determined

Hey everyone,
I just got my ow cert and am considering a diving school somewhere. There seems to be slit of options and price ranges. Have herd them named "zero to hero" programs and don't want that label in industry. I would like to be an instructor, any suggestions on location or a particular school?
Thanks

Where are you located?

What are your plans?

• Where to work?
• Any particular specialty
• What association is OW from?

Think of this and plan forward. keep me posted for further opportunities.

I would take the time to learn to be just a diver and get a better feel for what your sport is. I know a great many of new diver that jumps in and become a patch diver and then get burnt out in just a few short years.
but I would use my LDS and start with their programs and work my way to master that way you dont spend a lot of money on cert's that you just dont need or use.

Happy diving

The reason they have a bad name in the industry is because would you rather be trained by someone with years of experience or someone who went from OW to IDC in the course of maybe 6 months with basically no un-supervised dives? Now thats not to say it cant be done. IMO their not going to give you your certification if you dont earn it. But theres a lot of experience and techniques that come with those extra added years of diving. I believe you should dive and dive and dive, along with that you should pratice and pratice and pratice. Maybe work your way up to DM and the intership for a little while with a LDS around you. After a few months go off and do a IDC program. They range everywhere from california to Thailand and everywhere inbetween. You have your group of people that want to travel and get their certs, then their is the group that likes to stay relatively close to home and earn them. The choise is basically up to you. There usually isnt a huge difference in price from what ive seen. If you have a place in mind youd like to go i.e cayman islands, bahamas, honduras etc. Do a simple google search for instructor courses in those areas. Get a few, ask around for reviews and look to see what they have to offer. Some might offer a little bit more in the terms of free accomidations or meal plans, others might tend to be more well known for their attention to detail with divers.

So overall, don't rush take time to gain experience and learn everything you possibly can. In the mean time do some research on different places you might like to visit. I've heard good things about aquanauts in Thailand, i believe there is a place called go pro diving that is also suppose to be really good. hope this helps

Not really sure how anyone can do an entry-level course and then make a snap decision that they would love to work at a professional level in that field. Becoming a dive instructor requires a considerable effort in time, money and resources. Working as a dive instructor is very different from enjoying a fun dive as a customer.

The overwhelming majority of newly qualified dive instructors rarely last more than 2 years in the industry. There are reasons for that....

You can become a dive instructor easily. However, you cannot become a 'good' diving instructor easily or quickly. Some of the agencies make a fortune from qualifying instructors - and actively push the 'dream' of instructor training from the very earliest levels of diver training. Virtually anyone can become a dive instructor, if they pay enough money and do a few courses. It can take as little as 6 months and 100 logged dives. You'll have the right pieces of plastic.... but you won't have very much to offer to your students.

Sustaining a career as a dive instructor requires solid foundations. The job can wear you down swiftly and often make you question why you bother. The only factor that gets you through that questioning is a deep-rooted love of diving. It has to be an addiction. It has to call you into the water on the bad days; when you are sick, tired, sad, cold, distracted and demotivated. It has to make you happy, when you are so sure you could make far more money working in a bar or fast-food restaurant... let alone a 'proper' job in a comfortable air-conditioned office..

To be a good instructor, you also have to love teaching. You have to love spending time in the water with students who cause you stress and generally 'ruin your dives. You have to get your kicks from working at maximum capacity to produce qualified divers that you are proud of... when you know the financial incentives for doing so are non-existent. You have to have the courage of your convictions, not to sacrifice quality because of other pressures. There are a lot of pressures! I've quit jobs because operations are totally focused on profit, rather than safety and/or quality. I've worked extra, for no money, to get students up to my standards... often with no thanks. Enjoying diving had nothing to do with this... because teaching dives are often personnally unenjoyable, boring or stressful.

Back-to-back open water courses can be mind-deadening and frustrating to the extreme. The reality is very different from the expectation. You aren't diving for yourself. You aren't diving for the money. ... so you need some other strong motivation to love the job and stay in the game. Personally, I am not sure how any diver with less than several hundred dives and a natural inclination towards leadership can say with any confidence that "they want to be an instructor".

tedfallat:

I just got my ow cert .... "zero to hero" programs ... don't want that label.... I would like to be an instructor.... any suggestions on location or a particular school?

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The only way to not be a "zero-to-hero" is to not seek to advance from entry-level to pro level in a short timescale and with the minimum of experience.

A newly qualified open-water diver looking for recommendations on instructor training is definitely heading down that path...

Move to Florida Keys, work on a boat for tips, and work your way up - not buy your way.

You'll need other employment as well.

Devondiver, I appreciate you telling it like it is, I can totally respect that, its what I want to hear. The more I have thought about it the more I agree with you, and I am not a card collector by any means. I always strive to be the best I can be, and that never comes easy. I want to gain experience maybe as a divemaster to start and work my way to instructor. Any thoughts on the best way to do that. Have talked to some people in Hawaii have heard conflicting opinions. Its hard to get a lot of dive experience or training in Montana. I was thinking of relocating to Hawaii to achive divemaster and try to obtain employment. Here's hoping I can change dream into reality.

Gain experience as a client, not as a professional.

I'd like to start out in Hawaii and achieve divemaster to gain employment. Then work towards instructor. I am in Montana which doesn't lend itself to gaining a lot of training or experience. My open water is with naui.I'm definitely interested in wreck diving, and photography. Will probably expand my interests as I gain more experience.

aquaregia:

Gain experience as a client, not as a professional.

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I agree with this. You can learn more about the diving industry... good and bad practices... by observing as a customer. When you're actually in the industry, it is easy to misinterpret how your practices may be seen by customers. If you don't pick up that experience before you enter the industry, then you'll never gain that perspective.