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

[rjack321]

As one moves on to the advanced courses (deco, trimix, CCR) the supply of suitably experienced good instructors is far more limited thus prices are higher but the quality and time spent is much better..

if you say so,

IMO there are plenty of really horrendous trimix course directors who couldn't dive their way out of a paper bag

 

[scubaozy]

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).

What is your profession? How much time and money did it cost to you or society to train you for that job? Compare that with path to dive pro, you will see that for a valid vocation, it is not that much of work or expense.

You get what you pay for.

When in 'resorts' where there's several dive shops touting for your money, course prices are low and the quality is correspondingly mediocre; particularly the amount of time doing 'academics'.

As one moves on to the advanced courses (deco, trimix, CCR) the supply of suitably experienced good instructors is far more limited thus prices are higher but the quality and time spent is much better.

Early in one's diving 'career' it becomes clearly obvious that there's an element of Ponzi to the PADI "recreational" diving training as they trade on the "master" moniker (master badge collector, or shop assistant). Once past Rescue Diver (an excellent course BTW), PADI quickly becomes irrelevant.

You seem to have a romanticised view on tech diving. A dive center I worked for has transformed to offer full range of TDI training in 2003 including instructor training. TDI also have ponzi scheme, once you are qualified, you need to train x number of divers from previous level. Most of the top dogs cannot afford helium @0,08-9 euros per litre. I am today developing sw for living and having no children, I can afford to get a new ccr every year. And this is the type of people you will get your tech diving course from, amateur instructors with steady day jobs. The chances that you will get a dud in tec training is not so different than rec, if not higher.

 

[Wibble]

You seem to have a romanticised view on tech diving. A dive center I worked for has transformed to offer full range of TDI training in 2003 including instructor training. TDI also have ponzi scheme, once you are qualified, you need to train x number of divers from previous level. Most of the top dogs cannot afford helium @0,08-9 euros per litre. I am today developing sw for living and having no children, I can afford to get a new ccr every year. And this is the type of people you will get your tech diving course from, amateur instructors with steady day jobs. The chances that you will get a dud in tec training is not so different than rec, if not higher.

Not romanticised, but a practical point that I've chosen my technical instructors on their experience and reputation within the diving industry, including their publications and presentations they've done, also the kind of diving they've taken part in.

As I'm now more experienced, or certainly enough to know what good looks and sounds like compared with, to be blunt, BS, I can see that there's plenty of weak technical instructors who don't do technical training as their main occupation. Am really wary of the recreational instructors who've moved on to light technical training, yet don't actually dive regularly as technical divers -- well beyond the levels they teach.

It's a standard instructor issue: are you a fully rounded "expert" in all aspects of the subject, or are you a couple of pages ahead of the students in the manual.

 

[Wibble]

if you say so,

IMO there are plenty of really horrendous trimix course directors who couldn't dive their way out of a paper bag

Think the name "course director" says it all.

Why is it that football players aren't directors or managers? That's because they have the skills whilst the directors get on with the shouting and ordering pencils.

 

[ginti]

Think the name "course director" says it all.

Why is it that football players aren't directors or managers? That's because they have the skills whilst the directors get on with the shouting and ordering pencils.

Not fair, sorry. They are very different industries. "Course directors" are more similar to football coaches (who, by chance, are basically always former players) than managers. The managers are the ones who run the business in the agencies, and I would be surprised to discover that all of them are divers. But again, very different industries, with different budgets, different customers and, therefore, with different working people.

Regarding your point that tech instructors are good... well, only sometimes. I met tech instructors who are just not good, and you too - indeed, you said:

As I'm now more experienced, or certainly enough to know what good looks and sounds like compared with, to be blunt, BS, I can see that there's plenty of weak technical instructors who don't do technical training as their main occupation.

However, I believe there are also probably bad tec instructors who are full-time tec instructors and good ones that work only part-time because they have another job too.

 

[boulderjohn]

All PADI Amateurs?

Makes a mockery of the concept of a dive Professional.

"What do you do?"

"I pay money to PADI and others to go diving with lots of responsibility and restrictions and don’t get paid"

This comment makes no sense and is just a bashing rant.

Is it your opinion that in that area PADI DMs are not paid for their work but SSI, SDI, NAUI, etc. DMs are paid?

 

[Wibble]

This comment makes no sense and is just a bashing rant.

Is it your opinion that in that area PADI DMs are not paid for their work but SSI, SDI, NAUI, etc. DMs are paid?

Having a go at the elephant in the room and including the also-rans.

But there's definitely an oversupply of 'masters' compared with customers/

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

All PADI Amateurs?

Makes a mockery of the concept of a dive Professional.

"What do you do?"

"I pay money to PADI and others to go diving with lots of responsibility and restrictions and don’t get paid"

While PADI does dominates in my area, SSI, SDI, and NAUI ecist in my area. Same situation. It is the dive industry. You could make a case that PADI helped drive this situation but no one pointed a gun to the other agencies to follow.

 

[TMHeimer]

Ucarkus-- I'm a retired Band (music) teacher. Of course my 5 years and Masters Degree cost a lot more than someone becoming a scuba instructor. But the road to scuba instructor (and even just to divemaster) is worth maybe a semester in university... maybe not quite, but certainly more than a week's training to flip burgers at McDonalds, where they make minimum wage. And most DMs don't make that. Thus DMs and instructors should make somewhat more than minimum wage.
To be a competent DM or instructor, able to teach basic courses and perform emergency rescues, there just isn't that much to learn-- yes there is a fair bit, but not the amount you need to pass the Bar exam or become a doctor. So it's not gunna cost anywhere near as much money (and time).

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

iMO there are plenty of really horrendous course directors who couldn't dive their way out of a paper bag

FIFY by removing the word "trimix"