Dive only on boats where the DMs are treated fairly and paid a living wage

[kablooey]

In California DMs usually are with the group that charter the boat, so they are not paid...

Since a couple well known incidents here in California of divers being left behind drifting when the dive boat departed the site, we're seeing more and more boats with DMs as part of the crew, and not provided by the chartering club or organization. Boat captains are now reluctant to put their liability into the hands of a DM they don't know and control.

I used to DM the six-pack owned by the shop I was affiliated with. The pay was minimal, but I did it for the experience and the shop perks.
If the divers tipped me I usually gave the money to the captain.
My real weekday job paid me enough.

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[Lorenzoid]

In Canada when we hire dive staff they are paid well. . . .

I would like to hear from more people in countries with employment laws and customs unlike those I am familiar with in the US. I wouldn't be surprised if in, say, Europe, dive staff are compensated with decent wages, paid holidays, and whatever else an employee in any roughly analogous service sector would receive.

Also, we should try to be clear about what kind of dive staff we're talking about. In some places in the world, it is not common for a dive op to put staff on a boat whose duties are mainly to "assist divers with gear and entry/exit." In some places, the crew's duties are mainly to operate the boat, and if a customer wants to hire an "in-water guide," the customer pays for that service.

I should add that that kind of arrangement really appeals to me. The customer pays for the services the customer wants and doesn't pay for the services the customer doesn't want. I would be happy to use a dive op that offers everything a la carte and doesn't hide the various costs by lumping them together.

 

[Diving Dubai]

I think I saw the original post, and my thought to it was.. Buyer beware.. If you're on an Internship whee you training fees and materials are covered in return for work and experience - ensure you have firm commitments and dates - not a wishy washy open ended conversation.

A lot of the overseas programs I see advertised are fixed term and require some financial payment. People chose to do these as a gap period somewhere tropical, either before or after collage, or just mature people who take unpaid leave and want to get away from teh daily grind and have an experience.

Here most instructors and all DM are Independents, al have day jobs and all chose when they "work" DM's do it for free diving, instructors, because they like teaching and want experience (or certs)

Like most places (outside the US coverage) we don't valet dive. If you can't carry your tanks and gear you don't dive (unless you're very young or old) Personally I don't believe in Valet diving anyway.

DM's (who might be an intern under instruction or an Instructor) run the boat, give briefs, and guide if required We assist but don't do it for you
We all get free dives when not working) and shop credits

We don't need liability insurance because you can't be sued here

 

[KenGordon]

I do not see how this is possible. In case of emergency who is doing the rescue. Captain has to stay on the boat. Who is setting and retreiving the anchor that we tie in?. In bouncy waters who is helping geared up people to the back? And who is helping shlep my tanks from the bulkhead to the boat and back.

This is how it works here. Some, but the minority, boats will have crew, mostly either family or someone out for a day on the water who will give a hand here and there. They will maybe dip your mask in a bucket or take your fins off but not what you’d call being a DM.

On liveabords in Scapa etc there will be the skipper, the cook and a deck hand/gas monkey. The deck hand has a particular role in making sure people get in and out of the boat ok. They might help with odds and sods but only secondary to working the lift and shouting ‘Now!’

It is quite helpful when fully kitted with stages etc to have help, however the best local boat hasn’t only the Skipper, but he still manages to help.

None of the U.K. boats tie in for a dive, they are all mobile all the time.

If you are employed as crew then the National minimum wage (approx 10USD) applies.

If I am booking a boat I am not going to pay extra for someone to pass comment on how crap I am. I expect that to come for free.

 

[TMHeimer]

Here we got C$300 to assist with OW courses (about minimum wage), but next to nothing for charters or DSDs, Reviews, etc. Guess which one I did exclusively (the other 2 would've cost me more in car gas to do them). The pay (or none) for DMs is a problem of the industry, but also their own fault (as with the low instructor pay). Too many people doing it because of their "love of diving". Same thing with musicians--these are things you're "supposed to do because they are fun and you like it". Ideally, we're all "supposed" to like our jobs, no?
One can't expect customers on vacation to check into what a DM may or may not make. They're spending a ton of money just to be there.

 

[Wookie]

I paid my divemasters $100 a day, and if they didn’t make another $100 a day in tips, we wanted to know why. I covered their insurance, and gave them a place to live. If we weren’t offshore, and they were working, I still paid them at half rate, but continued to give them a place to live.

 

[Wookie]

If I am booking a boat I am not going to pay extra for someone to pass comment on how crap I am. I expect that to come for free.

You can get that here for nothing too.

 

[Johnoly]

Almost half the boat DM's I know are school teachers or school related work. They have the perfect schedule of free time during holidays and summers which coincides perfectly with peak times on the boats. They are used to teaching people what to expect on the dive, drawing on whiteboard and taking attendance at the end of the dive as well as yelling at divers that are "tardy" because of deco. {tongue-in-cheek} >>they are used to crappy pay too.

 

[JamesBon92007]

While booking a dive at a shop on Hawai'i I got the impression that everyone working there was an instructor, even the girl behind the counter and the guy filling the tanks. I viewed it as a surplus of instructors. Shortly before that I had considered becoming an instructor and moving to Hawai'i and living the dream. My research indicated that the "life span" of an instructor on the big island was somewhere around six months to a year and the pay was just enough to eat and rent a room somewhere. There was always someone else who was willing to work for a few dollars less. I was also told that the DMs on the dive boat did not get paid--they worked only for tips. Once again, on any given boat trip there were several people who wanted the "job" and they only needed two or three. The results favored the customers as the service was excellent and it appeared that the ones with the most pleasant personalities and the best jokes got the jobs.

In Mexico, when I tip a DM $5/tank or whatever that's equal to the minimum wage for a day so if there are six divers and they all chip in at least $10 for a two-tank dive then the DM is getting at least $60/day plus I've heard some also get a base salary and some benefits so to me it looks like they are doing quite well compared to people employed elsewhere. It's all relative--in Hawai'i you might starve to death on $60/day but in Mexico you might be living fairly decently. I suppose that some or many of the DMs in Hawai'i are also instructors so they might have to opportunity to do private lessons and make some more money that way. In any case, it's their choice and who am I to decide for them if they chose the right kind of work or not?

 

[BRT]

I paid my divemasters $100 a day, and if they didn’t make another $100 a day in tips, we wanted to know why. I covered their insurance, and gave them a place to live. If we weren’t offshore, and they were working, I still paid them at half rate, but continued to give them a place to live.

And you are the guy who gives me grief over low pay for my employees?