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

[Crush]

This has been an entertaining read.

Diver0001 - funny post on 28 Jan 2010. Like it.

vinegarbiscuit - could your fiance make it if you were not contributing to the household?

So, the reason you can't really make a living as a dive instructor?? Too many people are not prepared to pay the actual cost of a course to learn to dive, and want it cheaper. It only takes one person to cut the price, then everyone has to follow.

I would argue that too many people don't know enough to want to pay the actual cost of a course. Certainly I think that this is true at the basic OW level. Now that I am a few courses beyond basic OW I feel that I am committed to scuba and want to take the right course from the right person, and I am willing to pay the money to do so. Really, who in their right mind would want to take GUE Fundamentals and shell out about $700 for a two-day course? Well, me for one (haven't done it yet). I wouldn't have entertained this when I was just beginning scuba because I didn't know any better.

Many dive shops see basic OW the way the industry sees it - as a way to get people into the shop to buy gear. And now that more and more people are opting to buy gear on-line, that business model is heading south for your LDS.

 

[tyesai]

DM is basically slave labour. Expect 12-14hr days, 7 days a week and lots of the **** duties as well. You'll also find lots of places dont hire DMs to guide - they only employ instuctors as they're more versatile.
As there are tens of thousands of instructors and a few hundred more each week there is no competition to get one and as such wages are low. Subsistence wage if you're really lucky in the area you choose to work.
Also in lots of places as an instructor also expect to work 12+ hours a day and 7 days a week for months on end without a break, especially the busier resorts. If you don't they'll replace you with a newly qualified that will. Turnover of staff is HUGE.

If you have some savings and fancy a year or 2 break somewhere by all means do it. Anything else though just be prepared to accept being poor, possibly needing a 2nd job just to pay bills and having no real free time. .

It sounds like being in the Army, but your not being shot at.

 

[sierrakilo]

I'd like to offer this small insight: The biggest agency PADI has around 135.000 current members. (divemasters and instructors, who all pay their annual fee. Former members are exempt from the number.) Cutting out divemasters and assistant instructors, who have very limited teaching options, you end up with around 70.000 Open Water instructors and upwards.

Now compare that number to the number of diving certifications issued by PADI yearly. (Little less than a million) - it becomes readily apparent that the majority of instructors will never make back the money they paid for their IDC, as every instructor get to issue around twelve certifications a year on average. All these numbers are readily available as statistics at PADI's website. Of course some instructors are making good money and issuing tons of certs, but simple math tells us that most ARE NOT. Furthermore, keep in mind that many of the (slightly less than) one million yearly certificates, are issued to other PADI professionals. You do your DMT, followed by an IDC and a dozen specialties, and that's thirteen certs right there. It's no wonder diving agencies, not just PADI, preach continuing education. Essentially, a large part of the scuba training industry, is about feeding the dog its own tail without it noticing.

So, should you become an instructor? Sure, why not... Just don't expect to be able to live off it. If you however speak a few other languages (Chinese, Russian, French, Japanese are good ones), have other skills (like boating, webdesign, compressor maintenance and so on and so forth) you chances increase of finding work. Also, lastly I'd like to propose, that becoming an instructor also makes you a better diver, and gives you a better understanding of many aspects of diving. For that reason alone it may be worthwhile - but please have realistic expectations about being able to live off it.

 

[oly5050user]

It is difficult to make a living as a dive instructor because PADI and other agencies have made the public believe that they can get quality instruction at a deep discount.

Agencies have absolutely nothing to do with the price of a course..People who teach the courses name the price according to what the market will bear for the area they are in, and what their associated costs are. I have never seen an agency promote a price of any kind and never seen an agency say to the public that quality instruction can be discounted.

 

[String]

Agencies dont set the prices (in fact on the IDC theres a pricing workshop and when run through properly comes out with figures far higher than anyone actually charges).

The main thing is there are a large number of instructors and DMs who are prepared to work for very very little money or even none at all. This allows shops to issue very cheap courses. If an instructor wont work for that money he's simply replaced with one that will.

..that and a lot use OW courses as loss leaders to get them into diving.

 

[LakeCountyDiver]

I remember the 2nd post I ever made on SB was about "Diving employment" and I got some real lame answers. I see the grim reality of making a living in the dive industry. I have 2 kids I raise by my self and know what it cost to support a family. The Dive Industry does not offer that in most circumstances so unless you have a good niche or a really good customer base I don't see making it.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Just because one's title is Instructor, that does not mean a living is tied to Cert's.

Depending on one's location, and one's definition of decent, an Instructor can make a decent living without more than a dozen certs per year.

For example; in the State of Hawai'i there are Instructors working as guides on every charter dive boat, nearly every dive operator also has Instructors guiding certified divers and conducting Intro Dives from shore, there are resort Instructors guiding certified divers and conducting Intro's from shore at most ocean front resorts as well as many independent Instructors guiding divers and conducting Intro's from shore and occasionally from boat. Many of those Instructors are also taking pictures of their customers, for additional compensation.

I am positive there are more than a dozen Instructors, making more than $50 K annually, without more than 12 certs per year, just in South Maui.

 

[BUGBAGGER]

On the topic of the price of SCUBA training. Let's take a look.

Let's say that with the advent of homestudy/e-learning most students in an Open Water Diver level course still spend about 28-30 hours with their instructor (in a good class arrangement). They usually spend about 300.00 to 400.00 (or less) in a resort location for the class.

That class fee has to cover the overhead at the shop ie electricity, maintenance of shop classroom and other equipment used such as vehicles, certification processing fees, sometimes the cost of instructor insurance, etc. I won't list all shopp expenses as we will pretend this shop does enough retail to cover some of the other expenses such as purchase and maintenance of the gear and compressor equipment.

So, lets say the instructor receives $150.00 for his/her efforts. By the way, they often only receive an amount in this range for the first student with a much smaller per head amount for additional student's in the same class, such as, $5.00-$25.00 per student.

So, our instructor recieved about $5.00/hr for the time he directly spent with the students. He receieved no money for the time preparing the equipment, contacting the students, assisting with their e-learning questions, setting up the dive site, breaking down the dive site, filing the paperwork etc. Oh, he may have received a bit more if there were other students but in the resort area it is usually only one or two students per class.

Did I mention that the instructor if he/she is lucky enough to have the liability insurance paid by the shop still must pay a couple of hundred to at least one training agnecy per year for membership. And is often required by his/her shop to affiliate with more than one agency. The instructor usually must maintain his/her own training materials, slates, manuals, etc from each agency at another several hundred dollars per year, as these materials are constantly updated and by standards must be current.

Then there is the purchase and maintenance of their personal gear which is usually higher quality but through higher use requires more frequent upkeep and replacement. There are all the extra gear items needed to teach specific skills and courses. And, of course those items for the student whose response is "I don't have to buy that do I? You're gonna provide it right?" And, if the shop does not provide a vehicle there is significant extra wear and maintenance on the personal vehicle used to transport all the tanks and gear.

There is more but here is my main point. The price to the consumer has not changed in 20 years. The cost of a SCUBA class is the same now as it was when I was certified. The costs for the instructor have all gone up astronomically in comparison. And, to add insult to injury, "based on what the market will bear," SCUBA instructors are some of the least valued/lowest paid among any sport or adventure activity out there. Compare the per hour cost for instruction in golf, skiing, parachuting, kiteboarding, surfing, swimming, fishing guidance, etc. The price charged for any of these for the period of time spent with the instructor is usually at least 10 times as much for SCUBA on a per hour basis.

The question is? How did we teach our consumers to de-value SCUBA instruction so greatly. That is why one rarely finds anyone who has made a living in this industry as an instructor alone ofr more than a couple of years and only if not trying to support a family.

Just another instructor's perspective.

 

[theduckguru]

Just because one's title is Instructor, that does not mean a living is tied to Cert's.

Depending on one's location, and one's definition of decent, an Instructor can make a decent living without more than a dozen certs per year.

For example; in the State of Hawai'i there are Instructors working as guides on every charter dive boat, nearly every dive operator also has Instructors guiding certified divers and conducting Intro Dives from shore, there are resort Instructors guiding certified divers and conducting Intro's from shore at most ocean front resorts as well as many independent Instructors guiding divers and conducting Intro's from shore and occasionally from boat. Many of those Instructors are also taking pictures of their customers, for additional compensation.

I am positive there are more than a dozen Instructors, making more than $50 K

annually, without more than 12 certs per year, just in South Maui.

$50K on Maui doesn't sound like much when you consider the cost of living there.

 

[Thalassamania]

$50K is used as an example because that's an almost unattainable goal for a dive instructor, even on Maui.