Divemaster/ Instructor earning potential

[sandmanz32]

I think you guys took me wrong. Im definatly gonna persue the pro route. Granted it will be when i have TONS more experience. I was just curious if it would be worth my while to quit my day job and work at the LDS fulltime, maybe repairing and servicing gear, then instrcuting or DMing on the weekends, or just to do it as a side thing on the weekends.

 

[Web Monkey]

I think you guys took me wrong. Im definatly gonna persue the pro route. Granted it will be when i have TONS more experience. I was just curious if it would be worth my while to quit my day job and work at the LDS fulltime, maybe repairing and servicing gear, then instrcuting or DMing on the weekends, or just to do it as a side thing on the weekends.

The only way working at an LDS full time would be better than your current job is if your current job involves yelling "you want fries with that" into a microphone.

There's no money in SCUBA unless you own the shop, and even then, there's no money in SCUBA unless you're really good at what you do.

Terry

 

[Thalassamania]

Working in an LDS your luck to make $15.00 an hour, likely more like $10 to $12. Teaching for yourself, if you're well organized, you can clear a couple of hundred a student, when you can get students. There's a reason that the average diving instructor gives up teaching diving before three years pass. You best bet is to keep your day job, get experience, DM a bit, get experience, teach a bit. Quit your day job and go teach somewhere cool for a year or two but never lose sight of the need to get on with your real life. There are a few of us that find other routes, University Diving Safety Officers and such, but that's few and far between.

 

[stargazer61]

There's no money in SCUBA unless you own the shop, and even then, there's no money in SCUBA unless you're really good at what you do.

Terry

This seems to be a violation of the third law of thermodynamics :no

Given the amount of money us students put into SCUBA, someone must be rolling in it

 

[Scuba Brian]

Give me a P, give me an A, give me a D, give me an I. Now give me an S, give me an S, give me an I. Give me a N, Give me an A, give me a U, give me an I. What do they spell? Bet you know now who's making all the Money.


Just figured out what it cost me to be an instuctor without the gear. OW $300, AOW$250, RESCUE $275, DM $600, IDC $1900, IE $750, SPECIALTIES $450, MSDT $75, EFRI $340. IDC Staff $875 (now add one of everything and two of everything else for gear.)

 

[String]

If you go to the red sea or mediterranean an average divemaster earns about €600 ($815usd) a month and an instructor €800 ($1087usd). Quite often you have to buy food and accomodation out of that. Instructors get some commission so in the peak period may get up to €1000 ($1360) a month. Thats based on working 6 days a week 8 to 10 hours a day.
Or to put it another way, expect about $3.50 an hour for dive mastering and $4.50 an hour for a good month instructing.
This holds true for a lot of areas in the world.
By the time you take off living expenses and so on its not a lot of money at all.

As for whether to affiliate with a shop it depends on agency. Some ONLY allow you to work via a shop, others you can be independent OR a shop and there are pros and cons to both methods.

 

[serambin]

That's $10 more than I made. I got free boat rides in exchange for babysitting on the boat all day. I even had to pay for the trip once when we didn't sell enough spots.

These are the people we depend on when we pay thousands of dollars for a dive trip. . . ?
Stan

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Aloha from Maui,

I remember seeing help wanted adds on the PADI Pro site from Sport Chalet in Vegas promising the highest salery (rhymes with celery) in the industry, maybe $25k annual.

An average resort instructor/guide on Maui can usually afford to live within bicycle distance of the resort (can't afford car insurance), good ones can live farther away because they can afford insurance. A full time LDS instructor/guide in Hawaii is lucky to make $24k.

I made $400 today but may not dive for the next 2 days due to surf swell.

 

[friscuba]

Stick with turning a wrench (I noticed your profile says you fix POS Kias) if it's money you want. I know some dive instructors and dms who make maybe 20-24 grand a year in an area that a studio apartment runs roughly a grand... you can make that at Taco Bell and McDonalds here (10-11 bucks an hour to start). There's not much money left after paying rent and basic necessities.

If living cheap, having fun, and hoping some day you'll have the financial ability to buy a new POS Kia is your thing, then it's a good thing to do for a while.

My recommendation is to keep the day job, and do the scuba thing on the side for enjoyment.

Steve

 

[sandmanz32]

i've also given commercial diving some thought, but the training is a lil more than this single dad can afford right now