I want SCUBA to be my job...

[DiveNav]

....... I'm a computer geek .......

A computer geek that loves diving? Sounds familiar .....

If you want you could make few bucks (but not too many ) helping us testing the new multy-player feature of our simulator.

Please PM me if you interested.

Thanks

AM

 

[dpaustex]

I became a DiveCon to be a better diver.

Making a "living" as a DiveCon/DiveMaster, I think would be what your definition of "living" is. Want to live in a one-bedroom efficiency with a room-mate? Then maybe doable.

DiveCons make tips on a Dive boat, that's it.

Instructors make about $50 per student, yet have about 10k invested in training and gear, not to mention time.

I think most instructors do it for the fun of the sport.

Like others, I wouldn't make a great hobby a drudgery job.

 

[LavaSurfer]

Holy Moses, this has been my most-replied-to post ever, on any forum.

Okay, background info here:

I am 27. I have wanted to be involved in diving since I was a wee tot, lets say 10 years old. Never thought it would be hugely profitable.

I've just moved to California from Michigan, and I'm finally getting certified. I figured it's time to chase those dreams, eh? I'm a computer geek, and a professional technician working in all kinds of great big office buildings in San Francisco. It pays okay, but it's not my passion.

I am a scientist at heart, but one of the worst kinds (one without any degrees). This is something I plan to change out here; higher education is much cheaper in California. I do lean toward some kind of research field. I have read info about a couple schools in/near Santa Barbara (UCSB, et. al.) that have curricula for research diving.

I view my OW cert as an important first step in a line of many to come.

LavaSurfer, does this help?

sure does. Thanks
I am a tech geek too. And although I have no papers, I am a mutt, I am Exec VP and run a software company. Don't let papers or lack of slow you down.

Here is a thought and if I were your age I would be all over the idea, is get your Marine Biology Degree and get into something like NOAA. I have a friend that works for NOAA and he dives all the time, gets paid for it and goes places most people will never go in their lives. He tells me about his journeys and I am just green with envy.

It is just a thought and if science is your passion, it is a good one.

 

[el_guapo]

Skills and personality update:

I can disassemble anything, put it back together in working condition, and gained the knowledge of how it works in the process.

I am hugely patient, but not to a fault.

I speak bare conversational Spanish, with a good accent, but could stand to learn more.

Everyone responding here, you rock!

LavaSurfer, DiveNav, you are my new personal heroes!

 

[muddiver]

Go to Santa Barbara City College and get your Associates Degree in Marine Technology. Then either get a job with Oceaneering International, Pheonex or DeepSea Engineering and work your way inot the Remotely Operated Vehicle division, OR transfer from SBCC to the University of Califirnia in Santa Barbara, many $$$$$$ later and go into your choice of science field as a slave until you land that really cool job like Diving Safety Officer at teh Wriggely Institute for Marine Studies. Then you will make a living in the realm of diving. Either one will cost you $$$ and time. It won't happen over night.

 

[el_guapo]

Been looking at both those schools. Thanks!

 

[muddiver]

SBCC is the premier commercial dive program in the U.S. Most of teh graduates I have known end up as Life Support Technicians for big commercial diving companies.