Considering entering the scuba world!

[hanyag]

Hey There,

I've recently developed an interest in scuba diving. However, I've never been.

I'm considering taking a course thats local here on Vancouver Island. Once your done your fully certified and you can instruct.

So I was wondering, what are the pro's and con's of scuba diving? Is it dangerious?

Is it hard to find work? Does it pay very well? Could you make it into a career?

If anyone has some advise it would be much appreciated.
Thanks,

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

You are taking a course that brings you from new diver to instructor? I think you've misunderstood.

Do a discover scuba or try scuba at your local shop.

Careers don't happen often, usually it's a passion.

 

[drglnc]

diving is definetly worth getting into however, a course that takes you from nothing to instructor is a little scarry, it would take 9 months to a year part time tocomplete that but that would include alot of diving in pools and "actual diving" i cant see the average person being able to pull this off. plus classes dont make good instructors experinece does.

 

[spectrum]

Hey There,

I've recently developed an interest in scuba diving. However, I've never been.

I'm considering taking a course thats local here on Vancouver Island. Once your done your fully certified and you can instruct.

So I was wondering, what are the pro's and con's of scuba diving? Is it dangerious?

Is it hard to find work? Does it pay very well? Could you make it into a career?

If anyone has some advise it would be much appreciated.
Thanks,

OK so you are intrigued by the underwater world, that's cool. Make a discover dive or go ahead with an openwater course. The gear you need to buy for this is minimal. Mask, Booties,Fins, Snorkel the rest will be supplied. You will get a good taste of it and poised to continue if you do like it. You can always use the basic gear to go skin-diving.

As for instructor start by being a diver and as you gain real experience every agency has a progression to instructor. A fresh grown instructor would have no credibility in my eyes.

There can be work but I'd say it's for the few. The real money comes in commercial work and in return for real risk, not watching fish swim by. It is a rare individual that gets wealthy as an instructor, at least in terms of $$.

Get wet and see where it takes you. Enjoy the journey.

Pete

 

[Divernate5150]

Enroll in a Discover Diving class. This will give you a chance to give it a shot first. It would take you much longer to get your IDC then what they are telling you.

 

[boulderjohn]

You asked if it is dangerous.

The short answer is no. Accident statistics rate it somewhere near bowling.

With that said, it all depends upon you, primarily. If you follow the rules of safe diving, which you will learn right away, and only use good, well-maintained equipment, you should never have any problems.

One of the most common fears non-divers have is sharks, a fear brought on by the media. In truth, sharks rarely have any kind of aggressive interaction with humans. Only a few species of shark is at all interested in human-sized food, and these few species (especially the bull shark) are responsible for most shark attacks that you hear on the news. If you notice, these attacks happen to surface swimmers, usually in shallow water. For the most part, the only times that divers get in trouble is when they are competing with sharks for the food supply, as in spear fishing.

 

[RocketMan]

.....snip.....

So I was wondering, what are the pro's and con's of scuba diving?

Pros - Lots of fun, meet new people, go to new places, sees animals you've only seen on TV or in an aquarium. Did I mention that it's fun.

Cons - Time spent not diving.

Is it dangerious?

The dictionary defines danger as "A source or instance of risk, injury, or harm". Based on that, scuba diving is dangerous...but so is getting out of bed. Does scuba diving involve risk? Yes. But everything involves risk. A person's comfort with and ability to manage risk is what is important. Knowledge and experience is the key to knowing and managing the risk involved in anything. I would recommend starting slow (as others above have). Learn then experience, then learn some more, then experience some more (a recursive loop with no exit criteria). Scuba diving is a great adventure...as is life.

Is it hard to find work?

Dont' know

Does it pay very well? Could you make it into a career?

Others here can supply you with better info on this than I.

Did I mention have fun.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I get paid in air right now. Got a raise tho. my last 2 fills were nitrox! Still trying to find a W-4 form that will let me declare a percentage of O2. Seriously tho, I love what I do even tho it's part-time. I also make a fortune in experience. Many people have said before me if you want to make a million in the dive business start with 2 million and 1 is what you'll end up with. If you're lucky! Will you have fun? Absolutely! Can you feed a family? Sure, as long as they like fish and you have a day job! Will you meet the nicest, most interesting people in the world? Without a doubt!!!!

 

[Scuba Jerm]

The Scuba world is wonderful.... you will love it. However be cautious of a training facility that says you can go for certified to instructor right away. Not going to happen. It takes time and plenty of experiance to teach. I'm not an instructor, but from all the instructors I've met..... they have years of experiance.

I agree with what others have said. Take a intro to scuba class or something like that to see if you like it (couldn't imagine that you wouldn't). Anyway, have fun and good luck.

 

[DeputyDan]

If you are a female and are fluent in at least four languages, you may be able to make a descent living as an instructor on Roatan. Otherwise, good luck...