I want SCUBA to be my job...

[MXGratefulDiver]

For the most part, commercial divers are not scuba divers ... they're underwater construction workers. There's a big difference.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[pwl]

afaik commercial, emergency services & military diving are all "jobs underwater", but none of them are really professional versions of recreational diving. at a presentation on police diving, the speaker told us that none of his team dived for fun: all their recreation was above the water.

making a living out of the recreational diving industry is extremely competitive; for instructors, supply far exceeds demand in most cases. it is possible to eke out a living in certain circumstances, but all of the instructors i know have another primary source of income.

if you mean to set your sites on a dive tourism job, you will need to be multi-skilled: as well as a master scuba diver trainer status (or equivalent), you should be experienced in operating a largish commercial vessel (coxswain), diesel/marine mechanics, hospitality and/or high-level medical skills.

alternatively you could attempt the scientific career approach: marine biology (including videography, etc) & marine archaeology *may* offer opportunities to dive a lot as part of your work, but i suspect that there will be a lot of competition here for research grants & so on. one marine biologist i know - who works at the university closest to the great barrier reef (james cook university) - hasn't actually been scuba diving for many years.


so... not to get too depressing, but it's probably better to look for a careers where you get opportunities to dive, rather than dive as an intrinsic part of your job: this may include doing something where you're close to a good dive spot, or something where you can afford to travel where you want.

good luck.

 

[Steve SDI/TDI HQ]

I work in the industry as a member of a training agency's management team. The road here was long and circuitous.

Some observations you may find useful.


Dive Industry Main Segments:
Recreational (sport and technical leadership, retail, manufacturer)
Public Safety Diving (police, firefighters, other badged divers doing mostly rescue and recovery, and security inspections)
Commercial (construction mostly)
Military (engineers, clearance, etc. but always an adjunct to another trade)
Scientific (occasionally pure diving research -- decompression theory for example -- but more specifically associated with work in fields such as marine biology, archaeology, geology)
Medical (this is a bit of a cheat because there are not medical divers but there are jobs for hyperbaric technicians and Medics)

The majority of new open-water divers want to "work in the industry" and that's great. If your aim is to work in the recreational segment, my suggestions are:

Dive... get experience that will improve your skills not lots of dives in a quarry to rack up the numbers
Read... research diving and read something aside from agency textbooks
Learn... find out about the physiology of learning, methods of instruction and what motivates learners
Speak... Become fluent in more than one language. If you do not already speak something other than English, make the effort and change that. You will be more employable

A good stepping stone is first to get some skills in sales, the hospitality and travel industry, or medicine. It's a competitive market... becoming an instructor is easy and there are lots out there looking for work. You need to have much more value to an employer if you intend this to be a career.

Our agencies cover Sport Diving (SDI), Technical diving (TDI), and Public Safety Diving (ERDI). You are certainly welcome to email me directly with the region you live and I'll point you towards one of our facilities.

If you have an eye on commercial diving and live in the US, I'd suggest you contact CDA in Jacksonville Florida and speak with them.

 

[jedi_diver]

Learning to dive and becoming a diver trying to make a living is very different. First there are a lot of people out there that have the same idea. It is kind of like waking up and grabbing your guitar and saying I think I will become a rockstar. You may be able to pull it off, but there is a lot of hit and miss and a ton of competition out there. I don't want you to get discouraged, but you have to look at it logically.

That having been said; there are places that you can make a living diving. Lots of people here in Okinawa do it. Most of them own shops and have invested a ton of time and money getting to where they are. Also if you are planning to teach in another country you have to be able to speak the language of that country to some level, and be able to get your opperation set up in that country.
I'd also suggest that you do extensive research on the country that you want to teach in. In this day in age, living in a foreign country can be dangerous. You have to know the culture and how to do business in that country. The biggest mistake that you can make is thinking that everything "over there" is done like it is at home. There are rules, laws, customs, etc that you have to consider.
For example, if you are teaching in Japan you would have to relate your course to things that Japanese students would understand. Like trying to make a reference to pop culture from your country or using a sports player as an example you may not get your point across to your students. You'd have to do some research and find out what influences them locally.

It can be quite rewarding to live overseas and teach diving. But I think that you need to really thing about all the issues that would arise and what you can do to overcome them.

Hope this helps,
JD

 

[LavaSurfer]

This isn't unusual at all. There is a very wide range of money one can make but making your recreation your job is not always as rosey as it seems.

Gary D.

Yep, I SO understand this concept.
I was a hacker programmer for years. Then I started getting paid for it and now it is work. I dive because I love diving and usually I enjoy helping others learn to dive. It is not about the money. Thank goodness or I would be disappointed.

For the most part, commercial divers are not scuba divers ... they're underwater construction workers. There's a big difference.

The OP said he wanted to be a Professional Diver. To me that is different than a Dive Professional in the sense that Dive Professionals barely make a living where as a Professional Diver gets paid to dive such as a Commercial Diver.
Someplace in the above is rhyme or reason
At least in my mind

Anyway, I was curious what el_guapo AKA Chris had in mind.

 

[LavaSurfer]

I'd also suggest that you do extensive research on the country that you want to teach in. In this day in age, living in a foreign country can be dangerous. You have to know the culture and how to do business in that country. The biggest mistake that you can make is thinking that everything "over there" is done like it is at home. There are rules, laws, customs, etc that you have to consider.

This is so true, Can you imagine some poor immigrant trying to come to Florida and build a dive business. He would get wiped out. Or maybe someone deciding to move into the DC area. There are some really bad neighborhoods.

 

[jedi_diver]

I've seen people come to Japan and try to make an "American" business. They soon learn that they are in big trouble. You have to really keep in mind that in most non-divers minds the concept of scuba diving is extremely dangerous. Throw in the fact that if the instructor can not communicate 100% in the local language it adds to that danger. They will think what if something goes wrong and I can't tell the instructor!

Here in Japan it is pretty interesting because you have shops that cater to just English speakers. You also have Japanese people that want to go to an all English dive shop so they can practice their English for when they go on dive travel.
On the otherside of that, you have dive shops that won't take you unless you can speak Japanese. Also 99.9999999 % of the Japanese shops will not have rental gear that fits the average foreigner. If you were going to come here and start a business you'd have to know what your demographic was. Are you going to stock 20 small sized rental sets? What if you don't get any Japanese customers? Are you going to stock all large and XXXLarge sizes? You see it makes a big difference. You could spend a lot of time and money trying to set up a shop and totally get a "swing and miss."

My suggestion is pretty simple. Figure out where you want to work or build a business. Then you go there for a few years and see what local dive shops are doing or not doing. Then you can use that information to build your business plan. Also if they place you are going to doesn't have English as a first language, you should learn how to teach a OW class in the local language perfectly. If you can do that, well then my friend.... you are READY.

 

[el_guapo]

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?

 

[DennisS]

Get a job as a bartender at a resort. The pays better and you have the days free to dive.

 

[DennisS]

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?

Get a job as an oceanographic technician. It's all about science--we need more data. All the instruments have become computerized, most of them are still using rs-232 and NMEA 183 and your biggest problem is baud rate and riggiing a serial connection. Diving would be an ancillary activity you would look forward to, not something you would be required to do, day in and day out

The pay is better, much better than a "dive professional"