Saltwater_Parrot
Registered
That's exactly what Ive been reading - I definitely wasn't opposed to the idea of teaching but at the same time, it definitely isn't my goal as opposed to technical diving, which is, and if it's not worth it financially then I will just stick to tech. The insurance part especially makes it seem hard to justify, and from what I've been reading, that isn't getting any better. Didn't know about the 7 year policy either - that's pretty wild. I understand the need for liability insurance but it seems to me that these roadblocks will make less and less people motivated to go the instructor route. I know I would be more inclined to do it if the process was less risky, financially. It seems there's actually a fair bit of risk to lose money, too.there are a lot of expenses involved with becoming an instructor. Don't forget if you are in the US, you still need insurance for 7 years after you stop teaching! You are better off saving your money for technical diving. You have to teach like crazy to actually earn. You are better off working part time at McDonald's or retail somewhere to pay for your technical diving.
If you want to pay for helium, well, selling one of your kidneys is a more economically viable way to go.
Ha! I saw the thread about helium.. I'm hoping to break into the rebreather world once I start working full time in a steady career job, hopefully by next year, so hopefully that will mitigate those costs a bit and line up with tech training.
Interesting, I kind of figured that but wasn't sure whether it really pays to teach part time, since it seems to be quite a challenge to make much money teaching, period. Seems that it's not really worth it, unless the passion for teaching is there. My instructor owns my LDS, so it seems thats the case here as well (although Im sure there's some more full timers down here).It really depends on your location. I don’t know of anyone in the Midwest who makes their living solely as an instructor. They might have a totally unrelated full time job, or the full time job might be something related such as owning a dive shop.
Looks like I'll forego the pro route and just make my way into the tech world once the time is right.