Hey Brandon,
I am a commercial diver, I started off almost 14 years ago as a US Army Engineer diver and when I left the military in 2001 continued commercial diving.
The job is different depending on the area your working and the type of work your doing, divers are working from the North Sea down to Africa and everywhere in-between. Two basic types of commercial work involve inland diving (civils) working dams, locks, bridges, dredging, salvage, etc. and offshore work which is often in support of oil companies pipeline tie in's, sled work to bury pipelines, platform support, etc.
I work inland diving, there is quite a bit of variety involved from salvage one day to construction or debris removal the next.
This field tends to wear most folks out within a few years, maybe one in ten guys stick it out and you can tell the ones that are going to stay because they love the job and the work involved like nothing else. Once you build a solid reputation for your attitude, topside work ethic, and skill / experience on the bottom you will stay busy.
The money can vary widely from place to place, down South (USA) rates for tenders are 12-15 normally, divers run from 15-25, and supervisors 25+. These are some of the lower rates in the US, I have not worked in California but talked with one diver there who said the starting wage for divers is near 65.00 an hour but the union is very diffcult to get into, friends of mine that stay in the New England region and are union make over 50.00 an hour with starting wages for divers currently 48.50 an hour, again getting sponsored into the union can be difficult.
If you have any other questions feel free to contact me anytime,
Jeff Lane
