I'd agree if either instructor did it as their only source of income it might not be "that great". In both cases the instructors are the general manager of very successful dive shops in my area. They're pulling in a salary for managing that dive shop. In at least one case, the instructor told me he got the tuition rather than the shop. Does he pay the shop for the privilege of being the manager and teaching there? I doubt it. The shop also provides the gear, which they then sell every year at a significant discount. Still a lot more than you'd pay for used gear online.
Also, in both cases the OW checkout dives were a separate fee.
I'm sorry I took this slightly off topic, but here's some responses:
Did the instructor own the shop? If not did the shop got some (most) of the money? - NO, the instructor told me he got the tuition money. This was in a later conversation about why tuition had to be paid by cash/check rather than with my debit card.
This sounds like the instructor is stealing the shops students for himself and the owner of the shop is either absent or knows absolutely nothing about this.
Does the instructor/shop pay rent for their location? Probably not beyond what the shop is paying already for being a retail store.
- Does the instructor/shop pay to rent a pool? No, the pool is part of the shops in my area. Whatever the store pays for rent or mortgage (both shops have been around since before I was born, so it's probably just taxes/expenses).
Again this sounds like an absentee owner who is getting ripped off by his manager.
- If they own the pool, does it cost them money to maintain? Sure
- Does the shop have any other equipment/materials/etc used for the class? (Compressor, tanks, etc?) In both cases, the shops replace all the gear annually and sell the class gear. It's at a rate cheaper than the new price, but high enough for me to assume they're not taking a loss on any of it. i.e. Over 50% of the full retail price. Granted they also have the cost of paying some tech a few bucks an hour to service the gear before sale.
Even selling at 50% off retail the facility is losing money on it as it spent money that could have been used for inventory that would have made more money. Besides paying a tech there is the cost of having a space to store it.
- Do they pay insurance? Yes, he did mention that in a conversation once but I can't for the life of me remember how much.
Anywhere from $500.-$700.
- Do they pay annual fees to an agency? Yes, My NAUI instructor (according to the naui website) is paying a whopping $145/yr
Thats about right.
- D
id the money you paid include cost for materials? No, in both cases training materials were not included in the course cost.
Training materials for ow can run about $115. For advance $70.
- Did the money you paid include the cost of processing your card? Yes. I've no idea if that cost is baked into his fee or the fee for the "materials". The only fee for cards that I know of for sure is the DAN cards which run $5 each.
Certification card fee is around $15.-$25.
- Anything else included in your cost besides money that went directly to your instructor? Dunno. Neither instructor really wrote the materials, they used that provided by the respective agency (and purchased separately by the students). I'm sure they had to buy gas to get to work, just like everyone else in the world. They also had to get the necessary education to teach, just like every other teacher in the world.
By the time a person gets to instructor level they have paid possibly as much of $7,000-$10,000 and more for their courses (ow on thru idc/ie) boat fees, dive trips,materials,gear,boat...I figure because of diving I have spent over the years over $100,000+..made it all back,and then some, but took 40 years..OUCH!
The way I add it up, instructor 1 is bringing in about $22k for "side work" (aka instruction) that they do after their full time job as a retail store manager. The median expected salary for a typical Retail Store Manager in the United States is $52,987. So I'm guessing they're making a combined total of at least $75k/yr.
I really doubt that the store manager at a dive shop makes $52,987 a year. More like $300-$500 a week is more likely. Many instructors only get $50. to complete all 4 ow dives. Maybe $200. to teach a class of 6 -8 students academics and confined water...Most drop out of teaching as they cannot even make enough to pay for their yearly insurance..Those that stay in the game have real jobs other than diving or good investment/retirement monies. I have worked at a few dive facilities, I am a known instructor in the local dive community, worked in the islands, and none pay anywhere near the numbers that have been quoted here. Good thing I am retired from a corporate job and have other real incomes. or I'll be living in a trailer park down south with roommates! May still have to do that someday.
Probably more since both stores in question are absolutely killing it, and have been for a very long time. Now, that side work figure is allows for about a month of no classes, and ONLY figures in OW classes year round that are done here. It doesn't even account for other classes.
Back to my original point again. For the money that is paid for a class, the instructor has no excuse for providing anything other than a good education on the topic at hand.
A class can have the best instructor in the world and a student can still complain that they felt it was incomplete. Remember also that what the student gets out of a class is also determined by how much they put into it. You should have learned in a PADI advance course how to measure out distance (kick cycle,time,air consumed), use a compass by completing patterns natural navigation techniques, all in the navigation portion of the course.. Plan a deep dive and figure in how much air you will consume,safety stop,notice buoyancy changes at depth, buddy awareness etc...same can be said for whatever electives that are appropriate for the local area and student abilities.
