Got my Master Diver

[Marie13]

Yes, but not for the "I need to do this to live" reason. I'm the kind of person that if i don't have a routine and tasks day to day, I don't stay focused and can go stir crazy (barely made it through 10 days quarantined with COVID early this year). Ideally, I would love to DM at a resort, just as my "retirement". I'm a european automotive technician, and I'm fully aware that I won't be able to do this for my whole life (it's hard on the body). That's part of my reasoning for getting into sidemount now, as I know later in life, standing/walking with twins on my back isn't going to be an option. I'm at a point in my life now where it isn't an issue, but I'm being honest with myself that it won't always be.

I have a friend that’s in the trades and decided to go SM rather than BM doubles due to the many back issues his older coworkers have. SM is lovely for no weight on your back/knees. I dive it myself due to bad knees/sciatica.

 

[TMHeimer]

The problem is that working as an instructor/divemaster was VERY enjoyable.
In a certain sense, it is much better to guide a dive than being guided.
And teaching to new divers the first tricks is truly rewarding. In an holiday resort, a diving instructor is close to be a god, and you get a lot of reinforcement and social success.
This is part of the problem. Being a wonderful life (actually, those were the 5 best years of my life!), very enjoying and very satisfying, people accept to do it for a very small wage, which is absolutely NOT proportionated to the enormous risks and responsibility.
It did take several years and a couple of serious accidents occurred to divers of whom I was responsible for making me to understand the drawbacks.

Exactly. A huge % of DMs over here work for free air & discounts. It can be fun & rewarding, but like the career of musician (also fun), too many do it for terrible wages or free.
I also agree with Robert-- If you don't plan on working as a DM (with pay please...), just skip the course and do other more advanced training.

 

[Kaneda13]

Scheduled for my DM course (really just taking my dive guide as I already have everything else for DM) in March. Looking forward to it. My LDS is reallyin need of help in intro and try classes in the local pool, so looking forward to helping introduce people to the hobby.

 

[TMHeimer]

Congratulations on the MSD. When I got it they gave me a free tote bag, which was great for collecting beads at Mardi Gras. If you do work as a DM try to find a place where they pay you $ and not just free air & discounts.....

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Scheduled for my DM course (really just taking my dive guide as I already have everything else for DM) in March. Looking forward to it. My LDS is reallyin need of help in intro and try classes in the local pool, so looking forward to helping introduce people to the hobby.

Is your LDS then paying for your DM program? Seems like a win-lose situation: win for the LDS, lose for you.

 

[SlugLife]

The problem is that working as an instructor/divemaster was VERY enjoyable.
In a certain sense, it is much better to guide a dive than being guided.
And teaching to new divers the first tricks is truly rewarding. In an holiday resort, a diving instructor is close to be a god, and you get a lot of reinforcement and social success.
This is part of the problem. Being a wonderful life (actually, those were the 5 best years of my life!), very enjoying and very satisfying, people accept to do it for a very small wage, which is absolutely NOT proportionated to the enormous risks and responsibility.
It did take several years and a couple of serious accidents occurred to divers of whom I was responsible for making me to understand the drawbacks.

That's ultimately why I'll never be a dive professional. I'm more than happy to teach, share knowledge, help people get into the hobby, etc. I'd even do it for free or near-free, except that's the first 50% of the problem. There are so many people willing to instruct, guide, etc for pennies that is exactly what people earn.

The second 50% of the problem is that there are middle-men who are making MOST of money, taking advantage of both the instructors who want to help, and the divers themselves that the instructors want to help. I'd much rather instruct for free, than be making a bunch of money for someone else while I get a very tiny cut. Because at the very least, that wouldn't be coming out of my fellow-diver's pockets.

 

[Angelo Farina]

That's ultimately why I'll never be a dive professional. I'm more than happy to teach, share knowledge, help people get into the hobby, etc. I'd even do it for free or near-free, except that's the first 50% of the problem. There are so many people willing to instruct, guide, etc for pennies that is exactly what people earn.

The second 50% of the problem is that there are middle-men who are making MOST of money, taking advantage of both the instructors who want to help, and the divers themselves that the instructors want to help. I'd much rather instruct for free, than be making a bunch of money for someone else while I get a very tiny cut. Because at the very least, that wouldn't be coming out of my fellow-diver's pockets.

I agree entirely with your view.
Also for me the idea that someone profits of my knowledge and willingness to transfer it to others had been unacceptable.
I have been an instructor for 10 years. The first five in a no-profit diving club. There no one gets any money. The students are fellow associates of the club. They only pay for covering the costs, no one is paid or can take money out of the club.
Then I switched to the 'pro' world, so I was paid for working at the nice resorts of Club Vacanze. It was a fixed monthly wage of roughly 1000 eur, plus travel, lodging, food, alcohol, cloths and scuba equipment, all already paid and top notch. Not bad, but one does not become rich. Working 3 to 5 months each year I managed to save some 3000 eur each year, for five years.
The good point was to work inside a touristic environment where customers had NOT to pay for diving.
In the resorts of Club Vacanze all the sport activity was already included in the cost of the holiday.Every day they had the choice among many free activities: scuba diving, kayak, windursf, catamaran, parafly, water ski, snorkeling with a marine biologist, fishing, etc..
They had to pay only for a few things: super-alcoholics (wine and beer were free), release of the Cmas certification card (50 eur, the course was free) and a small fuel charge if diving or snorkeling in a far-away island.
This way we did not perceive that the touristic operator was getting a significant extra gain over our work.
What made me ending that wonderful life was the perception of responsibility.
I could never work for a shop. I am entirely against this shop-based approach. There are a number of conflicts of interest if scuba training is done by a shop.
I would never send a friend or a son to follow a course organised by a shop.

 

[Walter Sobchak]

We’ll done, Kaneda13, you’re now in a very exclusive group!