i will have 9 years in as of april. i just feel it's the right time to get out before i hit that critical 10 year mark and still have time in my life to do the things i've always wanted to do and follow a career path that i've always wanted to do. as of now i'm really leaning toward the school in LA. it seems to make more sense.
Commercial dive schools
- Thread starter NAVYGUY
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WOW! I've learned alot about commercial diving thanks to your thread! 
Are you still in the Navy? I hope you are enjoying your time on the site so far...
Are you still in the Navy? I hope you are enjoying your time on the site so far...
kalidor's8
Contributor
Lot's of long hours and hard work lol! I am just past my mid point at TOC and I am loving it as I have said before. In that time I have gotten a lot of info from the instructors there. Average starting Tender pay is $16-18ph I know that does not sound like much but that is base pay. One thing you will have to take into account is almost any company will have you do a pre-employment physical and the school should also have you do a physical before you can dive with them. I know Oceaneering has a rigorous physical but being that you are in great shape you should be fine. Something else you might want to conosider is Com-Diving is for the most part seasonal, so you will want some kind of alternate plans for the off season. Some schools like TOC also teach you Non Destructive Testing or NDT. You graduate with enough knowledge to become a lvl 2 inspector all you need is the time and testing to become lvl 2.
On another note with companies there are some out there that are willing to hire you as a diver right off. Most of those are inland and places like USGS. Most states also have openings in DOT inspecting bridges.
Something you might want to consider and I am not sure if you have said that you have done this but you could visit the schools and talk to the students. TOC welcomes this as a matter of fact, we are having an open house this saturday. Not sure how that fits into your schedule but it is something.
Hope this helped
Kevin
On another note with companies there are some out there that are willing to hire you as a diver right off. Most of those are inland and places like USGS. Most states also have openings in DOT inspecting bridges.
Something you might want to consider and I am not sure if you have said that you have done this but you could visit the schools and talk to the students. TOC welcomes this as a matter of fact, we are having an open house this saturday. Not sure how that fits into your schedule but it is something.
Hope this helped
Kevin
i'm still undecided on which school i will be attending. it's between Louisiana and TOC right now. it pretty much depends on outside work and cost of living in both areas. i know TOC is a great school and you will learn NDT which i'm not to sure about at Loisiana? i have heard from many divers go to the cheap school since it won't really matter when you graduate since you'll still be a tender. there is a big price differance between the to. i'm trying to get in touch with a few who went to LA. to see how the school was. i wish i could do a visit but i'm Hawaii until May and then to Iowa and by then i hope i will have a school chosen.
kalidor's8
Contributor
You should be ok with that time frame, I know that our school during the peak season is pretty full I am not sure about anything dealing with LA so I am not going to try but I am guessing it would be about the same. Also don't let those guys that say you are automatically going to start out tending get you down, like I said there are plenty of places you can go to get around that. I would definately not agree with those other divers saying it won't really matter, since it is almost guarenteed you will not be diving year round andthere is the little fact that many companies also do underwater NDT as well and if you know that you will have a better shot at breaking out sooner.
One thing I am also noticing is you might want to at least start saving up for your hat, I know it might sound silly but since you have to own your own gear with most companies anyway you do tend to break out sooner if you already have yours. Just a thought.. Hope this has helped some.
One thing I am also noticing is you might want to at least start saving up for your hat, I know it might sound silly but since you have to own your own gear with most companies anyway you do tend to break out sooner if you already have yours. Just a thought.. Hope this has helped some.
kalidor's8
Contributor
BTW if you do manage to get out to TOC by May 18th let me know I might be able to take you around some and give you a better idea of things then the "sales person" giving the tour. An idea of the cost of living around the school would be around 300 per month and there is a website you can go to that is devoted to students looking for room mates for the course.
it looks like i'm sure on TOC the class dates in LA are closed out. i have a few friends who are commercial divers and they said cheap is the way to go. but it looks like i don't have a choice. i won't be leaving hawaii until the end of may thats when i start terminal leave.
kalidor's8
Contributor
Have you tried getting in touch with TOC to see if the dates you want are open? I would get started on that as soon as you can. But glad you have you aboard!
I know the thread has been about comercial diving... but have you considered law enforcement diving?
http://www.policediver.org/index.cfm
http://www.policediver.org/index.cfm
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