Divemaster Information

[ruthpenaluna]

Hi, myself and my partner have been offered the chance to work on a boat next summer in exchange for logged dives and training to divemaster and possibly instructor level. We are very keen to do this and hope it will offer us a better way of life. I like to have things planned out, so am asking for peoples advice on the best way to go about getting work once we are qualified. Is it as easy as turning up in a resort and going straight to boats and asking?

 

[docmojo]

I will be earning my DiveMaster soon and will be working at the dive shop in return for trips and dives.. so as a job not so much.. as barter for diving It could be an option for you as well. Dive Safe...

 

[Eagle-scuba]

good luck...if it were that easy, don`t you beleive a lot of other would do it,...some of the resort post on scuba board for helf, like last mo. a resort in Belize was looking for a qualified dive master / instructor...the pay was very little, to say the least, but if you are ready to be a beach rat, then it would suffice....some of the others, boats in international areas, are already staffed with locals, who know the areas, but it might be easier to visit the sites, on the web and inquire as to your possible options,.....if this is what you really want to do , then try all possibilities, network the skippers and resorts,,even the Cruise lines might be an option......go for it....

 

[DandyDon]

With no dive experience - it'd be a wonderful way to log dives, learn a lot, probably a lot of fun. But do realize that you'd be assigned the work that no one else wants to do.

don

 

[ruthpenaluna]

We have already resigned ourselves to the fact that we will be cleaning the toilet out on the boat and doing the dirty work. We do not expect to earn a good wage being a divemaster, but hope that it will enable us go to places that we would not otherwise have gone to and most of all lead as much of a stress free life as possible.

Thanks for you words of encouragement and advice.

 

[vapovick]

best of luck to ya. enjoy it ! let us know how it goes..


dive on !

 

[drbill]

The dive industry is definitely not a segment of the economy in which to make much money. However, if diving is your passion and you can swing it, it can be a lot of fun and a great stress reliever. I'm earning my DM thanks to a wonderful dive buddy/instructor and great support from my LDS (SCUBA Luv) here on Catalina. Much as I don't want the added liability of becoming a dive "professional," it does open up some interesting opportunities for future dive-related travel. Of course I already consider myself a "dive professional" as one who produces educational underwater DVD's, a TV show and a weekly newspaper column. Not much liability in those endeavors!

 

[rawls]

ruthpenaluna...There was a similar thread on the basic scuba discussion. I will repeat part of what I said...I was told another name for dive master is dock $itch Dandy Don is right. Be prepared. You will have dock $itch duties...plenty of them...I am currently in a DM course myself and I have my share of those duties...But I have also started lecturing classes, which I enjoy alot. As far as pay...I'm not going to quit my day job but I have a good paying job. I am taking the DM course to work toward my Instructor cert. Still not quitting my day job, even then. I am simply doing it for the experience, the fun and my love of teaching students how to dive. I know the exhiliration(sp) of learning to dive. Even in my DM training, I am already seeing the awe on a student's face after their first open-water dive. Nothing like it.

 

[murphdivers286]

Welcome to the board. Good luck in you endeavors. My wife is an instructor. She LOVES it. Diving is her passion, and becoming an instructor was a natural turn of events. Her being an instructor is as natural as the sun shining down on your shoulders as you stand in the shallow blue waters of an exotic island breathing in the salt air. Nothing is more natural. If diving means the same to you, than I say go for it. I know she would.... Good Luck.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

The pay is lousy and you'll find yourself reading through posts on forums about lousy divemasters who didn't see them having trouble. On the other hand it's about as much fun as you can have wearing rubber.

There is also the satisfaction of showing people things they never thought they'd ever be able to see.