A Scuba Diving Instructor Salary Explained - How much do Dive Instructors earn?

[Wibble]

'Laws' of economics state that demand is inversely related to price; as price goes up demand falls. Novice dive tuition has a more-or-less fixed maximum demand as there is only a limited number of people who would take the training regardless of price.

It seems the root issue is that novice dive tuition pricing has been driven down to uneconomic levels, probably due to over-supply. This is largely due to the moderately skilled workforce being prepared to work for 'love' not money. Barriers to entry are relatively low as novice training can be done to low standards with fairly inexperienced staff as the clientele knows so little. The output being people with just enough skills to follow-the-leader around a benign dive site.

Go up to highly skilled dive training — e.g. trimix — then the supply is restricted to highly experienced instructors, thus there’s a corresponding increase in pricing to make the course economically viable. The clientele here being highly experienced and knows what good looks like.



Wonder why there’s an oversupply of inexperienced amateur "professionals". Could it be that entry requirements for DiveMASTER training being 40 dives (know nothing experience) and a system which allows poor standards?

 

[KenGordon]

'Laws' of economics state that demand is inversely related to price; as price goes up demand falls. Novice dive tuition has a more-or-less fixed maximum demand as there is only a limited number of people who would take the training regardless of price.

It seems the root issue is that novice dive tuition pricing has been driven down to uneconomic levels, probably due to over-supply. This is largely due to the moderately skilled workforce being prepared to work for 'love' not money. Barriers to entry are relatively low as novice training can be done to low standards with fairly inexperienced staff as the clientele knows so little. The output being people with just enough skills to follow-the-leader around a benign dive site.

Go up to highly skilled dive training — e.g. trimix — then the supply is restricted to highly experienced instructors, thus there’s a corresponding increase in pricing to make the course economically viable. The clientele here being highly experienced and knows what good looks like.



Wonder why there’s an oversupply of inexperienced amateur "professionals". Could it be that entry requirements for DiveMASTER training being 40 dives (know nothing experience) and a system which allows poor standards?

I think this is more or less by design. The real money is in teaching people to be instructors. The OW level teaching is a means to encourage people to become instructors and so pay those big fees. Then those “pros” pay a subscription, buy materials and so forth while essentially working for free. At the bottom of the pile, gap year kids, this maybe suits them as they can have an extended holiday that is probably more fun than picking crops.

 

[scubaozy]

Good point about the taxes. I wonder how much tax op is paying . Europeans earn very high salaries for local standards in developing countries, ending up in the highest tax bracket, if they do it by the book that is. It is not mentioned at all in here.
Other point is, it is extremely easy to become instructor, investment is not that big. Result is a lot of instructors working for peanuts or no money at all. This already has quite negative impact on diving as a career, as well as salaries. Diving industry did not offer good further development opportunities for hobbyists until recreational tech diving started to pick up last decade, thus, anyone who wanted to develop in the hobby had become an amateur instructor.
@Wibble trimix is not that highly skilled dive training. It works same way as rec diving. Early last decade, professional diving instructors were the first target market by the tech agencies. But the fact is, we could not afford the gas costs with our salaries. Real buyers of this course were the amateur instructors who has well paid jobs and wanting to be elite. Industry played well to this need. Roll back another decade, these were the folks who became instructors because back then that was being elite. This is how the industry works, make it look cool, train as many instructors as possible, let them spend as much as possible.

 

[Wibble]

@Wibble trimix is not that highly skilled dive training. It works same way as rec diving.

We'll have to agree to differ in your opinion then.

There's a world of difference between NDL "recreational" diving and technical diving, starting with the instructor's underlying experience, skills and knowledge. The standards required are far higher.

 

[formernuke]

I'm doing my DMC and IDC. For me it is because it is something I think will be fun. The slight income is just gravy.

 

[scubaozy]

We'll have to agree to differ in your opinion then.

There's a world of difference between NDL "recreational" diving and technical diving, starting with the instructor's underlying experience, skills and knowledge. The standards required are far higher.

I am looking from instructors perspective, from 0 to owd is much bigger challenge than from nitrox to decompression procedures.
Student ratio for trimix is 4, for owd 8. Difference is that it is harder to teach owd. Underlying requirement for good tec instructor is to be a good rec instructor first.

 

[formernuke]

Let's play slight devils advocate hear. I've been approached at work and just a passerby while gearing up asking how much to get certified and then for the gear.

My usual response. "You will need to buy mask, fins, snorkel and boots for the class, plan 500 give or take and 500 for the class. Gear is very personal preference with a huge disparity in prices."

A lot of them get turned off by that 1k initial investment. If instructors start getting paid more than the class cost goes up and even fewer will get certified so even less pay because of the loss of students.

A shifty catch 22 if you ask me.

 

[TMHeimer]

I don't think it is "exremeley easy" to become an instructor. I found the PADI DM course quite comprehensive, though it did need improvement in some areas (I took the course before the big change in 2010).
I found that the instructors (maybe a dozen) and DMs (a few) I worked with to be excellent, without exception. Maybe just lucky?
I don't know about other shops/areas as far as competency goes, but I don't think competency is a big factor regarding too many instructors and too low pay. I think there are other economic reasons driving this a lot more.
I do agree with Wibble that 40 dives is too low for starting the DM course. I started with 156 and felt that was about right for me anyway.

 

[boulderjohn]

When I last worked for a dive shop, their Director of Instruction told me--and this is a direct quote--"Instructors are a dime a dozen." He said every other week an instructor shows up looking for work. Every single one of them has the credentials to achieve the shop's goal for instruction--certify divers who can buy gear and go on trips.

In other words, instructors who do not like things the way they are can be replaced in a heartbeat.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I'm doing my DMC and IDC. For me it is because it is something I think will be fun. The slight income is just gravy.

Unless you teach enough classes, you are paying to do it. Don't forget paying insurance for years after you stop teaching.