Sirenita:I am just starting out in my journey to train as an instructor, which involves me selling up everything in the UK, and moving out to Thailand with a one way ticket in just a couple of weeks to study at an IDC. I have this sort of wildly optimistic, blind faith in the idea that if I work hard I will succeed and be happy, (and hopefully earn a living!) but after reading these forums, I am a little worried that I am being too idealistic? Do I need to take off my rose tinted mask?
Many people here seem to be saying that it's just not possible to earn a living teaching diving, and I was hoping to hear from any people who have success stories, to prove it is possible? (I am willing to work seasonally in different places around the world, at least while I'm still young, footloose and fancy free!)
While I don't expect to be a wealthy playgirl, I have been entertaining this romantic notion of leaving the materialistic world behind, living by the ocean, and sticking a white picket fence into the sand around my front door
It is possible, look at Terry and Tracy's web site:
http://www.tntdiventures.com/
Thailand can be incredibly cheap if you go native. If you can do without aircon, alcohol and king prawns life becomes a lot cheaper. A very useful qualification to have before you go is Teaching English As A Foreign Language, possibly the TOEFL system.
http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/...toid=69c0197a484f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD
People all over the world want to learn English and you can teach it in the evening when you are not diving. Also teaching is teaching so it will help you learn to be a better dive instructor.
A very important part of being a dive professional is salesmanship. Getting people to buy kit, courses and dive trips. If they don't you have no income. The more they do the more income you have. It may be worth your while getting some sales experience before you go. Maybe a Saturday job in UK retail and some book study.
Another thing that is good is to make yourself more employable. Get lots of PADI specialities so your employer can offer them to the public. Learn to service regulators, it is not rocket science and you can do it in the UK before you go. Learn to blend Nitrox and if there is any tech around Trimix as well, once again learn here. Being able to drive a boat is a good skill. In Asia this is done by the locals but in many places this is done by the dive school staff.
Also you need to concentrate on networking. Like many trades, dive instructing is a village. Get to know your fellow diving professionals and get a good reputation with them for being a good, hard working member of the team who doesn't cause trouble. Then when the good jobs come up your reputation will travel ahead of you. Starting with your IDC you need to win friends and influence people!
The problem with teaching diving is that it is very badly paid so it is just a lifestyle thing rather than a serious career. You can earn more if you can teach more that just the basic PADI courses. DSAT, DAN, EFR, IANTD, TDI and GUE instructors can earn more because there are far less of them to go round. GUE in particular only have about 40 instructors worldwide for courses that are much in demand and with a soon to be introduced open water course that will further increase demand. It isn't easy to be a GUE instructor, though.
If you want to know more just ask.