as I have worked both with new students and been around some of the more experienced divers and also putting a little scubaboard in to the mix I think this is my view on things.
Like everything else these days things are rapidly changing and with such a high demand for fly by night courses (To get divers in the water quicker) we have seen courses go from the 1970s where you had to be in great shape, be able to swim and devote up to a week doing various strenious activities just to earn a C-Card to the now in some cases 3 day course has changed alot of dynamics for diving.
It used to be that an instructor saw diving as a cash cow since it was so demanding and the requirements to be an instructor pretty much limited the competition. Since there were fewer divers and a relatively high supply for c-card seekers it entitled those who passed the rigerous instructor course to sit and demand an extremely high dollar to certify someone.
As technology changed and equipment became more reliable organizations such as PADI went from having the high demand openwater course to the staged courses. Divers can get an O.W. card and dive for decades if they choose or can move right into AOW relatively quickly. This structure took a huge demand off instructors to be able to teach the entire course to now just the basics then build their teaching abilities as they see fit to teach which specialites and cores they wish.
Since becoming an instructor is in stages as the Rec course is it makes it relatively easy for people to become instructors. Now that the market is becoming flooded with instructors it does tend to be a survival of the fittest type environment and this does tend to upset many of the old school instructors who invested alot of time and money in to their career choice.
The problem is that while many instructors trully feel their time is worth gold return there are many more who just want to put food on the table and are willing to work for less to absorb as much of the supply of candidates that are out there. I honestly would love to compete if I were an instructor but keeping it real with my competition is not as important as me having a roof over my head and food on the table.
The instructors I described above have slowly and steadily caused a decline in the revenue an instructor can bring in. This does though serve two things as a result. One is that instructors today seem more in tune with what they are teaching as most now do it for the love of the sport (Lord knows they dont make much as it is.) and it also weeds out alot of older people who really feel their time is worth far more then the people of today are willing to pay.
Like everything else these days things are rapidly changing and with such a high demand for fly by night courses (To get divers in the water quicker) we have seen courses go from the 1970s where you had to be in great shape, be able to swim and devote up to a week doing various strenious activities just to earn a C-Card to the now in some cases 3 day course has changed alot of dynamics for diving.
It used to be that an instructor saw diving as a cash cow since it was so demanding and the requirements to be an instructor pretty much limited the competition. Since there were fewer divers and a relatively high supply for c-card seekers it entitled those who passed the rigerous instructor course to sit and demand an extremely high dollar to certify someone.
As technology changed and equipment became more reliable organizations such as PADI went from having the high demand openwater course to the staged courses. Divers can get an O.W. card and dive for decades if they choose or can move right into AOW relatively quickly. This structure took a huge demand off instructors to be able to teach the entire course to now just the basics then build their teaching abilities as they see fit to teach which specialites and cores they wish.
Since becoming an instructor is in stages as the Rec course is it makes it relatively easy for people to become instructors. Now that the market is becoming flooded with instructors it does tend to be a survival of the fittest type environment and this does tend to upset many of the old school instructors who invested alot of time and money in to their career choice.
The problem is that while many instructors trully feel their time is worth gold return there are many more who just want to put food on the table and are willing to work for less to absorb as much of the supply of candidates that are out there. I honestly would love to compete if I were an instructor but keeping it real with my competition is not as important as me having a roof over my head and food on the table.
The instructors I described above have slowly and steadily caused a decline in the revenue an instructor can bring in. This does though serve two things as a result. One is that instructors today seem more in tune with what they are teaching as most now do it for the love of the sport (Lord knows they dont make much as it is.) and it also weeds out alot of older people who really feel their time is worth far more then the people of today are willing to pay.
