Entering the world of diving for a living.

[Scott T C]

James R : Or...you could do both!!

Scubadobado : Thanks! This was provoked by people being negative on both ends. S77 (don't remember his whole screen name w/o looking) is super negative about Commercial Diving and I have seen a lot of people saying how being an instructor is worthless. If it was worthless, we all wouldn't be in the fields we are in or even diving as a recreational sport. (Food for thought for all of us.)

Sat Diver : Hehe, yea...I know I could easily pull $60, 80,or 100+ as a com diver once I get some experience under my weight belt. I was just stating I would be perfectly happy making $40k....everything over that is just butter! The more I make, the faster I can pay off our house and other items and then focus on banking money for our retirement; my parents retirement; and my kids futures.

 

[DevonDiver]

Nice thoughts - but they are probably more relevant to the USA market. Most instructors I know here in Asia can only dream of earning $20,000pa. Even given a relatively cheaper cost of living, a great many expenses (pro membership, insurance, diving equipment, health care, visas, foreign travel etc) are comparative globally.

Most instructors leave the industry within 2 years - not because they cease to enjoy diving, but because working as an instructor in many locations is not financially viable, in the long term; especially if you have more than one mouth to feed.

Negative nancy... nope...realist..yes

Sorry if I dented your drive for IDC and DM sales....

 

[Scott T C]

Sorry if I dented your drive for IDC and DM sales....

You obviously are on another planet, because in what part or anywhere else in these forums have I posted about owning anything related to IDC or DM "sales" of any kind? Do some research or think prior to making assumptions.

I am entering Commercial Diving and will use my business for tax purposes to ascertain my equipment.

So, once again...read, understand, research before making assumptions ... making assumptions only make an "ass" out of you when you are wrong.

 

[DevonDiver]

I do tend to think before I type. I just couldn't ascertain why else you would paint such a one-dimensional, idealist and unrealistic portrait of the global diving industry.

 

[Scott T C]

I think you need to re-read my initial post.

It isn't as you state it is.

Sure DI's won't make a fat or even a comfortable salary...and I DID mention the possibility of making under $20k (which you must have completely skipped that part)... but non-the-less... They ARE a VITAL point of the diving world. You wouldn't have started out diving if it wasn't for an instructor TEACHING you how to dive. Even if they are basically making minimum wage...you still were trained by a DI.

Also, IN NO WAY is it a "one-dimensional, idealist and unrealistic portrait of the global diving industry"...I simply speak of DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY...whether you make $1,000,000 per year or $10,000...if you are happy...everything else is a perk!

Once again...shows that you don't read properly as I covered my bases in my speech against the nay-sayers of the industry.

Sorry, but few things annoy me more than someone putting false words in my mouth like the original post you made followed by the once again mis-guided statement of your second post.

 

[Sat Diver]

I am a little confused about your intent.
Are you planning to dive as a career recreationally, as in teaching others to dive ?

or work as a commercial diver as in repair/maintenance of oil pipelines on the seafloor, salvage contract work etc.

These are 2 very different career choices, and as such entail very different incomes.

Even within the commercial diving industry, what you make can vary tremendously depending how deep in saturation you are, and for how long.

Under the right conditions you could make that kind of money in a month, not a year.

I think Devon Diver was trying to be helpful by pointing out the realities in the world he works in. He is obviously very experienced, and advice can only be helpful, coming from someone with a lot of field experience.

Regards

You obviously are on another planet, because in what part or anywhere else in these forums have I posted about owning anything related to IDC or DM "sales" of any kind? Do some research or think prior to making assumptions.

I am entering Commercial Diving and will use my business for tax purposes to ascertain my equipment.

So, once again...read, understand, research before making assumptions ... making assumptions only make an "ass" out of you when you are wrong.

 

[Scott T C]

You might not have seen my post in the Commercial Diving Forum...

As I have already stated there before, I am attending the CDA (in late August, not stated before) to become a Commercial Diver. Whether I work Offshore or not resides on whether they (the companies) disqualify me for having my L4/5 disks removed and a spacer system installed with Titanium screws. If they do, then I will work inland...hopefully in Charleston, SC as the port there is the 4th largest on the East Coast (USA).

As for saturation dives, that is not something that you do fresh out of training (at least from what I have been told and read). Though I will be trained on both Wet Bell and Dry Bell systems, I doubt I will experience full saturation dives right out of school. So, with that said, I would doubt I would see that kind of money in a month.

I can make $40-50k per year cleaning hulls, replacing props and other items, zinc anodes, etc. easily with good hard work without a Commercial Certification, so I would expect no less than that working in the Commercial Diving field, but...I won't be unhappy if I made that.

Hope that clears up your questions.

PS. The following isn't directed at you...my annoyance lies with the following mentioned.

------

As for DD; his comments are what I refused to accept. If he would have read the post as for what it was, what I was relaying, what it stated...he wouldn't have made the comment(s) he made. As well, I OBEVIOUSLY didn't say ANYTHING about "selling" my "services" of ANY KIND in my original post. So where he came up with the last line of his first post with the comment that sparked the whole issue...I have no idea. He then made a secondary post, stating that my original posting was: "one-dimensional, idealist and unrealistic portrait of the global diving industry", which if he had read it PROPERLY, is in NO WAY what he claims it to be.

I simply stated if you want to work in the diving industry; either as an Instructor or Commercially...then go for it. You could make $20k or less or $200k and more...it all depends on what you want out of your diving career. THAT IS WHAT I STATED....THAT IS THE SIMPLE MESSAGE which he couldn't understand or compute...which is why I took great offense to his comments which were directed directly at me. Especially since I directed my comments in my main post to anyone in the industry that is telling people; "Don't be an Instructor, you will never make a living.", "Don't be a Commercial Diver, the industry is dead."; THAT is what I whom I was targeting with this thread.

If I listened to these people saying don't waste my money going to Commercial Diving school, that the industry is dead...I would blow a great career path opportunity. So I said, don't listened to those people....do what makes you happy....do what you feel is the right choice.

Obviously multiple people got my message and understood what I was saying/relaying in my post. So why didn't/couldn't he?

- Another note: I don't doubt he is well trained with plenty of experience, he just can't (in my opinion from this thread) understand a simple point from my original post.

 

[Scott T C]

LET ME PUT MY INITIAL POST INTO SUPER EASY WORDS SO THERE IS NO MORE CONFUSION (though I can't begin to understand how you could be confused about the original post):

If you want to do something (diving as a career) and someone tells you not to, "because you won't make money to live off of" -OR- "because the/a specific segment is dead/no work available", tell them to PISS OFF.....

DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY!!!

IF YOU LOVE WHAT YOU ARE DOING...THE MONEY IS THE PERK!!!

There...did I make my origonal post simplified enough for those of you having a hard time understading it?

Allow me to give an example to help: My father is a helicopter pilot (been since Vietnam). He would fly for peanuts...JUST TO FLY, because he loves it that much. The fact that he makes $150+ per year to do something he LOVES and for him is easy...that is the PERK.