Scuba Instructor?

[AndrewA]

I teach in a club based system in which the vast majority of instructors are amateurs (like myself). I instruct because I enjoy it and I love the sport. Many people gave up their time to get me where I am in diving and this is in part me paying them back.

 

[Crush]

My SB Challenge is: "Get MD cert, learn all the time, don't go pro."

I like teaching and have taught in various environments.

I do not have the skill right now to teach scuba. What surprises me is that I have met a few divers whose skills in the water are similar to mine and they are going for their DM, AI or JI. I find this to be confusing.

Even if I had the skills to teach scuba, I have a day job and other things which occupy much of my time. By the time I pay fees and insurance, I believe that scuba instruction would be a money-losing proposition for me since my instruction time would be limited. I waste enough money on gear and recreation - I don't need to waste more money on licensing and insurance.

I like reading the responses so far.

 

[Scott]

Twenty something years instructing and few years prior to that as a DM. Why? Simply because I enjoy teaching.

I reduced the number of classes for a few years while my children were young but never stopped.
Why do others stop?
A few that I've personally been told;
Priorities change (school, career and kids)
Not worth it anymore. Read $$$
LDS politics.
Just wanted the card <....seriously
QA inquiries .... maybe one to many? Maybe a good thing!

 

[Nixdax]

I started out becoming a divemaster because I ended up "guiding" a lot of people at the local dive sites for fun and figured if I was going to keep doing it, I should probably learn a bit more about how to help inexperienced divers. It turned out that I really enjoyed it so I went on to be an instructor.

 

[knotical]

... long, tedious dissertations on ScubaBoard

Yours are never tedious, Lynne.

 

[knotical]

I surprised myself when I decided to become an instructor. I wanted to get into equipment servicing, but the store owner insisted I be at least a DiveMaster to work in his service department. So I did the DM course and was amazed at how much pleasure I got helping students. Been an instructor now for 12 years, and still enjoy it. I've been careful to avoid burnout by limiting the number of classes I conduct. I got sidetracked from my original goal, and still don't do much equipment servicing beyond my own.

 

[Moonglow]

After five years of teaching I found myself burning out, and decided to take a year off from teaching. I got back into it in July, and in the past 2-1/2 months have already taught five classes. I'm going to need another break soon, I think ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

We hear that from Northern instructors, with your drysuits, and cold dark waters. Time to move to the tropics, Bob. Remember those pretty PADI pictures in the dive magazines, "Get paid in paradise!":

 

[j yaeger]

thanks moonglow,i needed those pics.......
freakin' 43* and i have"fun night"dives for tonight!
...in the rain...

that's why i'm an instructor
lemonade outta lemons,baby!!!!

yaeg

 

[Captain12Pk]

Though I no longer want to be an Instructor, I did for quite a while. I think being a DM really changed the way I feel about becomming an Instructor. I'm of the opinion that many of the constraints put on the Instructor by their respective agencies are (in many cases) counter-productive. Additionally, the way I dive is really not common at the OW level. And me not being willing to change the way I dive to instruct a new diver in a manner in which I don't completely agree with... well I just don't see it as beneficial to either party.
Plus, DM'ing has really cut into my own diving time. I don't think I'm willing to give up anymore time to teach. I'll stick to mentoring the occasional future dive buddy for now.

 

[jlbdiver]

I do it because I like teaching others. No better feeling then to have someone who didn't think they could do something realize that they can. I enjoyed the work involved in becoming and instructor so much so that when I get a bit run down I take some other class and it re-energizes me.