Why can't you make a living as an Instructor?

[String]

Yep the pay may not be great, hours long, time off scarce but really what is there to lose?

Sanity and any form of social life comes to mind!

So why can't you earn a leaving as an instructor

Depends what you class as a living. If you dont want to ever buy a house, a car, support a family or have any luxuries im sure its possible in Asia to do that. If you want any more than that then forget it. You simply wont earn enough to do more than (maybe) cover monthly expenses.

 

[Nudi-K]

Please don't get me wrong. I am under no illusion that "earning a living" is mearly more than that, earning enough to live (if you're lucky). I have the house, car, luxuries etc and know how much it costs to obtain and maintain.

I also certainly do not mean to offend anyone in the scuba industry by thinking that being an instructor is easy and jobs come ten a penny, because i do not think that. Working in an office number crunching is easy, i'm looking for a challenge and to work hard for a change! lol

 

[bfw]

I think everyone has some uncertainty when looking toward a career.

The best way to approach being a dive pro is the way many people approach your job. They enlist for several years, get out, go to college on the VA's nickel, and then start a civilian career.

If you're young, with no obligations, and you haven't built any tenure in a career track job, or just spent time and money gaining a lot of technical skills with a short shelf life, then spending some time as a dive pro can be a good idea. Just go into it with an exit strategy and a commitment to implement it before you totally burn out, It can be a fun chapter in your life, but it's just not career material. My team lead at the office spent his college years working as a beach lifeguard on the Virginia Atlantic coast. He says it was one of the greatest times of his life, but he went in knowing it wasn't a lifelong gig. It's no different than being a beach lifeguard, ski bum, or backpacking across Europe.

However, if you've already started a career track, you're better off developing it to the point where it pays for diving on your terms. Once you've started a career, it may never recover from taking 3-5 years off to play dive bum.

Simply put, if you're making enough money that you can write the check for one of those guaranteed IDC's without even blinking, then keep your day job, teach classes one night a week for the LDS, and pay (less than most people) to dive on your own terms.

Sure, I get to jump out of planes, fly around in helicopters, shoot guns, drive cool trucks offroad and travel around the world.

You forgot to mention the part about killing people.

Never underestimate the appeal of that to some people. Nobody gets even through a modern high school without at least once thinking it might be gratifying to kill someone.

 

[BeachJunkie]

You forgot to mention the part about killing people.

Never underestimate the appeal of that to some people. Nobody gets even through a modern high school without at least once thinking it might be gratifying to kill someone.

Only those who have never had to do it glamorize such a thing. If thats the only reason you join the military and you actually say that to someone, you will be headed to see the psych doc.

I do agree with the situation you mentioned though. I'm 25, getting out of the army, have a bunch of money from deployments saved up, single and don't owe a dime to anyone. Just thought this might be the time to take a few years off and give diving a shot. If it works out, cool. If not, I'm still where I started with a bunch more diving and travel under my belt. Still up in the air though.

 

[torqd]

I agree with what many people are saying on this thread, yes being on vacation diving and working in the dive industry are two totally different things and to be serious about going in to a career of dive instruction you need to have both eyes open from the offset, know your stuff and work hard and smart.

Since you already said the staff at the Koh Lipe dive center invited you to do their Divemaster program, why not take them up on it? Talk to them and find out what it takes to prepare for the program (lots of reading and studying!), how long their internship will take, and what the costs of living in Thailand will be like. After that, you really need to talk to the Thai embassy to get the proper paperwork in place before you commit to anything.

If your employer will grant you the time off from work to complete the program (say two to four weeks), it's a way to test the waters and find out if it's for you or not.

After that, if you have more specific questions, feel free to send a PM my way and I will do my best to answer them.

 

[String]

I'd also be careful of dive centres telling customers how great a diver they are and offering DM internships. Its one of the oldest sales tricks in the book

 

[ChristyV]

I may have read it one of the posts and missed the information, but I'm very curious......how old is the soldier in Afghanistan and how old is the unhappy worker from Nottingham? That make a huge difference.

 

[nereas]

This is a question that has been bothering me since I started reading this forum. Every time someone gets on and asks about going to the instructor level or becomming a dive pro as being their dream job, 90% of the people tell them its not possible or that they should only do it as a hobby for the love of teaching and diving. So I ask myself, how can this be? There are obviously thousands of people throughout the world making a living as dive instructors/dm's. Why shoot the idea down? Yes, I understand that often times the comments are geared toward mentioning the low pay but usually are followed by "don't do it as a career or for a living". Yes, there probably isn't a 401k or great health benefits. You won't be able to buy that ferrari that you wanted. But if you live in a great dive destination and get to do something you love, that, to me, is better than having the big house in suburbia with the BMW and a fat paycheck.

So, chime in. Let me know why you think that being a dive pro should be more of a hobby than an actual career. What do you base these statements on? And then alternately, post up what would be the ideal candidate for making a career as a dive instructor/dm/guide/captain whatever the case may be.

For those on the board that are instructors or dm's and make a living doing so, post up the path that you took and how you got there. Your likes and dislikes and suggestions for those that may want to give it a shot. I just think that it would be refreshing to see a thread about "how to become a succesfull dive pro" as opposed to the typical "don't even bother you'll be broke" style threads I keep reading.

Instructing scuba in most places around the world is like doing volunteer work at the International Red Cross.

You need a day job to feed yourself, or else you need to be a trust-baby.

Then you are free, either way, to contribute to the scuba world as an instructor or a D/M.

If you want to earn a living (aka "make money") by scuba you have to own the dive store or the dive boat.

 

[nereas]

I'd also be careful of dive centres telling customers how great a diver they are and offering DM internships. Its one of the oldest sales tricks in the book

I wish I had figured this out on my own a long time ago.

 

[nereas]

Please don't get me wrong. I am under no illusion that "earning a living" is mearly more than that, earning enough to live (if you're lucky). I have the house, car, luxuries etc and know how much it costs to obtain and maintain.

I also certainly do not mean to offend anyone in the scuba industry by thinking that being an instructor is easy and jobs come ten a penny, because i do not think that. Working in an office number crunching is easy, i'm looking for a challenge and to work hard for a change! lol

Actually you are quite right.

There are some agencies for which getting an instructor license is really easy.

There are others however where it takes years and years before you pass their criteria.

Every agency is somewhere in between.