Instructor Training,Worthwhile Investment???

[E8ArmyDiver]

Hello everyone.I am a retired Military Diver & live on a modest pension.I am at a point in life where I still need to work but really don't want to get into Commercial Dive Management so I am considering sinking my modest life savings into SCUBA Instructor Training.Can anyone comment on weather or not Instructor Training is a worthwhile investment for someone over 50 needing a new career?Any comments on what a new Instructor can expect to make financially?I REALLY hope I can get some replies here as I am having a hard time finding any info on potential employment for new instructors.Thanks very much & take care...

 

[boulderjohn]

Welcome to ScubaBoard!

This question gets asked a lot, and the answer is clearly "it depends."

There are people who will cite statistics on the abundance of instructors and low pay to try to convince you it is a mistake. On the other hand, there are clearly people who are making their living doing it, so it must be possible. I once met an instructor in the Caribbean who seemed to be doing OK, and he was a lot like you. He came out of the British army, and as a going away gift, the British army apparently trains its retiring soldiers for a vocation. He chose scuba.

IMO, if you really want to make a living in scuba, look at the entire package. By all means, be able to instruct, but expect to be much more heavily involved in all parts of an operation than that. A dive operation has employees who do all sorts of things, from cleaning the store to skippering the boats. The more you can do, the more valuable you will be.

---------- Post Merged at 05:22 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 05:16 PM ----------

Just to add to this related to age...

I was 54 when I became a divemaster, and I was an instructor about a year later. I never intended to make a living at it, though. I saw it as a means of supplementing my retirement and helping keep me in touch with a sport I loved. I also had been a career educator, so I happen to enjoy the teaching process itself. It's therefore a good fit for me, even though it will never be a real income for me. That, however, has a whole lot to do with where I live (Colorado), where the local diving scene is not much to speak of.

 

[eponym]

I agree with what John said, and I am in my 60s. Instructing is for me an avocation and it at least pays for gear and gas.

If you are licensed to skipper a charter boat, if you can handle marine engine maintenance and compressor maintenance, and if you don't mind doing odd jobs (such as unplugging the head), you're a more valuable employee. I have trained a couple of US veterans on disability as instructors, for a new career.

But I would say that you should not expect to be putting anything away in your IRA/401K, even if you're working full-time in an inexpensive part of the world. Being a full-time dive shop employee (reg service, fills, retail) can be considerably more rewarding in terms of time invested.

Here's the classic joke: What's the difference between a large pizza and a dive instructor?

Spoiler

A large pizza can feed a family of four.

 

[NAUIWOWI]

i agree with everything stated by blouderjohn and eponym, as instructing is only an avocation for me also, and not a real source of significant (multiple large pizzas) income. I think you should look at what eponym suggested, and look into getting in with a dive shop as an employee, and using that to get additional training/gear at reduced prices, always important on a fixed income. With your background, and the level of skill and discipline it takes to be a military diver, you would be a great asset to an LDS. Learning all the backroom stuff at a shop makes you more valuable, especially if you pick up additional certs-hydro, vis, reg tech, gas blender, toilet plunger-wielder.....,etc. It may take you more time to get your instructor cert, but it will cost you less, get another income coming in, and expand the depth and width of your knowledge of all aspects of the diving industry. Also, working at a shop and teaching will get you more money than just teaching alone. Dont't tell anyone, but I just gave you my whole post-retirement plan.....I got the instructor part, now to make it to retirement with sanity intact.......

 

[supergaijin]

As a strictly financial investment, I would say no. From what I have seen of the industry (albeit never in N.America), it is difficult to make your money back and make any real contribution towards retirement.

Overseas, the best monthly wage I have received would be around $1500/month in a couple of high season months, dropping to less than $800 for 4 low season months. So a fairly big swing in seasonal wages. IME the best regular wages (sometimes salaries) I had were in Egypt and the Maldives. After an 8 month season of living fairly frugally in Egypt, I came away with 3000euro. In my first 18 month stint in the Maldives I had $10 000 savings.

The worst wage was in NZ (cost of living vs hours worked).

 

[dgreenh]

As a truly independent part time scuba instructor, I can say that it will never provide enough income to maintain the lifestyle my family is used to. My day job supplemented the scuba business for several years. Buying training gear, compressor and just getting set up to teach is a huge investment on top of the instructor training, yearly renewals and insurance. It took several years before I even got very many calls for training... much less actually getting people to sign up to take a class. 8 years later and the only LDS closing down, I am teaching almost every weekend and the business is paying for itself and possibly making a little money. I am in much better shape than the instructors that worked for the LDS. They have nothing to work with now while I invested in all my own gear and equipment so I can continue teaching. If you can work for a LDS then you will get started with much less investment but you are also dependent on their success. I chose to NOT be dependent on a bad business model or bad management. If I didn't really enjoy teaching people to dive, I would give it up for sure. On the plus side, you get to dive basically for free and you meet a lot of really nice people.

 

[Ordie]

E8ArmyDiver: I retired from the Navy in 2008. I became an instructor after 10 years of being a divemaster. I enjoy teaching classes and introducing people to the world of scuba. Because of my location in north east Texas I do not make enough to live on. But it does support mine and my wife's dive habit. As stated above, the more you can do for the dive operation the more valuable you become to them. Padi has an employment board you can check out, if you haven't already. Congrats on the retirement, good luck. One retiree to another, if you have any other questions feel free to PM me anytime.