career in diving

[scubaculture]

You guys hiring Rob?

 

[Crowley]

Not to hijack the thread, but would you recommend this area for travel / retirement, or is crime too much of a problem?

I PMd you to save hijacking!

 

[Deep-6]

Deep South and DCBC

OK here it is. I started a thread a while ago about my sons inspiration about becoming a diver and doing underwater photograghy. Most of the feedback I got was that it was hard to make any kind of living doing that. In addition, I been told similiar about most diving careers. NOTE MY USE OF THE WORD M-O-S-T!!! You should see it again in my original post.

The OP made mention of her interest in finding artifacts and treasure. She made no infererence of a desire to go into Commercial Diving, Underwater Welding, Nondestructive Testing, Diving for big oil, Dive Medicine, Running your own business, etc;etc; Basically, all the things that we know make money. She also expresses her desire to bypass any formal schooling in archeology. I'm my opinion, when it comes to treasure hunting or artifact finding, success is measured by the size of apartment you live in. Only the very, very lucky few have real success. You can mention all the names you want, but the sad fact is that there are many more people out there doing the same kind of work that nobody's heard of. It's kinda like wanting to be a Rock Star. It's a great dream and you can work hard for it, but you should probably have a back-up plan. I'm just sharing what I've been told. It is NOT my intention to discourage the OP. Go for it, chase it down, but don't allow yourself to become disillusioned.

I hope I don't sound overly harsh but I support my statement and believe my opinion is valid.

 

[DCBC]

Im interested in diving and i have a fascination with treasures and artifacts and i want a career in which i can combine the 2 interests but i dont want to go through school to become a archaeologist so i wanna know if there is any related fields. thanks for the help!

I came across this:

"What Kind of People Do Treasure Recovery Companies Hire?

Much of the recent large treasure recovery jobs have been accomplished in very deep water using remotely operated vehicles. If you have ROV operator experience and are willing to work for a lower salary than in an industry such as oil and gas exploration
, then you might consider applying to one of the major marine salvage and recovery companies. Starting salaries are usually lower, but ROV technicians may share, along with the rest of the crew, in bonuses if a major find is recovered. For more on how to become an Remotely Operated Vehicle technician see ROV Operator Jobs

Other jobs may be in water deep enough for scuba divers to operate. For these jobs treasure recovery companies hire experienced commercial divers. Usually only divers with many logged hours of commercial experience are considered."

How To Get A Job In Treasure Recovery

Exploration is usually done by ROV. If you find something, a scientific diver usually investigates and takes samples. If you want something recovered (especially if it's deep), you hire commercial divers to do the job.

I can only add that commercial divers are like hired guns. If you decide to hire them, you have to pay the price. Good divers have lots of alternatives in the oil industry. I would think if it had artistic value, you would want the best so that it didn't get damaged. Just saying.

 

[paddler3d]

Become A Diver for Mel Fisher's Treasures

Mel Fisher is a a treasure hunter who stuck gold. His crew is still out there, working, searching, and they are still finding stuff. Check out the above link!

 

[Deep South Divers]

I hope I don't sound overly harsh but I support my statement and believe my opinion is valid.

Of course your opinion is valid. I don't think either of us are saying that it isn't. It is, after all, an opinion - we just have a different one, based on what we see on this side of the "fence."

Our experience - which has been very different, with totally different backgrounds - is similar, I think, in that we have found a good living diving as a working diver. For me, the includes owning the company and doing (and teaching others to do) a lot of hull cleaning, prop and zinc changes, and the like. Two or three times a year I get "big" jobs that include underwater work for the utilities like the phone company, the cable company, the water/sewer authority, or submerged work at places like the Georgia or South Carolina Aquarium. For DCBC, his focus looks to me like it was military at first, then "Big Oil," which requires "hat" diving, "sat" diving, underwater welding and cutting, etc.

...Either way you look at it, we seem to be saying the same thing - a working diver ("commercial") can make a great living... So naturally, that's where we'd point someone looking to earn a paycheck while diving.

As far as "treasure hunting" goes, or as far as "photography" goes... I think that both of us would agree that while those things may be a part of our jobs, that in and of itself isn't the focus... Only when it's necessary to complete the task that we've been hired to do.

...And in that sense, I think that your opinion is very much spot-on... But with some simple adjustments in the diver's mindset, there's plenty of money to be made.

 

[Deep-6]

I smell what you're cookin!