Average Divemaster's Salary

[Mustard Dave]

At my local dive school, DMs get paid bugger all. As I live in Manchester (UK), we are a good distance from any decent dive sites and it is an hour's drive to Capernwray (a disused quarry now operated as an organised dive site). The Diving at Work Regulations mean the instructors are legally required to have two assistants - one on the shore and one in the water (they do not have to be DMs though - they will use RD and above). Due to the competitive nature of the industry and the availability of cheap holidays and training in Egypt (for example), it is difficult (if not impossile) to pay staff properly and break even.

All the instructors at my local school are part time and work on a self-employed basis. I don't know what they're paid but by doing a bit of simple maths, the margins are tiny before I even try to guess what overheads are like. Divemasters do not get paid a penny.

As soon as they knew I had 40 logged dives and Rescue Diver cert, they were trying to get me on the DM course. I told them straight - I am not paying the thick end of £1,000 for a qualification that teaches me nothing of value to myself and allows me to work for them for free. A few months later, another instructor asked me again and told me they were short of decent DMs. I gave the same answer.

When we use charters, I have never seen a DM on a boat. There will be a skipper and at least one member of crew to satisfy MCA regs. The skippers will give you advice about currents and other conditions as well as any procedures they require you to follow. There is nobody in the water guiding you or checking your kit on the boat. There are a few dive centres at places like the south coast where they operate more like a resort and provide guided dives, but not many. I don't know how they pay staff though.

At Mediteranean resorts, the DMs are still paid peanuts or nothing. A place we use in Malta takes DM interns, has them work for free for the summer and puts them through their IDC at the end of the season. I cannot see how anyone can makegood money DMing or even teaching (with the exception of highly regarded teck instructors). It might fund your back-packing but nothing more.

95% of all statistics are made up.
as an instructor I make <2$ an hour per student so unless I have 5 students I do not make minimum wage. in a year I am lucky to break even, after insurance and gear, and not lose money.QUOTE]

Do you work for yourself or is this through a school? I have heard tales of DMs/instructors paying for their own insurance despite working for a school. My LDS has a policy that covers anybody working on their behalf which is the least anyone can do.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

One of the students in my ex-wife's DM class sued our instructor. He never finished all the requirements for the card, but blamed it on the instructor. He was seeking lost wages in some incredible amount. My ex, Marilyn testified in court that when she worked as a DM as part of a boat's crew she would make $40-80 per fourteen hour day. When she worked for the instructor or the shop as a DM, it was zero.

 

[ProtectSharks]

having working around the world as Instructor .. i have never met a DM who got a decent Salary, also not easy to find a job as DM ...

my advice .. do your Instructor Course

 

[boulderjohn]

boulderjohn: 300+ tuition? OW courses here cost around $300 now (Canadian Dollars, which now are at par with the USD). DMs get $300 per OW class. I don't know what instructors get. I love it but wouldn't do it for less-- $300 for an OW course is less than minimum wage in most of Canada.

I didn't quote the price--I was just responding to a question that used that figure.

What courses cost varies by location. In our area, it is typically close to $300 for the academic and pool portions of the class. Students then have a wide variety of local choices for the OW portion, and each cost a different amount depending upon logistics. By far most students, however, go on to do their OW dives via referral during a vacation trip because we really don't have great diving conditions locally.

So what do people make around here? I assure you that there is no way a DM gets anything remotely close to $300 per class.

Different shops pay their professionals in different ways. Some pay a flat rate per class. That means that if a class is underpopulated, the shop takes a financial beating, but if the class is highly populated, the shop does well. Other shops pay per number of students, which means that if the class is underpopulated, the instructor takes a financial beating by doing roughly the same amount of work for a lot less money. (There will be no DM in an underpopulated class.)

In the OW portion of the class, the instructor really takes a beating in the underpopulated class because he gets a lot less money for doing a lot more work. Why a lot more? No DM will be assigned, so the instructor has to do all the setup work, including setting up the instructional platform each day at the dive site. More importantly, we have poor visibility locally, so with no DM, the instructor must be in close proximity to all students at all times. Think about what that means if the instructor has three students and has to do CESAs, alternate air ascents, etc. Remember, being in close proximity at all times includes at the surface. With three students, you almost have to do 3 classes, accompanying students back and forth from shore in an almost constant shuttle run.

 

[Hatul]

How about getting Instructor cert and teaching privately on your own. Overhead should be low so you basically keep what's paid?

 

[boulderjohn]

How about getting Instructor cert and teaching privately on your own. Overhead should be low so you basically keep what's paid?

Actually, your overhead can be higher, depending upon your circumstances. Again, it varies quite a bit by location.

You have to have access to all the equipment you need to teach the classes, including BCDs, regulators, etc. You have to have tanks, and you have to be able to fill them. You have to have the ability to maintain everything. You have to have access to a pool for the confined water instruction. A dive shop has the ability to own everything and distribute those costs over a whole lot of customers. In some areas, like South Florida, there are a lot of independent instructors and the system works for that. Shops will allow you to rent gear for your students at decent prices. If you are in an area (such as where I live) where that is not true, you pretty much have to own everything yourself, and that is expensive.

More importantly, you have to compete with the local dive shop for the price of the course. That sounds like it is in your favor, but not really. The shop can break even on its instruction and make it all up on equipment sales. As an independent, you have to make a profit on your instruction.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Add to all that the cost of your certification and insurance each year and you will be lucky to go broke slowly.

 

[boulderjohn]

Add to all that the cost of your certification and insurance each year and you will be lucky to go broke slowly.

In my area, some people do not make enough money in a year to pay for their insurance and agency dues.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I certainly didn't. I worked as a DM for a year and never made a cent. When it was time to renew, I decided that I missed diving for fun too much.

 

[JohnN]

Sorry to do a partial hijack. . . . but let's say (Hypothetically speaking) you're a recreational diver with DM credentials (and an outside job). Can't you then write off the cost of all the pretty trinkets and "necessary upgrades"? I realize it doesn't make them free, but wholesale less 30% (or so) might make the sport a bit less expensive.

Anybody every heard of the IRS auditing a DM because they show a net loss for the year?