How well do you earn as DM and Instructors?

[fisherdvm]

Just to open our eyes, and tip you better!! Please answer in USDollar if you can...

I think this poll or thread can really open our eyes to how little DM's and Instructors make, especially in other countries...

Please also comment on your base pay vs. pay with tip.

If you are a shop owner, certainly, you can state your total income... As diving is still your business.

 

[Cacia]

Free charters.

100 US dollars/ per

They going rate here I think is 80 USD per charter. It's a lot of work for some operators...loading tanks, gear, hotel pick ups. I like the ones where you just show up at the boat. One is a good deal...one is a bad deal.

 

[dmmike]

I did not see zero..........

 

[friscuba]

If you move to Kona to get a job, and you have your choice of these full time jobs...

McDonalds, Taco Bell, Burger King, waitperson, DM or Instructor....

The first 4 pay the best. I know lots of "full time" scuba people. My bet is only a few of them have ever seen a W-2 with 20 grand on it. The fast food guys here are paying 10-11 an hour to start. Waiters and waitresses can clean up if they are at a good establishment.

 

[amascuba]

You mean some people get paid?

I don't get paid any sort of money. At the same time I don't pay for any gas (air/nitrox), have any expenses from helping out with classes (That includes food, hotel, gas, etc), and I get discounted gear. It's a lifestyle more than a job that pays. You do it because you enjoy it.

That said, I didn't choose any option because none of them fit how I get paid.

 

[Capt. Ty]

Whew...Thanks, I needed that.

If you really want to be in the big bucks - Run your own dive boat too!

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[amascuba]

There is a saying in the industry that states "If you want to make a million dollars in the scuba industry, you need to start with two million dollars"

 

[95yj]

It's hard to get paid as a dive master unless you do a lot of other things like drive the boat, fix the boat, fix the compressor, etc. There's too many instructors out there. I refuse to get my instructor while I'm living in the Caribbean because when I dive I want to be diving not sitting in the bottom of a pool. If I ever move back to the mainland and get landlocked, I'll get my instructor just to keep up with diving.

I would expect there are a lot of DMs who have the same deal I have. I can show up on the boat anytime I want and pay nothing. Sometimes I have to lead the dive, sometimes I have to drive the boat, sometimes I get to dive for fun and act like a sheepdog at the back of the group. As a converse, I get paid nothing but tips. Even if I get to dive for fun, I am still helping the customers and the rest of the crew, rigging weight belts, schlepping tanks, washing the boat and the like. One of the great things is that I enjoy being on the water and in this capacity it doesn't even seem like a job.

 

[Ann Marie]

What about us part-time instructors that have a day-jobs so we can afford to be instructors?

 

[fisherdvm]

What about us part-time instructors that have a day-jobs so we can afford to be instructors?

You can still tell us how little you make.... As I recall, there was a physician who perused the site, who was listed as a scuba instructor!! I am sure he's not full time.