Considering SCUBA career

[Marc D]

My wife and I are both certified advanced open water, NITROX along with PADI dry suit specialty. We are planning to take our Rescue Course in May and then our Dive Master iduring the period May through the fall. We currently have about 50 dives each and we started diving one year ago.

Here's our situation. My wife and I are working professionals (I'm an engineering manager and she is a kindergarten teacher) although we'd rather be diving. We are 40 and 39 years old, have no kids, live healthy and keep fit. We are thinking about checking out of the rat race and teach diving for a couple of years or longer possibly. Is this something anyone has experienced (i.e. this type of radical career shift)? And if so, I'd like their feedback on their experience with the lifestyle change.

Any assistance / advice you could give us is greatly appreciated.

Marc D

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

I believe it depends on the supply and demand. Where do you live, or plan to live? Also what language(s) do you speak? In case you want to relocate to the Red Sea for example, English is not enough.

 

[PaulChristenson]

My wife and I are both certified advanced open water, NITROX along with PADI dry suit specialty. We are planning to take our Rescue Course in May and then our Dive Master iduring the period May through the fall. We currently have about 50 dives each and we started diving one year ago.

Here's our situation. My wife and I are working professionals (I'm an engineering manager and she is a kindergarten teacher) although we'd rather be diving. We are 40 and 39 years old, have no kids, live healthy and keep fit. We are thinking about checking out of the rat race and teach diving for a couple of years or longer possibly. Is this something anyone has experienced (i.e. this type of radical career shift)? And if so, I'd like their feedback on their experience with the lifestyle change.

Any assistance / advice you could give us is greatly appreciated.

Marc D

How much of your savings can you afford to flush during this endeavor??

Diving is alot like sailing...A place where you pour money into

Paul in VT
also having to pay for horses

 

[Bryan.]

I don't think it is so much about the money as it is about your passion for diving and wanting to pursue it from a professional level. Life is too short! And why not, what do you have to loose! Go for it Marc!! Good luck! That is my 2c!

 

[Web Monkey]

It would be great to teach or lead dives as something to do after you retire, but I'm not sure where you would be able to go to actually make a living off it (depending of course on how you like to live).

If you like diving, and want to work less, you might consider switching to contract engineering work, where you can snag a bunch of money on a 6 - 9 month contract, then take a few months off and travel and go diving, then do another contract.

All the DiveCons/Dive Masters/Instructors I know locally have day jobs doing something else, and teach and lead dives because they like to, not for the money.

FWIW, tech jobs pretty much all suck, and I'd love to quit and go diving too, but there's a big difference between going diving on vacation because you want to and getting up at the crack of dawn and doing 6+ dives a day because you have to.

It may

My wife and I are both certified advanced open water, NITROX along with PADI dry suit specialty. We are planning to take our Rescue Course in May and then our Dive Master iduring the period May through the fall. We currently have about 50 dives each and we started diving one year ago.

Here's our situation. My wife and I are working professionals (I'm an engineering manager and she is a kindergarten teacher) although we'd rather be diving. We are 40 and 39 years old, have no kids, live healthy and keep fit. We are thinking about checking out of the rat race and teach diving for a couple of years or longer possibly. Is this something anyone has experienced (i.e. this type of radical career shift)? And if so, I'd like their feedback on their experience with the lifestyle change.

Any assistance / advice you could give us is greatly appreciated.

Marc D

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

I have gone instructing full time now and I make very little money. Luckily it isn't about the money for me. I just enjoy it. If you need a respectable paycheck, then keep your day job and take dive trips.

 

[scubajoe]

Welcome to the board!
You could probably get by and you'd sure get a lot a lot of diving in. I am assuming that you are planing to go to some tropical paradise to do this. You'll have better luck somewhere where diving is a big sector of the economy.
Good luck!

Joe

 

[Scuba Brad]

Keep your day job and moonlight on the side until you can afford to do what you want. With very little barries to entry in this business you have a ton of folks who turn hobbies into businesses............you know the old saying, "You know how to make a million dollars in this business.............you start with two million."

Happy Diving

 

[docmojo]

I would say to you can keep your day job and work with a dive shop. learn to teach and how to run your own dive shop, trips ect. When you feel like you can run the show your self find a good spot that has a need for a new dive shop and then be the kind of dive shop people are willing to drive for.. The dive shop I am working with is an hour and a half oneway. The people are great and they run a kicka@# shop.. It can be done just take your time and work a plan...
Best of luck to you both....

 

[El Orans]

Welcome (Scub)aBoard!

Laurens

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