Part Time Dive Master, Is there such a thing?

[Ankush Mittal]

Hi Guys, the question is simple enough. Is it possible being a part time dive master and would you be doing ethically enough justice to your group of divers you are guiding?

Let me paint a picture for an example.

Say I can take 2 months off a year from my current work/business. I stay in a land locked City so diving every few weekends or months is not possible. However, If I can take 2 months of a year to be a Dive Master at a certain dive area such as say for example, Khao Lak or Phuket, and dive another 2 - 3 weeks for some fun diving around the world after say 6 months, effectively ensuring I am not rusty every time I start my dive season as a DM.

In the above scenario, given that I would not have enough experience as someone who has been in the area for 6 months, but after say one season or two maybe wouldn't it put me in par with a new certified DM, in a manner of speaking in terms of experience as worst case scenario?

Would something like this be possible to work for 2 months as a DM. If not solely as a source of primary revenue, but more in terms of the revenue from being a DM for these 2 months would say pay for my 2 - 3 week vacation somewhere in another exotic location, equipment upkeep etc and I get an added advantage of 2 months of virtually unlimited diving with free breakfast and lunch.

Thoughts?

Edit: Oh! Also, I can tie up with other dive shops on the coasts in my country who sometimes get contacted by people from my city for a try dive in a pool, skill refresh courses etc. So that is always a neat way to keep your own skills polished.

 

[Blasto]

more in terms of the revenue from being a DM for these 2 months would say pay for my 2 - 3 week vacation somewhere in another exotic location...

Hahaha! You have a wild imagination.

The "revenue", if you're lucky to get any, might pay for your accommodation and food (but not flights) while you're working... if you're satisfied with really austere quarters and rice.

 

[Ankush Mittal]

haha! Did you even understand the purpose of my question? I am ok with not making enough revenue to cover my time as a Dive Master, it is about the experience and passion of Scuba Diving and working with like minded individuals who all love the awesomeness that is Scuba Diving.

Why don't you calculate how much it would cost if you were to dive for one month straight and then compare that to the money I would have to probably cover from my pocket after adjusting the revenue earned as a DM.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Are the DMs in Thailand mostly local people? In places in the world I have been, there are few DM jobs for foreigners. I can't imagine someone who does not have a local's depth of knowledge of the dive sites being able to find a job. Now, if you were an instructor, that might be different. Foreign instructors can generally find jobs. But a DM? Working part-time in a location he's not intimately familiar with? I am skeptical that such work can be found.

As for the "unlimited diving," keep in mind you will be diving the same sites over and over and having to keep watch over your group. That does not sound like much of a vacation to me.

 

[Ankush Mittal]

Are the DMs in Thailand mostly local people? In places in the world I have been, there are few DM jobs for foreigners. I can't imagine someone who does not have a local's depth of knowledge of the dive sites being able to find a job. Now, if you were an instructor, that might be different. Foreign instructors can generally find jobs. But a DM? Working part-time in a location he's not intimately familiar with? I am skeptical that such work can be found.

As for the "unlimited diving," keep in mind you will be diving the same sites over and over and having to keep watch over your group. That does not sound like much of a vacation to me.

I know at the base of it what you mean by knowing the local area being a local, but that isn't the case for Thailand and many SE Asian dive sites.

Only the very good dive shops have good local guides who speak English well enough to guide a group of tourists. Whereas, the quality of the local dive guides isn't up to the mark for most other dive shops where they literally hold you by the tank for try dive for the entire duration.

In about the 50 dives I have done at Thailand between Similan (Khao Lak), Phuket and Koh Samui, apart from Phuket all my DMs were European. (The two local DMs I dived with were literally the only 2 DMs the shop had with them in their roster of over 10 full time DMs)

Also, while it may now sound like much of a vacation to many, I am still exploring this idea and I am on the fence whether this is something which I would look forward to every year.

Also, with the idea being that Diving is quite seasonal for most areas in Thailand, Even though other than Similan everything else is open all 12 months of the year and dives during off season are entirely weather permitting. The tourists foot fall is so low that most DMs move to other places like Philippines or Indonesia and them come back when the dive season opens up for a few months, so other than the fact that they would have more dives than me overall, they would only have a maximum a month of extra diving at that dive area.

 

[Blasto]

haha! Did you even understand the purpose of my question? I am ok with not making enough revenue to cover my time as a Dive Master

I did. You initially approached DM'ing as another summer job, which might indeed pay for a 2-3 week vacation. You're still attaching value to your time as a DM.

The reality is, part-time DMing is not a job and you will not earn any money doing it. Even if you manage to get paid at all, it will be a lot less than just your extra expenses for living away from home.

Financially you will be better off sitting home watching TV for 2 months than working as a DM.

This can differ on some liveaboards and boutique DCs, but DMs there are full-time, not freshly certified, and often qualified as instructors. In your listed destinations, you won't cover your added expenses.


Now, if you approach it as a way to get experience - as in divecenter work experience (most of your working hours will be on dry land) - that's another matter.

Fun diving is a very expensive way and incomplete way to get such, and DMing even for low pay makes sense then. Understand that it will be very different from fun diving. You won't see as much and you'll do a lot of work in the back of the shop.

 

[Ankush Mittal]

I did. You initially approached DM'ing as another summer job, which might indeed pay for a 2-3 week vacation. You're still attaching value to your time as a DM.

The reality is, part-time DMing is not a job and you will not earn any money doing it. Even if you manage to get paid at all, it will be a lot less than just your extra expenses for living away from home.

Financially you will be better off sitting home watching TV for 2 months than working as a DM.

This can differ on some liveaboards and boutique DCs, but DMs there are full-time, not freshly certified, and often qualified as instructors. In your listed destinations, you won't cover your added expenses.


Now, if you approach it as a way to get experience - as in divecenter work experience (most of your working hours will be on dry land) - that's another matter.

Fun diving is a very expensive way and incomplete way to get such, and DMing even for low pay makes sense then. Understand that it will be very different from fun diving. You won't see as much and you'll do a lot of work in the back of the shop.

Fair enough, I think I have my answer. Though I disagree on the DMs being there full time as I am only speaking from the DMs I have seen at most places being part time. Those places may qualify as being a boutique DC and I am ok with that as I want to eventually automate my business as much as possible and move to a place where I can open a dive shop/center.

With regards to the experience that is exactly what I am hoping to gain and financially not looking at it as a job is ok by me. I am not going to say that money isn't a concern for me, but I am ok not saving anything at the end of the day. I know for a fact that DMs earn about THB 30,000 a month in Thailand, which is slightly less than USD 1000, which is enough for a decent accommodation and food in Thailand.

Thanks for your help. Aiming to get enough dives over the next year so I can maybe do my DM course towards the end of next year. Planning ahead really helps me stay on course of my goals

Cheers.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Meray Bhai ...It is an internship in which you pay the employer to make you work. DMs and crew mostly live on tips. These get divided by the crew so the share that comes to you will be peanuts. If you want more money, offer a better service and hope that your customer in Bill Gates visiting Thailand in the most generous of moods. Realistically ... you get the idea. You get free ride to the site, a free tank of air etc and you should be grateful that you have been given the honor to set up peoples tanks and clean the boat for zero costs to you.

 

[Steve_C]

I know of some part time DM. However, the dive season is seasonal, and their main job focuses on the other seasons, and they live near the boat so no transportation, and their duties are primarily helping folks on and off the boats before, during and after the dives, also setting the anchor, and once in a while serving as a DM for hire. One in mind is a school principal and mainly DMs in the summer and weekends in late spring and early fall. Note that while folks are in the water if there is another DM on top and captain watching for divers in trouble he might be able to do a 20-30 minute dive looking around. Also during the SI, the DMs will sometimes do a short dive. On these boats all tips go to the DMs. The captain/owner/shop owner does not take any of the tips. He is actually a bit of an exception. Most of the active DM I now, even the part time ones, all are also instructors. Makes them more useful to the shops.

 

[Ankush Mittal]

Meray Bhai ...It is an internship in which you pay the employer to make you work. DMs and crew mostly live on tips. These get divided by the crew so the share that comes to you will be peanuts. If you want more money, offer a better service and hope that your customer in Bill Gates visiting Thailand in the most generous of moods. Realistically ... you get the idea. You get free ride to the site, a free tank of air etc and you should be grateful that you have been given the honor to set up peoples tanks and clean the boat for zero costs to you.

Do you see the words "What or who is a Dive Master?" or "What are the duties of a Dive Master?" written anywhere in the question I asked?

Also, if you have such a pessimistic point of view of it, I find your current status "Divemaster Candidate" quite ironic.