Divemasters, is it really our job ?

[Jim Lapenta]

Right now I get paid in air for assisting as a DM candidate. That's fine by me for now. Even tho I'm not just showing up at the pool or lake but also picking up extra gear from the shop, setting up displays, helping with store construction(new location), doing pr and research on the puter. I work another full time job and swing shifts yet manage to put in 3-4 days a week at the shop. Why? Because I friggin hate my "real job" and want to be an instructor. I love being in the water. I absolutley love instructing and working with students(especially kids). I must say that I'm fortunate in that every student I've helped certify or did a discover scuba with has thanked me. That goes a long way.

It's one of the reasons I can't stand where I work. Companies expect you to live your life around them and show little to no appreciation. They notice you when you screw up. my company really watches every one around this time to see where you screw up so they can hold it against you at raise time next month. My instructor on the other hand never fails to notice and thanks me for helping out. I do get discounts on gear but like someone else said I already bought all my own gear including a semi custom drysuit before I started this.

I have wanted to dive since I first saw sea hunt back in the early 60's and then "the undersea world" with cousteau. It took me nearly 40 yrs to realize my dream and now that I have I'm taking it as far as I can. I will say tho that once the classes are over I rarely hear from the people. Alot of them are warm water divers just doing it for kicks or for a specific trip. Some will probably only dive once a year and others maybe once and never again.

I recently helped with a discover scuba experience for a group of local college kids. total of about 45 kids from 2 different classes over 4 seperate nights divided into two sessions each night. I had a blast with three of the nights, one I could not get off work, one night I did call in sick to go to the pool(60 miles round trip from my house), and the other I left work early to get there on time. Out of the 31 kids I actually helped with, only one offered to stick around and help us load out the gear. So far we've had 3 or 4 call about continuing to go for certification. The college paid for the discover scuba and they are poor college kids so that's not so bad.

To me the experience was priceless. Towards the end I actually, as part of my DM internship, under the direct supervision of the instructor, got to help 4 or 5 get neutral and see the looks on their faces after letting them feel neutral buoyancy and turn a front flip and do a barrel roll. To discover that I could do this without thinking about how do I do it and just doing it tied in so much of the theory and work I've put in in the last 6 months. Do I expect a tip from students? No. Would I turn one down? No. it'd be nice but at this point the free food that they sometimes bring and the bottle of water or pop is good enough. That and the smiles. That's what tells me I'm doing good as a DM(candidate) for now. Later money will become more important.

 

[kb2ehj]

My assistants get paid 25 dollars per student. I never have to say a word to the good ones.

As a new DM (9/05), I was wondering what to ask for when helping with classes. This will give me a good starting place.

I would assume they must help from the start of the pool work to the end of the open water dives to collect?

 

[SadiesMom]

Unfortunately, Jim, the reality is that, as a DMC, you won't be paid. Nor should you, as you're not yet a dive professional - you're an intern (and aren't professionally liable for other divers or students nor do you have to pay that lovely thing called professional liability insurance ) - not that I'm saying that you think you *should* be paid.

However, Dive Masters should realize that while they are the lowest rung of the professional dive level, they still ARE in the ranks of dive professionals. And as such, they shouldn't devalue themselves by working for free. Real work should be compensated - whether that's through a salary or a small salary plus tips. The day anyone tells me to "work for the smiles" is the day I quite working for that person! While I love working with students, my time and effort is worth compensation and I deserve the respect of being paid for it. (Otherwise, that's called "volunteering" and I choose to do that for charitable organizations, not dive shops and scuba instructors.)

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

As a new DM (9/05), I was wondering what to ask for when helping with classes. This will give me a good starting place.

I would assume they must help from the start of the pool work to the end of the open water dives to collect?

Many shops and instructors don't pay a dime so I wouldn't expect much. There are a lot of divemasters who are more than willing to work for free, or so they say at first

 

[SadiesMom]

Maybe this should go into its own thread, but I'm gonna post it here anyways.

How much would be considered a decent tip to DMs on a charter? $10, $20, ??

For those of you that tip your DMs on a regular basis, how much? Also, are these charters from the US, VI, MX, Austraila, PI or where?

Since no one was helpful to you ...US and MX usually start at $5 per tank for decent service - with more if someone is extra helpful. I'll usually give the captain a $20 if I'm on a 2-3 dive trip and the whole crew was great (good pickups on drift dives, captain finds good sites, helpful DM/crew) and friendly. On liveaboards, I start at 10% for decent service and go up from there (but frankly usually go much higher - mostly because I've never had as low as "decent" service - it's always been really superior).

Typically you give the money to the captain unless they have a tip jar out and obvious. Tips are then distributed according to whatever formula they use on that boat. If you have a particular DM who's been extra helpful (i.e. lent you a mask if you forgot yours, fixed a piece of your equipment, etc), you may want to slip him/her something extra on the side with your thanks if you can get him/her alone.

I can't speak to the VI, but most of the Caribbean seems to function on the same system as MX and the US, so you'd probably be safe on the above guidelines.

As for Oz and PI, I don't now...you could ask specifically if you're planning on going there...

 

[kb2ehj]

Many shops and instructors don't pay a dime so I wouldn't expect much. There are a lot of divemasters who are more than willing to work for free, or so they say at first

Yeah i understand that one,but just incase it ever comes up I can at least have a starting figure to work with. the instructor that I did my DM with has stated he won't pay one either so it will be interesting to see what will happen if he should ask for my help.

 

[Iruka]

I think the short answer is that the DM/guide's job is to do what needs to be done to make the dive as safe, interesting & enjoyable as possible for the customers.......but to ACHIEVE that goal will vary from diver to diver. As some people have mentioned before, some people really need the guide there for their own safety....at times, LITERALLY needing to have their hands held throughout the dive. Other, more competent divers, use guides primarily to "show them where the good stuff" is. Some divers are very happy if they never have to touch their gear until they get back on the plane, while others will be very upset IF the guide touches the gear. This isn't the problem I've sometimes seen it made out to be.....just ask the divers what THEY prefer, and act accordingly.

As for as "working for tips".....I'm sure that is true in some places. I guess the best thing is to just ask the DM....here in Guam, working with tourists, virtually all of the guides get paid a "decent" salary for guiding. Guides working solely with locals or military, that might not be the case. As 80% of our tourists are from Japan, it's really essential that guides get a salary, because tipping is not customary in Japan, and no matter how good your service is, it's not common to get a tip from them. For example, I guided an older Japanese couple yesterday....they have about 20 dives each, and have been diving for 7 or 8 years, but in looking at their log book, I saw that they had NEVER dove with anyone guiding them besides me. They're just comfortable with me, I guess. Anyhow, I'm pretty sure they enjoy diving with me, but I don't believe I've ever gotten a tip from them....which is no problem, for the reason stated above. With younger/more travel-savvy Japanese, they are more likely to be aware of tipping being common outside of Japan.

 

[SadiesMom]

Yeah i understand that one,but just incase it ever comes up I can at least have a starting figure to work with. the instructor that I did my DM with has stated he won't pay one either so it will be interesting to see what will happen if he should ask for my help.

Tell him that slavery was abolished in 1865 by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Sadies Mom he isn't working in the US

 

[Santa]

DM's work for tips alone? Outageous in my experience. .

Depends on how well the industry's doing where you live I guess. IN scandinavia we don't get much in the way of dive tourism so it's mostly just locals and enthusiasts most of whom own their own equipment and go beachdiving anyway.

So we do it for the dives, the experience and the LDS discounts and the free insta-coffee.