INSTRUCTING....many questions

[supercharge]

So I am 23 and OW certified, and I long to instruct it. Right now I'm ski bumming in Banff, more or less, getting it out of my system, so to speak. In BC Capilano University has a full program that brings you right up to instructor level. It's about $20k for the whole thing, and includes some tourism uni courses and all dives on the Sunshine Coast of BC. It is PADI. The other way would be to go overseas and learn the whole process and dives through a dive shop, which I recon would be $25k+. I'm sure I want to do it but I'm also looking at joining the Canadian military. The economy looks dismal and I'm thinking that it might be smarter to do the diving thing afterwards, when things are hopefully recovering. Is instructing diving worth it? Does it pay okay enough to enjoy life or is it a constant struggle? Is it true it will be short lived, like 3 years or so? I don't know what to do. It's expensive and I don't want to take out a big student loan unless I'm certain it's the right timing. If anyone can help my lost soul, I'd immensely appreciate it.

 

[RonFrank]

Diving in general is not a great career choice. Most instructors do it part time. You can likely get certified as an instructor for 5k or less.

I am not aware of your options but I would consider others. If you decode to do it I'd say FL is your best shot in the US.

 

[DevonDiver]

Being a 'dive pro' involves a lot of sacrifice - especially in respect to financial income and lifestyle options. The vast majority of qualified instructors rarely sustain a 'career' for longer than 2-3 years - before either quitting or relegating the work to a weekend/part-time role, in favor of a higher-income full-time job.

Of course, this really depends on how you define "enjoy life". If you mean owning the latest iPhone, living in a desirable residence and having the cash to take your girlfriend to flash restaurants... then no. If you mean, it'll allow a frugal, non-materialistic lifestyle, where you can enjoy being in the ocean, meeting new people and helping them develop, and not suffering the boredom or politics of an office environment...or the soul-quenching monotony of a factory... then yes.

Obviously, salary expectations will vary depending upon region and qualification. However, as a newly certified OWSI, with little experience, you are really expecting to be paid fast-food server money (if you can get a salaried position at all). As you build experience, qualifications and reputation - then earning potential increases. Even then, it's not a high income by any standards.

In return for that, you'll potentially work long hours... preparing the dive center long before customers arrive... cleaning up and maintain kit long after they depart. There's a lot of boring, dirty and un-glamorous tasks to do frequently. It can be stressful and frustrating. You can be cold, wet and tired a lot.

Many novice divers only consider the 'in-water' side of the job. In reality, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Sustaining a career as a dive pro demands huge motivation - and you can only expect that if you have a huge love for what you do. To know if you 'have the love'... you need to gain that experience and see how it makes you feel. Dive. Dive. Dive. Progress in the ranks slowly...and truthfully examine your motivations at each step along the way.

 

[FoxHound]

I'm Canadian Military myself. We have dive clubs at all the major bases so if you decide to go that route you will have plenty of time to get certified as an instructor down the road plus get to dive with a lot of great divers across Canada. Once you have that certification you can teach diving and work....lots of guys here do it.

 

[tstormdiver]

Congratulations on your new found passion. May it always be as such. I do not want to discourage anyone who wants to pursue the sport to its fullest, but Devon Diver makes some very good points to the realities. Not to say there aren't some that are out there, "living the dream", there are. In addition to Devon Diver's advice, I would make a huge suggestion that you get experience. By your profile you look to be a newer diver. Nothing wrong with that, we all had to start out at the beginning. What I'm saying, though is, right now to enjoy your diving. Dive in as many different environments as possible- saltwater, freshwater, warm water, cold water, clear water, murky water, calm water, currents,.... Make yourself the most rounded diver that you can. The more experiences you have, the more you can relay to your future students. Also get in lots & lots of dives,.... Don't just settle for the bare minimum to get through. Don't short cut to go through what some here call the "zero to hero" type courses. Give yourself the time you need to develop into the best diver you can be. Once again more dives = more experience. Learn something new on each & every dive, whether you are taking a course or not. Enjoy the underwater realm & enjoy diving. Most instructors do not last more than a few years. Why? Because they forget to dive occasionally for their own enjoyment, instead focusing only on the instruction/ dive leader part of it.

In a nutshell, enjoy the underwater world, learn & gain a ton of experience before going into the pro ranks. Don't worry, it'll be there waiting for you.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Join the military, put in 20 yrs and retire with a full pension or whatever it is in Canada and let them pay for your training. See the world and dive it on their dime. And when you retire before the age of 45, lucky stiff, teach diving wherever you want and use it to supplement your income. Biggest mistake I ever made was not joining and serving. Did I say big, I meant HUGE mistake! My son did not make the same one. He'll be starting his second hitch in August. He'll have ten years in when he is done with this tour and he better stay if he does not have a six figure offer. He could put 25 in, retire at 43, and never have to work again. Not to mention the discipline and self respect you'll get. Dumbest thing the US did was end the draft. They should have expanded it to include women as well.
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[oly5050user]

As Jim said if you go in the military, stay in it..Or start a career in a job that pays, save some $$ , perhaps get friendly with a LDS in the area you live in.By friendly I mean take all courses there from advance to divemaster and even your IDC and become an instructor for that facility if you can . Do the instructing thing as a side gig..They would be more likely to give you classes than some instructor that took a zero to hero course somewhere as they know you and your history. Thats pretty much how I started ,worked corporate,saved up some $$ and retired from corporate world. Now teach full time and take groups to the islands. Not much money in it,but live stress free now.

 

[Teller]

Join the military, put in 20 yrs and retire with a full pension or whatever it is in Canada and let them pay for your training. See the world and dive it on their dime. And when you retire before the age of 45, lucky stiff, teach diving wherever you want and use it to supplement your income. Biggest mistake I ever made was not joining and serving. Did I say big, I meant HUGE mistake! My son did not make the same one. He'll be starting his second hitch in August. He'll have ten years in when he is done with this tour and he better stay if he does not have a six figure offer. He could put 25 in, retire at 43, and never have to work again. Not to mention the discipline and self respect you'll get. Dumbest thing the US did was end the draft. They should have expanded it to include women as well.
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I hope for your sons and my sake they dont stop the current government retirement and switch to a normal 401K that they have been mentioning. If the change goes in to effect then your son and I wont start getting retirement checks until we are in our 60s. Sure will put a dent in my future diving plans.

 

[RickyF]

I put in 36 years working for the government, retired and started the DM training. I completed everything except my last endurance swim and finally figured out that I really had no intention of working in the dive industry and that all I really wanted was the knowledge since I loved the theory behind diving. Now I just work part time out in the ship maintenance industry to pay for all my warm water dive trips! Not trying to put a damper on your desire, but the previous posters made some really excellant points!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I would suggest that before you invest $20K in pursuing diving as a career, you spend some time diving first. I completely understand the passion ... I discovered diving 11 years ago, and have logged over 3,000 dives since then. I also became an instructor ... but I waited three years, and logged several hundred dives before I went that route. Not that you need to do it the way I did, but there's a great deal more to learn about diving than you're going to get in a classroom, and much of it will determine whether you'll be a good instructor or just someone who recites the class material without really understanding what it means.

The most important things to learn are that (a) being a dive instructor isn't the life that gets promoted through the shops or agencies who want you to buy the classes. It's long hours, low pay, and very much a career that requires some level of interpersonal skills ... and (b) doing something for work that you learned to do for fun often sucks the fun out of it. The average scuba instructor lasts less than three years, and usually burns out on diving altogether. Is that something you want to invest $20K for? Again, not saying this will happen to you ... but it's a fact that scuba diving and scuba instruction both have very high dropout rates.

Finally, $20K seems like an awful lot of money to become a scuba instructor ... I did it for about a quarter of that. You might be better served by just going diving for a while, learn as much as you can through continuing education and experience, and slowly work your way toward your goal. That way if, at any point, you come to realize this isn't something that's really what you thought it would be, you haven't invested a huge amount up-front that, in a few years, you'll have little or nothing to show for.

Take your time ... you've got decades ahead of you (lucky you ... I started diving when I was 49) ... and if you're in the Vancouver area, then you've got lots of resources available to pursue your passion and your potential career path in a way that doesn't commit you to a huge investment before you've really had a chance to find out what you're getting yourself into ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)