Advice on where to go pro
- Thread starter Dragondiver1
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Now that you found the shrubbery, you must cut down the mightiest tree in the forest...
[Here's comes the diving content]
with... a herring!
Newly certified divers seem to tend to walk away from their certification experience with 2 things on the brain (ok...more than 2 things but there are 2 things that seem to overcast everything else):
1. They are elated by the experience and want to share it with everyone.
2. They come away from the experience thinking that their instructor is some kind of phenom, and that being an instructor is the penultimate aspect of diving...after all, they are the gatekeeper to the certification that new diver just obtained.
The reality is that many many instructors (yes that is 2 "manys") are not really all that great divers. Also, it is not necessary to be an instructor to be a great diver.
Instructing is also expensive. There is the initial cost of the certifications leading up to instructor training, and then there is the cost of instructor training. Beyond that, there is professional dues to the training agency one is an instructor under coupled with professional liability insurance...these are annual costs that creep ever upwards as time goes on.
There is very little return on the financial investment, so one needs to have another goal in mind as getting rich off teaching scuba is unlikely to be realized.
The drop out rate in diving is high....the thing that diving has going for it is that one is certified for life, so one can drop out of the activity and come back to it 20 years later if they wish without having to spend another dime on training (this is not an endorsement or recommendation to do that).
The standards to become a dive instructor under most agencies are not all that high, so grab it if its what you want....but realize that "going pro" will affect your personal diving in a way that is not openly discussed in any DM or instructor training material. As a pro, the things you say and the things you do even outside an instruction setting can have an impact on your liability. As a "non-pro" diver, you can pretty much make all the recommendations you want to other divers, and if they misconstrue what you said, or follow what you said to a "t" and get hurt, well that would suck but there is not much they can do to you from a legal standpoint, but as a "pro" you may incur liability from the things you share. As a DM, I am much less likely to casually discuss certain aspects of diving, especially with strangers, due to the cloud of liability that exists. Once one is certified as a "professional" their standard of care increases, and that standard does not go away necessarily if one lets their certification lapse. New divers who aspire to be instructors right out of the gate should really take that into consideration...especially since their experience in the water is so limited that they may not foresee many of the scenarios that can trip them up.
Be enamored with your instructor, be in love with and passionate about diving. But become a great diver and then consider becoming an instructor.
-Z
1. They are elated by the experience and want to share it with everyone.
2. They come away from the experience thinking that their instructor is some kind of phenom, and that being an instructor is the penultimate aspect of diving...after all, they are the gatekeeper to the certification that new diver just obtained.
The reality is that many many instructors (yes that is 2 "manys") are not really all that great divers. Also, it is not necessary to be an instructor to be a great diver.
Instructing is also expensive. There is the initial cost of the certifications leading up to instructor training, and then there is the cost of instructor training. Beyond that, there is professional dues to the training agency one is an instructor under coupled with professional liability insurance...these are annual costs that creep ever upwards as time goes on.
There is very little return on the financial investment, so one needs to have another goal in mind as getting rich off teaching scuba is unlikely to be realized.
The drop out rate in diving is high....the thing that diving has going for it is that one is certified for life, so one can drop out of the activity and come back to it 20 years later if they wish without having to spend another dime on training (this is not an endorsement or recommendation to do that).
The standards to become a dive instructor under most agencies are not all that high, so grab it if its what you want....but realize that "going pro" will affect your personal diving in a way that is not openly discussed in any DM or instructor training material. As a pro, the things you say and the things you do even outside an instruction setting can have an impact on your liability. As a "non-pro" diver, you can pretty much make all the recommendations you want to other divers, and if they misconstrue what you said, or follow what you said to a "t" and get hurt, well that would suck but there is not much they can do to you from a legal standpoint, but as a "pro" you may incur liability from the things you share. As a DM, I am much less likely to casually discuss certain aspects of diving, especially with strangers, due to the cloud of liability that exists. Once one is certified as a "professional" their standard of care increases, and that standard does not go away necessarily if one lets their certification lapse. New divers who aspire to be instructors right out of the gate should really take that into consideration...especially since their experience in the water is so limited that they may not foresee many of the scenarios that can trip them up.
Be enamored with your instructor, be in love with and passionate about diving. But become a great diver and then consider becoming an instructor.
-Z
Pro certs are very lucrative business for dive shops. The fees are good and the effort low (ish)
Even so I’ve had this same convo many times in person with prospective candidates.
I would encourage the OP to get tech trained to vastly increase their experience and knowledge as well as going on a DM intern course to have fun and see if it’s the progression they want to do.
More than one candidate has decided that being an instructor isn’t for them while acting as a DM. Better to find that out before you spend lots of money on IDC & IE
Even so I’ve had this same convo many times in person with prospective candidates.
I would encourage the OP to get tech trained to vastly increase their experience and knowledge as well as going on a DM intern course to have fun and see if it’s the progression they want to do.
More than one candidate has decided that being an instructor isn’t for them while acting as a DM. Better to find that out before you spend lots of money on IDC & IE
2 years ago I was Seriously contemplating Utila for my Staff Instructor course and my Tech instructor course
I did due diligence about the centre (remain nameless) And the CD’s before I contacted them
Having provided them with all my experience As requested, they offered me an up sell, to get me my Trimix instructor cert too. They’d ensure (within the fees) I got the min required dives for cert
I’ve NEVER dived Trimix before, and yet they were willing to cert me allowing game to teach students at 80+ meters
Let that sink in.
I didn’t take their “kind offer” nor take any course with them
It was all about getting another pro cert towards their Platinum rating...
Cheap doesn’t mean good nor responsible.
Diving in San Andrés is as good as Roatan and Proviencía is a lot better than those two. The problem with either island is that tourists (even Colombians) can’t stay there for more than 2 weeks.
OP
Dragondiver1
Registered
Thanks all for the feedback. Very helpful.
One last thing from me, which is THE most common mistake by all candidates (me included) is underestimating the theory.
Up to ICD Theory exams should have been a breeze, there's nothing difficult. At IDC because there is so much to do - lots of time spent on presenting lessons, your practice exams are only to let you know your weaknesses rather than teaching you from scratch, so you really need to already be scoring pass marks in practice. If you're really poor you won't get submitted to IDC (that's how shops keep their IE pass rate up)
There are 2 exams Standards and Diver Theory
Standards is easy it's open book, you're allowed an electronic device (not connected to the internet) where you can quickly word/phrase search the manual.
Theory some basic stuff, some things like tables, you may not be familiar with, some stuff you've forgotten or not even come across
At IE the Theory exams are (generally) first. You're greeted by a welcome slide telling you to relax and enjoy it - yeah right!
The dive theory is split into 4 or 5 sections, where you need to get the minimum pass mark in each. IIRC there are only 12-15 questions per section which means you are only allowed 3 incorrect answers. You need to pass each section
Quite a few good candidates fail this. Either through nerves, silly mistakes, simply not knowing tables etc.
You will have never seen the questions before (similar yes but not the wording nor the answers) and especially on tables, 2 answers are very close, meaning you really do need to calculate them correctly or be a very lucky guesser
If you fail theory, you still get to continue IE, but you know you can't pass at the end (go back to another IE and re-sit the failed exam). Some candidates pick themselves up and complete the rest of IE well (but are gutted at the end when others are getting "The Handshake" and they're not), others fall apart and have a bad IE, which adds pressure to the their next one (if they choose to continue)
There are lots of online resources available, so my advice to you as I tell others, get on with the theory now. Whenever you decide to progress having that part sorted early makes the whole process easier and more enjoyable.
I'm currently revising all theory ready for Staff instructor exams which have a higher pass mark. It's amazing what you forget.....
Good luck DD
Just to add, once you are an instructor and go on a diving holiday, just present your Rescue Diver or AOW card
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