Are the costs of your dives included in the price--I am not clear on that.
Considering entering the scuba world!
- Thread starter hanyag
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cinder4320
Contributor
To take the Pro class you have to be Open Water certified already. That part is not included. I was looking through the website because I can't believe such a course could exist. I can't imagine going from my Open Water to an supposed instructor in 12 weeks. CRAZY.
They also have this requirement.
9) Must be certified as a PADI Open Water diver or equivalent for three months or longer. (Must have at least 60 logged dives upon completion of course)
Does that mean before begining you must have at least 60 dives or that you will be an instructor with only 60 dives?? I think it means when you are done you will have 60 dives. An instructor with 60 dives...I'll be sure to sign up for that class.<deep sarcasm>
Miranda
They also have this requirement.
9) Must be certified as a PADI Open Water diver or equivalent for three months or longer. (Must have at least 60 logged dives upon completion of course)
Does that mean before begining you must have at least 60 dives or that you will be an instructor with only 60 dives?? I think it means when you are done you will have 60 dives. An instructor with 60 dives...I'll be sure to sign up for that class.<deep sarcasm>
Miranda
Jay Roy
Contributor
hanyag:
Hmmm, minimum wage job and a passion for Scuba sounds like a dangerous combination.....
dingho
Contributor
check out with your family Doc. cause, sometime,it may kill you!
Ok Scuba Diving, pros= very fun, cons= not enough time in the water
Risk = risk and danger is associated with every activity you do, if you follow procedures that are taught to you, you will be fine. There is an old saying "there are old divers and bold divers, but no old bold divers."
As far as going from open water to diving, as most people have put i would hold much creditation in that. Start out with your Open water card, then get a few dives and progress to Advanced Open Water then youll get your rescue followed by divemaster then followed by instrucutor. You can not earn any money based on diving unless you are atleast a divemaster. Once you hit divemaster level, you are then required to carry insurance. same with instructor.
I myself have been diving for 6 years, and now am working on my divemaster training. I have about 300 dives in, some have had mild emergencies, but these just make you a better diver. They are things to learn from. If you do not have any mild emergencies, you cant teach people the best way to correct the problem, or even answer some of there questions. Instructing is not for everyone, imho only people who feel really compelled to passing on the love of the sport are the ones who should teach.
As far as money, most people have said it right. You can make money from instructing, but its better off if you keep as a part time kick. Most people who live on just instructing teach more than open water classes. For example they teach Nitrox, Advacned Open water, rescue, cave diving, specialties, trimix, etc. The higher the level of certifications the more the classes are, therefore the more money you can make. But agian the higher the level of certification, the more time and more strict the agencies become on their instructors.
I definetly think you should enroll in an Open Water course and let the journey of Scuba Diving take you where ever you want to go. Who knows you might absolutely love it and want to teach, or you might just love and just want to dive. But don't do it for the money, cus honestly there isnt much
Risk = risk and danger is associated with every activity you do, if you follow procedures that are taught to you, you will be fine. There is an old saying "there are old divers and bold divers, but no old bold divers."
As far as going from open water to diving, as most people have put i would hold much creditation in that. Start out with your Open water card, then get a few dives and progress to Advanced Open Water then youll get your rescue followed by divemaster then followed by instrucutor. You can not earn any money based on diving unless you are atleast a divemaster. Once you hit divemaster level, you are then required to carry insurance. same with instructor.
I myself have been diving for 6 years, and now am working on my divemaster training. I have about 300 dives in, some have had mild emergencies, but these just make you a better diver. They are things to learn from. If you do not have any mild emergencies, you cant teach people the best way to correct the problem, or even answer some of there questions. Instructing is not for everyone, imho only people who feel really compelled to passing on the love of the sport are the ones who should teach.
As far as money, most people have said it right. You can make money from instructing, but its better off if you keep as a part time kick. Most people who live on just instructing teach more than open water classes. For example they teach Nitrox, Advacned Open water, rescue, cave diving, specialties, trimix, etc. The higher the level of certifications the more the classes are, therefore the more money you can make. But agian the higher the level of certification, the more time and more strict the agencies become on their instructors.
I definetly think you should enroll in an Open Water course and let the journey of Scuba Diving take you where ever you want to go. Who knows you might absolutely love it and want to teach, or you might just love and just want to dive. But don't do it for the money, cus honestly there isnt much
skybird
Guest
I know i certainly wouldn't want to put my life or the life of someone I love in the hands of an insturctor who had simply had 14 weeks of lessons and NOT at least a year or two of actual experience
shakeybrainsurgeon
Contributor
Beyond the pros and cons of diving, consider the pros and cons of being an instructor. I have great admiration for scuba instructors and their ability to deal with people from all walks of life, all ages and physiques and personalities. Factor in the natural anxiety of first time divers --- instructors have to be exceptional divers and sports psychologists at the same time.
I taught surgery for a few years and I know that doing something and teaching it are two very different skill sets and few people are good at both. Personally, I found it too stressful and went back to just "doing". You have to ask yourself --- do I have the patience and passion to take joe six-packs from zero to ocean diver for a career?
As to the pros of diving itself, I personally love the vistas of knowledge it opens up: the fields of dive medicine and physiology, dive technology and equipment, marine life and the ocean ecology, plus the cultural knowledge gained by travel to popular dive sites. I learned something about boats and wrecks, and was spurred to learn something of diving history. And, of course, you meet a whole new group of people.
Cons: I no longer want to waste money traveling to places that offer no opportunity to dive... my credit cards feel the strain of the sport...my SUV takes more of a beating going to the local quarries...my garage smells of wet neoprene...there's not enough room in my vehicles for golf clubs and dive equipment... in other words, there are no serious cons if you are in good health, can invest some time and money, and love the water
I taught surgery for a few years and I know that doing something and teaching it are two very different skill sets and few people are good at both. Personally, I found it too stressful and went back to just "doing". You have to ask yourself --- do I have the patience and passion to take joe six-packs from zero to ocean diver for a career?
As to the pros of diving itself, I personally love the vistas of knowledge it opens up: the fields of dive medicine and physiology, dive technology and equipment, marine life and the ocean ecology, plus the cultural knowledge gained by travel to popular dive sites. I learned something about boats and wrecks, and was spurred to learn something of diving history. And, of course, you meet a whole new group of people.
Cons: I no longer want to waste money traveling to places that offer no opportunity to dive... my credit cards feel the strain of the sport...my SUV takes more of a beating going to the local quarries...my garage smells of wet neoprene...there's not enough room in my vehicles for golf clubs and dive equipment... in other words, there are no serious cons if you are in good health, can invest some time and money, and love the water
Is that a scuba-hater I see?dingho:
Hanyag, you're getting beat on a bit here, and it isn't your fault, but it is warranted.
The basic problem is that the system you are looking at has been built to do what you think you want it to do, which is to march people through rapidly to professional status. And a year ago, that's what I thought I was going to do, too. After I did my OW class, and found out how much I loved diving, I was going to follow in the footsteps of the people who trained ME. Most of them went from OW to divemaster in about a year, and to instructor over the next year. I love to teach, and learning to teach something I really enjoyed doing looked like a great idea.
Luckily, about five months after I got certified, I had an experience that rocked me back on my haunches and made me completely rethink the whole thing. I took a class from a really exceptional instructor, and I got my eyes opened to how poor not only MY skills were, but those of some of the people who had trained me. At that point, I realized I had no business even considering teaching people to dive until I was a far better diver than I was.
You might consider reading the thread I link to in my signature line, which is a long rant about scuba instruction and the state of training in the current day. Think about whether you'd be happy learning to be mediocre and perpetuating that for other people. (This is assuming you are willing to go somewhere where you can actually make a LIVING teaching scuba, which I don't believe you can do, at least at the open water level, in the US.)
The basic problem is that the system you are looking at has been built to do what you think you want it to do, which is to march people through rapidly to professional status. And a year ago, that's what I thought I was going to do, too. After I did my OW class, and found out how much I loved diving, I was going to follow in the footsteps of the people who trained ME. Most of them went from OW to divemaster in about a year, and to instructor over the next year. I love to teach, and learning to teach something I really enjoyed doing looked like a great idea.
Luckily, about five months after I got certified, I had an experience that rocked me back on my haunches and made me completely rethink the whole thing. I took a class from a really exceptional instructor, and I got my eyes opened to how poor not only MY skills were, but those of some of the people who had trained me. At that point, I realized I had no business even considering teaching people to dive until I was a far better diver than I was.
You might consider reading the thread I link to in my signature line, which is a long rant about scuba instruction and the state of training in the current day. Think about whether you'd be happy learning to be mediocre and perpetuating that for other people. (This is assuming you are willing to go somewhere where you can actually make a LIVING teaching scuba, which I don't believe you can do, at least at the open water level, in the US.)
I might as well add my .02. Before jumping to instructor make sure you have the personality to do so. A brief look at what I saw during my instruction for my OW class. First day, classroom: 10 students, only 4 of us read and did the bookwork the other 6, 4 adults and 2 childern decided that the classroom was for the instructor to go though the entire book, each page just for them. This even though they were told that they were responsible to be prepared in advance, long day in class. Day 2, small pool: Instructor dealing with people that would not listen to simple snorkeling tasks, adults and kids sucking down huge amounts of water after that we put together equipment adults and kids not listening to instuctions. Then sitting in three feet of water doing simple tasks, reg recovery, mask flooding, other basic drills, once again people not listening. Adults that think they know more that you, kids that wont pay attention. This was only the first 2 days, I could go on and on, but I think you get my point. I have great respect for people that have the paitence and can put up with this day after day. If this is your personality then get cert. and begin the long process of working towards becoming an instructor, if not get cert. and enjoy diving it's a blast.
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