestyle offered in our Go PRO internships.

Diver Experience | IDC Asia

If you want any more information on different routes to becoming a professional dive educator, you can drop me a line here, or private message me, or get in touch with our Head Office staff who will be more than happy to give you in full details our professional internship program that they will tailor to you specifically.

 

[EFX]

What do you think about this combo:

Teach in Bangkok, where school teachers have a huge amount of holidays each year (paid). On holiday, I take the catamaran to the islands in the Thai gulf (Phi Phi, Pha Ngan, Samui, Koh Tao..) and get some dives in on each of them. I'd do this for a year or so, and then I'll have a better idea about diving. Meanwhile I support my funds working in BKK

Playing poker is stressful and very antisocial, but I'd like to use it as a top up for my salary when I'm not busy

Indeed, I can live off a small salary. Starting a career in Europe like all the society - slaves seems logical but would make me very unhappy.
I see all these facebook images popping up, of people signing contracts for a career that lasts a decade, and celebrating the birth of their baby.
To me it just means that they are imprisoned in the comfort zone and their life is over.

I want to scuba dive, skydive, swim with whales, meet women from all over the world, heck.. become a belly dancer in India.

All I need is a job to sustain the lifestyle

Noooooo. What you need to support this lifestyle is money not a job. First of all, your happy-go-lucky not-a-care-in-the-world attitude is not going to last. Being young, as I assume you are, this lifestyle is fun but five years from now you're going to think differently. The lack of money will wear you down. You need to think just a little about your future. This might come across as sour advice from one of those "society-slaves" but I'm just trying to keep it real. Forget the dive plans for now. What I would recommend to a free spirit as yourself is working real hard to get some kind of internet business going. Forget teaching. Maybe initially just to get some startup funds. Teaching, if you stay in it will tie you down. An internet business will allow you to manage it from your laptop from anywhere in the world and not tie you down except for the once-in-awhile business trip. And forget poker too. Yeah, you might win but you will also lose and it's taking too much time when you can be more productive elsewhere. Others have taken care of the diving issues better than I could. Good luck and I hope you achieve what you want.

 

[TMHeimer]

The only problem with an internet business is it's not 20 years ago. Zillions of people now want to do it so they can work at home. My wife has been at it for 3 years and so far brings in just enough money to cover the advertising.

 

[Aguablanco1]

Q: What's the difference between a scuba instructor and a large pizza?
A: A large pizza can feed a family of four.

Best regards,

Ray Purkis

What do you call a scuba instructor without a girl friend? Homeless.
RichH

 

[Goodtime Adventures]

It's difficult to answer your original question as costs for both courses, and general living costs vary in pretty much every country and location. So its very difficult to put an estimate on what getting up to Instructor level would cost you.

I'll be 100% honest, many people cannot make a comfortable living just from being a DM/instructor. But if it is your passion and your dream then go for it. I did and it worked for me. But whether it is sustainable for you or not depends on yourself. And bear in mind that employment conditions, pay and opportunities vary massively around the world. I make a living from diving but it's helpful that the cost of living here is low compared to other parts of the world. However I also live on a tropical island all year round, my office is on a beach, I get to dive regularly and IMO the lifestyle here is fantastic. I came from a well paid job and successful career in my native country but made the decision to change my life for the better. To get here for sure I have made sacrifices - earning a fraction of the salary I was used to was one of them - but I had chosen to invest in a new career and was prepared to work very hard. It was a good decision, and one that I don not regret.

So IMO, making a living by working as a DM/Instructor is absolutely possible. Be under no illusion that you will have to be tenacious to secure a role and work hard for long hours in the job. BUT you're getting paid to do what you love, so then it's down to what you are prepared to accept or not. And as some of the others have said, it is by no means as stress free as you may imagine. Training divers - and particularly new divers - is a far cry from fun diving!

With regards to timescale, I do think you should take it a little slower rather than rushing right up to instructor. Why not take your advanced and rescue courses and get some fun dives in, then look at a location where you could do your DM over a few months with minimal living costs. If you are still travelling, travel and work as a DM for a bit and then decide if you still have the desire to continue on to Instructor level. It would be much more enjoyable, and potentially save you a heap of money this way. And you'd actually be more likely to be good at it - a 2 month intensive course to get you all the way to instructor is unlikely to provide you with all the information, skills, practice and mentorship you need to be a good instructor. I understand the passion and urge to move forward, but going too quickly will likely ultimately result in you feeling (and in all reality actually being) ill equipped for the job, and end up hating and regretting your decision.

 

[zyntherius]

And forget poker too. Yeah, you might win but you will also lose and it's taking too much time when you can be more productive elsewhere

One of my best friends did this in one year. We're equally skilled, but he put in the hours that I was not allowed to when I was in uni.
Yes, there are losing weeks and now and then losing months, especially on higher stakes where edges get thinner.
But for a large enough sample (taken over many months of full time playing) the better player will always show a profit.

That said, if you're not making 100k per year playing poker on internet, you're better off using your masters degree being socially accepted, rather than being stigmatized as a problematic gambler. Poker is very hard work, and I put more effort into it than studying for my masters.
The studying is fine but concentrating 8 hours per day is tough. It's very stressful too, but the worst part of it is that NOBODY understands, that nobody believes you and that people stigmatize poker players as degenerate gamblers.

Reality is that internet players are mathematicians with a much higher IQ than the average doctor. However doctors are respected and poker players are frowned upon.

I am very fed up with all the drama, and I look forward to social jobs all across the world instead.
Teaching may not be my lifetime career plan, but I believe it is good for my charisma and it allows me to learn more languages

 

[kr2y5]

I have a masters degree but don't look forward to starting a stressful career with it.

Just wanted to point out that, depending on your situation, this decision might be worth much more than the $10,000 is training expenses you are worrying about...