Dive Professional

[MXGratefulDiver]

So talking about excelling in diving first has to have the requirement that they make a living in diving, because until it is what people do for a living, people can and do have all sorts of beliefs about diving, as shown by the number of frankly silly things people take seriously at SB.

I'll disagree with that one rather emphatically. I know some folks who "make a living in diving" that are not very good divers at all ... there's no requirement for them to do anything other than memorize the agency standards and curriculum and learn to dive just well enough to churn people through classes. Most of them never do a dive unless it's a class ... and classes are an artificial environment.

The most skilled diver I've ever known personally (Uncle Pug) is a pastor. He never "worked" in the diving industry ... and no one I've met who did ever came close to having his ability to pass on what he knew to others. That is more about innate ability and talent than it is about profession.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

---------- Post added July 24th, 2014 at 06:58 AM ----------

You guys need more dive clubs.

I'm sure that it varies from region to region, but where I live we have several excellent and active dive clubs. Peter Guy is president of one I used to belong to, in fact. Perhaps the most active has dives scheduled almost every single day, and sometimes at more than one location on a given day. I belong to two clubs, and am frequently participating with other clubs because I know members in those clubs. Plus we have an active online club that hosts weekly dives on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays that draw a regular crowd.

But I live in an area where diving is convenient and pretty good ... if you don't mind low vis and cold water. As a result there are a lot of options for getting involved in an active diving community ... even for the very new diver looking to build a circle of friends to dive with.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[mathauck0814]

I'll disagree with that one rather emphatically. I know some folks who "make a living in diving" that are not very good divers at all ... there's no requirement for them to do anything other than memorize the agency standards and curriculum and learn to dive just well enough to churn people through classes. Most of them never do a dive unless it's a class ... and classes are an artificial environment.

(Is Basic the right forum for this conversation?)

I don't disagree with beanojones' sentiment (though I do disagree with its basis in reality). The trouble is that the industry professionals don't police their own. There is a local diver who is quite frankly the butt of most jokes when it comes to other local "professionals". The type of guy who got out of the military and is using his GI bill to get as many certifications in as little time possible. Last I checked, he was working with PADI on becoming a course director. He doesn't abide best practices, has embarassing/miserable water skills, won't listen to any other dive pro when we point out his unsafe practices and is a right jackass to just about everyone he ought to be listening to. Until the folks at the top of the certification pyramid police guys like this you're going to get the type of "professionals" we have now. Just imagine the IDC Staff instructors he'll churn out, himself, in a few short months!?

I will disagree with the notion that in order to be serious about your craft, you have to derive your living from scuba diving. Having a job that pays for our lifestyle simply isn't a choice for most of us. The demand for highly qualified SCUBA instruction is frankly very low, because people don't know any better and/or don't care. How many times have we seen the "going pro" process been paid lip service to on this site? The example usually includes a gap year student with six minutes of bottom time explaining how they "don't want to go zero to hero" and we all wait with baited breath for the, "BUT" which usually goes something like, "I've only got 8 weeks and $200 but I want and to move to a country five thousand miles away and get a job teaching SCUBA".

So long as that remains a not-so-insane-as-it-should-sound option, I wouldn't expect the "dive professional" paradigm to change. Those of us who enjoy teaching and would make more of an effort to do it full time if it could provide for our families would more realistically be able to pursue that if the agencies stopped flooding the market with low end alternatives that make it impossible to own a home (at least here in southern California), put kids through college and live a reasonable middle class life.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

There are professional and there are people with professional credentials. The former know what they are doing. The latter have a license to learn to become a true professional. It true in every profe4ssion- law, architecture, accounting,police opwrk, teaching. We don't "hatch" competnent professionals we hatch novice professionals who can grow into competent professionals.
DivemasterDennis

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

But beano wasn't talking about what it takes to be a diving professional ... she made being a full-time professional a requisite to excelling in diving ...

So talking about excelling in diving first has to have the requirement that they make a living in diving, because until it is what people do for a living, people can and do have all sorts of beliefs about diving, as shown by the number of frankly silly things people take seriously at SB.

I think the two have little to do with each other. There are a great many excellent divers in this world who don't "make a living in diving" ... nor do they need to. And there are many people who do make a living at diving who are far from excellent divers.

Barely a week goes by on ScubaBoard when we don't read some new diver posting about how they want to make a living in diving, and making plans to sign up for some zero-to-hero class in Thailand or some other part of the world. More power to them ... pursue your goals ... but don't expect to come out of those mills with excellent diving skills. It's the rare individual who will come out of them barely as capable in their basic skills as your average, moderately experienced recreational diver. Over time they may acquire some skills that would put them into the "excellent" category ... but that isn't a requirement of the industry and will depend entirely on the diver. If they're someone who ... as I've seen even in our local market ... spends their entire time training OW divers while kneeling, then the chances of them "excelling" at their craft are not very high.

Meanwhile, the diver who pursues technical training, or who gets out frequently and takes trips to experience diving in a broad array of conditions, and who uses a variety of equipment based on dive profiles and environment, will ultimately surpass them in terms of skills, knowledge and experience. Doing the same thing over and over again doesn't necessarily improve one's skills ... particularly if they're repeating the same bad habits over and over in the process. All it will do is ingrain those bad habits to the point where they become a permanent impediment toward excellence.

Working full-time in the business isn't a "magic bullet" that somehow makes you good ... it really depends on how you approach that work. And even then it will only make you good at the things that it exposes you to on a regular basis. The best divers I know aren't instructors ... they're people who get in the water three or four times a week ... week in and week out ... who take trips on a regular basis ... who seek training that constantly challenges their skills and goals, whether those goals involve caves, deep walls, marine photography, or any number of other interests that can be pursued underwater. I know several who have never worked, and who will never work, in the industry ... but whose skills would exceed those of the majority of people who dive for a living every day.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[mathauck0814]

The best divers I know aren't instructors ... they're people who get in the water three or four times a week ... week in and week out ... who take trips on a regular basis ... who seek training that constantly challenges their skills and goals, whether those goals involve caves, deep walls, marine photography, or any number of other interests that can be pursued underwater. I know several who have never worked, and who will never work, in the industry ... but whose skills would exceed those of the majority of people who dive for a living every day.

100% Agree.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Here's another comment I'll take issue with ...

First because it is a basic requirement that one live in the tropics to do it, because otherwise it is a weekend only gig.

What this suggests to me is that beano has no real experience anywhere but in the tropics ... because there are a bunch of divers local to me who earn a living purely from scuba diving. This woman for example built her business from the ground up ... and scuba is all she does. She lives and works right here, in the greater Seattle area ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Some become DM's for the same reason a buddy of mine in college went to church every Sunday. To get laid.

 

[FinnMom]

I always wondered what a "church layman" was.

 

[Keith.M]

Some become DM's for the same reason a buddy of mine in college went to church every Sunday. To get laid.

HAHAHA!!! Damn you! Water on my laptop and through my nose!

 

[T.C.]

Some become DM's for the same reason a buddy of mine in college went to church every Sunday. To get laid.

So the question everyone is thinking but doesn't want to ask: Does it work?