Hello my name is Danny
I am interested in becoming a Scuba Instructor and have been for a few years now. I have completed my OW and I enjoyed it very much. That being said I am still extremely new to the world of diving and have only had a few dives (less than 10) but I believe this is something I would like to do for my life. I guess the main question I wanted to ask is if I was to spend the next 6 months - 1 year obtaining all the certifications I needed and logging 100+ dives and passed my Instructor exam, how hard would it be for me to find work? I live in and would most likely be taking all of my courses in South Eastern Wisconsin but I would be very open to relocating if a job opportunity arises as an Instructor. My long term goal is to be an Instructor for a few years and then become a Master Instructor and one day to work on a cruise ship and being able to travel and dive, two things I am passionate about. So if anyone has ever taken the "quick route" or whatever you want to call it, or just has some advice/constructive criticism I would love if you would leave some feedback and tell me your thoughts, whatever they may be.
Thank you,
- Danny
Danny, it's good to have a goal ... and I don't want to sound discouraging. But as someone who has been teaching scuba part-time for the past 10 years, I'd like to offer some thoughts to help you put your goal into perspective.
I'll start out with an anecdote. Twenty-something years ago I had a dream ... I was living in Massachusetts, working for a large computer company, and feeling the stresses of a company that everyone recognized wasn't going to be around much longer. My dream was to leave that place, move to the west coast, and open a coffee shop. Eventually my opportunity came, and I took it ... traveling west with all my belongings, and a dream in my head. As I pulled into the Seattle area the first realization I had was that about 100,000 other people must have had the same dream ... there were coffee shops literally on every corner. Scuba instruction is a lot like that ... you're sharing a dream with tens of thousands of other people ... many of them about as experienced as you are at the moment. And you'll be competing against every single one of them.
Now what it takes to become an instructor. The cost of classes can be considerable, but there are other expenses to consider ... agency membership fees, insurance, equipment ... LOTS of equipment ... and for most, affiliation with a dive shop or charter business. Compare those costs to what you'll be making as an instructor ... and unless you're an independent instructor (which has its own drawbacks) you won't be making much per student for your efforts. In a lot of cases, you probably won't even be earning minimum wage. Most instructors do not live on their scuba instruction earnings ... they have part-time or full-time jobs elsewhere, or they have skills outside of scuba instruction that make them valuable to the dive business they work full-time for. If you can pilot a boat, fix a diesel engine or air compressor, rebuild regulators and repair other scuba equipment, and perhaps speak multiple languages, you will have an easier time making it financially as a full-time scuba professional. But very few people earn enough strictly from teaching to live on ... and almost all of those who do have many years, if not decades, of teaching and earn most of their money teaching courses at the higher levels of scuba (i.e. cave or tech classes).
Finally, something to consider ... there is a HUGE difference between scuba diving and teaching scuba diving. When you teach, you have to deal with people ... and while the majority of them will be a joy to teach, some won't be. You'll have to deal with people who come to you with no real desire to learn, and only want a card for as little effort and investment as they can get away with. You'll have to deal with people who do all manner of really dumb things ... sometimes really scary things ... and YOU will be responsible for their safety while they're in your class. Teaching scuba isn't peacefully swimming around on a reef looking at colorful corals and fish ... at the introductory level you won't be looking at much other than your students ... and often the second you take your eye off of them will be the moment they decide to do something completely unpredictable, and often scary. It'll be up to you to keep them from hurting themselves ... and at the end of the day you'll be stressed and tired. Teaching diving at any level is hard work ... teaching entry-level diving is probably the hardest, because those people lack any context and it's up to you to make sure they don't do something so utterly stupid that it probably never occurred to you they might do.
Scuba instruction has its joys and satisfactions ... but you don't do it because you love diving, you do it because you love teaching ... scuba diving just happens to be the subject matter. Those who get joy out of scuba instruction do so because they enjoy helping others learn and progress.
But it's work ... and the fact is that most scuba instructors last less than three years in the business. Often they burn out and lose the joy of diving altogether ... those are the ones who got into it for the wrong reasons, and were sold on the notion of "easy money in paradise", which is a popular marketing theme among instructors who are good at selling continuing education classes.
It's good to have a dream ... but make sure your dream is realistic ... make sure you're doing it for the right reasons ... and don't jump into it until you have enough practical knowledge and experience to make sensible decisions on the path to achieving it. Otherwise, chances are very good it'll turn out to be little more than a money sink and a disappointment. There are no easy paths to success ... particularly not in a job market where there are many times more people trying to do it than there are real opportunities for success. Scuba instruction is a saturated market ... oversold by agencies and instructors because they have a zealous and willing pool of new divers eager to buy into the sales pitch. Take your time ... go diving ... do some real market research ... determine what skills you REALLY need for success ... and make a plan. THEN you'll be ready to pursue your dream with a reasonable chance for success.
And good luck ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
