You can also get a 4 year degree in recreational diving management from Barry University in Miami Shores.
Questions about becoming a scuba instructor
- Thread starter craziecutiee
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craziecutiee
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Thanks for all the advice and to answer your question Quero I've been trying to pick a career lately and I don't want anything cliché like doctor, lawyer, or police officer. I took a career aptitude test and it gave back things like planner, comedian, acting coach. At first I laughed at the results, but then someone told me it just means I need a creative job to go into to. I looked at a few and dive instructor seemed to catch my eye. A lot of people I know have been pushing the medical field, but even with the paycheck its just not for me. And after taking a couple days off of career soul searching I've come to realize every job I've ever considered has led back to hospitality/tourism so my newer idea is now to start out managing hotels and one day to own my own hotel which will hopefully lead to my own chain. Some might say I don't know what I want and they're right; I don't. They might also say the ideas that come into my head are never going to happen and to them I'm going to have to show them better than I can tell them. With this newest found passion I can pursue all my dreams of event planning, owning/running a business and I'll even own a scuba shack on the side. My name is (not putting up online) and I can do anything I want to and I don't have time for those not trying to better me. Thanks for all the advice 
You know, I don't think it's reasonable to expect somebody at your point in life to know what they want to do for the rest of their life. And there is no reason not to experiment, and there is no stigma to changing directions once or twice. And as I said above, if you work hard at anything and do it with discipline and thought, it's good life experience for the next thing you try. The only sin is not to give whatever you are doing the best you can.
I agree with TSandM. I've always told my kids to just pick a goal and see where the path to that goal leads them; if they realize later that their destination was not what they had hoped for, they can choose a different destination to set out for. They can even get interested in something else while on their way to their original goal and decide to change goals instead. My message has always been "the only thing about your life choices that you can't undo is becoming a parent--everything else, starting from your hair color to your partner to your work to your home city or whatever, you can undo (perhaps with effort and anguish, but still, you can undo it)". My daughter told me a few weeks ago that she kept this wisdom in mind when finally deciding, after much thought, to leave her PhD program in astrophysics, which she had just a year to go to complete, in order to go in a new direction. While working on her doctorate she spent significant time volunteering at the local animal shelter (she's a big animal lover and a show rider), and during this volunteer work she realized that she actually wants to be a vet. So now she's starting over in vet school!
So TSandM is spot on with her observations. Pick a path, do your best, and see where it leads. In the process of your journey a different destination might be revealed that you can't yet see from the vantage point you're currently at, but you'll never find it if you don't start going somewhere!
So TSandM is spot on with her observations. Pick a path, do your best, and see where it leads. In the process of your journey a different destination might be revealed that you can't yet see from the vantage point you're currently at, but you'll never find it if you don't start going somewhere!
Many have already voiced what being a scuba instructor solely is like. I'll chime in on the Marine Bio aspect.
First, your likely career choices with marinebio + scuba in general are as follows:
Marine Field Technician, Aquarist, research and academics, and AAUS Dive Safety Officer
These are Salary positions, some places still pay by-the-hour but you get benefits with a full-time employment.
Marine Field techs can do anything from setting up experiments in the field and maintaining them, so fixing the head on a research vessel. If you manage to land a career as one, you'll likely be doing both of those and everything in between. Often times you're not diving as part of the job, but it happens to be a perk. Most of the jobs are on a ship, so having handy man skills such as plumbing and electrical work is a bonus. Having an education in biology, chemistry, or engineering (robotics) is what will get you the networking and equally important, the qualification for the job.
- For this you do not have to have a BS or BA to get the position, but having it does help out a lot. If you don't have it, you better have a Journeyman in some trade that is relevant.
Aquarist work in aquariums and take care of fish. You need a college level understanding of general chemistry, biology, and other things that are learned in a bio or marine bio undergraduate degree.
Research and academics are the careers working from a university, either researching in the field as a graduate student or PhD postdoc, or teaching academics as a PhD professor. Lots of time spent back at base in the lab (about 90%) Most of it spent writing grants if your at the top of the totem pole. You will want to pursue a graduate Masters of PhD for this career. Expect at least 8 years of your life in school; 4-5 for the undergraduate, and 4+ for the graduate degree (this includes 2 separate university applications w/ recommendation letters and all that jazz).
Dive Safety Officers work as the head entity for various AAUS (American Academy of Underwater Sciences) scientific research communities with diving outfits. They set the standards with their Diving Control Boards and enforce those standards. They also often train the next group of sci divers and in a university setting often they train the recreational department of scuba divers.
To qualify for this position you have to have a professional scuba rating. Assistant DSO's can be Divemasters but DSO's positions usually require an Instructor rating and previous experience in an AAUS or scientific outfit.
It helps to go to a college that has an AAUS Program, join the program, and actively dive with the program to network and gain experience. It's a hell lot of fun too, but also brutal. Imagine not wanting to dive because it's raining, you're cold, but you can still handle conditions. So you dive for the advancement of science anyways. Oh yeah, and there's no shower, you're camping, and the toilet paper box was flooded while you were out.
Your marine bio degree will come in handy for all these positions. You do not have to pursue a degree in marine bio per-say, many people with these positions are just regular biology, ecology, oceanography, environmental sciences, etc etc. Not many colleges actually offer "quote for quote" Marine Biology as a degree, even though they have marine bio classes.
The availability of these careers are very far and few between. People who get these careers often love their job and only leave to either retire or to transfer to their ideal goal which may be working in their choice location or a world renown establishment. Be prepared to volunteer your butt off for experience even after graduating, meet everyone you can, and most importantly: be prepared to move out of state or even out of country for short or hopefully long durations at a time.
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions regarding Marine Bio undergraduate degrees, DSO, or Aquarist careers, as I'm actively working towards those.
Edit:
Also in case none of these careers interest you, having some education in the life that you'll be viewing underwater makes it that much more enjoyable. And generally students will ask their instructors for tons of tid-bits about the animals they see. So it's great to know about stuff and be excited about it.
First, your likely career choices with marinebio + scuba in general are as follows:
Marine Field Technician, Aquarist, research and academics, and AAUS Dive Safety Officer
These are Salary positions, some places still pay by-the-hour but you get benefits with a full-time employment.
Marine Field techs can do anything from setting up experiments in the field and maintaining them, so fixing the head on a research vessel. If you manage to land a career as one, you'll likely be doing both of those and everything in between. Often times you're not diving as part of the job, but it happens to be a perk. Most of the jobs are on a ship, so having handy man skills such as plumbing and electrical work is a bonus. Having an education in biology, chemistry, or engineering (robotics) is what will get you the networking and equally important, the qualification for the job.
- For this you do not have to have a BS or BA to get the position, but having it does help out a lot. If you don't have it, you better have a Journeyman in some trade that is relevant.
Aquarist work in aquariums and take care of fish. You need a college level understanding of general chemistry, biology, and other things that are learned in a bio or marine bio undergraduate degree.
Research and academics are the careers working from a university, either researching in the field as a graduate student or PhD postdoc, or teaching academics as a PhD professor. Lots of time spent back at base in the lab (about 90%) Most of it spent writing grants if your at the top of the totem pole. You will want to pursue a graduate Masters of PhD for this career. Expect at least 8 years of your life in school; 4-5 for the undergraduate, and 4+ for the graduate degree (this includes 2 separate university applications w/ recommendation letters and all that jazz).
Dive Safety Officers work as the head entity for various AAUS (American Academy of Underwater Sciences) scientific research communities with diving outfits. They set the standards with their Diving Control Boards and enforce those standards. They also often train the next group of sci divers and in a university setting often they train the recreational department of scuba divers.
To qualify for this position you have to have a professional scuba rating. Assistant DSO's can be Divemasters but DSO's positions usually require an Instructor rating and previous experience in an AAUS or scientific outfit.
It helps to go to a college that has an AAUS Program, join the program, and actively dive with the program to network and gain experience. It's a hell lot of fun too, but also brutal. Imagine not wanting to dive because it's raining, you're cold, but you can still handle conditions. So you dive for the advancement of science anyways. Oh yeah, and there's no shower, you're camping, and the toilet paper box was flooded while you were out.
Your marine bio degree will come in handy for all these positions. You do not have to pursue a degree in marine bio per-say, many people with these positions are just regular biology, ecology, oceanography, environmental sciences, etc etc. Not many colleges actually offer "quote for quote" Marine Biology as a degree, even though they have marine bio classes.
The availability of these careers are very far and few between. People who get these careers often love their job and only leave to either retire or to transfer to their ideal goal which may be working in their choice location or a world renown establishment. Be prepared to volunteer your butt off for experience even after graduating, meet everyone you can, and most importantly: be prepared to move out of state or even out of country for short or hopefully long durations at a time.
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions regarding Marine Bio undergraduate degrees, DSO, or Aquarist careers, as I'm actively working towards those.
Edit:
Also in case none of these careers interest you, having some education in the life that you'll be viewing underwater makes it that much more enjoyable. And generally students will ask their instructors for tons of tid-bits about the animals they see. So it's great to know about stuff and be excited about it.
Doomnova
Contributor
One word of caution i have and has been mirrored by my proffs do not over specialize too much. For example my degree combines biology and earth and ocean sciences (mainly the latter) being able to understand why an area is as productive as it is such as the PNW or So Cal on both a oceanographic as well as ecological level go hand and hand. marine biology while great also has limited many regards into the general work of ocean sciences. There are tons of people who graduate every year as "marine biologists" (general bio degrees but with focus on ocean science related classes) so much so that in many regards I have heard the plumbing is rather full. So you have to set yourself apart from the rest of the crowd some how. This is by doing everything you can to get experience outside of academics. Once you graduate with your B.Sc your pretty much back to square one along the totem pole with a large number of fellow undergrads so the biggest thing that can set you apart from the rest is getting job experience along the way. Myself I'll have my CAUS level 1 done this year followed as soon as I can with my CAUS level 2 also I'll be doing volunteer work with a local aquarium.
As a friend also told me "Its not what you know. Its who you know" Honestly most people who graduate from university think they know a lot really eh you don't you may know a certain amount of theory but a lot of the how to is not there so by getting to know others and building a network of contacts you'll increase your likelihood of finding one of those dream jobs. Odds are by the time you see it in the paper or online its already gone. That is the unfortunate reality. So if you can try to get out in the community and work even on a volunteer basis just to get that leg of in both knowing people to build a network and job experience. My bother worked with Stan tec for years and he was well known for turning down A+ student because they were A) cocky as hell B) usually were book worms who couldn't so anything outside the class and C) Had very little grasp of reality. So while getting good grade is great and can help you pay your way though college/uni you should also augment where you can with relevant job experience as that speaks as much if not more than education as most people who can get that kind of job experience can easily do the learning needed to get a degree and with the day and age we live in getting a degree might be easier than getting work experience as many places want you to have the experience before they will hire you.
As a friend also told me "Its not what you know. Its who you know" Honestly most people who graduate from university think they know a lot really eh you don't you may know a certain amount of theory but a lot of the how to is not there so by getting to know others and building a network of contacts you'll increase your likelihood of finding one of those dream jobs. Odds are by the time you see it in the paper or online its already gone. That is the unfortunate reality. So if you can try to get out in the community and work even on a volunteer basis just to get that leg of in both knowing people to build a network and job experience. My bother worked with Stan tec for years and he was well known for turning down A+ student because they were A) cocky as hell B) usually were book worms who couldn't so anything outside the class and C) Had very little grasp of reality. So while getting good grade is great and can help you pay your way though college/uni you should also augment where you can with relevant job experience as that speaks as much if not more than education as most people who can get that kind of job experience can easily do the learning needed to get a degree and with the day and age we live in getting a degree might be easier than getting work experience as many places want you to have the experience before they will hire you.
I work at a dive shop with an environmental sciences professor with a doctorate that moonlights as an instructor. My dive shop manager is a CPA who left the rat race after 7 years to instruct. I sold a bar, house, and restaurant to work full time as a diver and skydiving instructor. STAY IN SCHOOL, you have plent of time to decide if your hobbies, become your passion, then your profession. In the meantime, an education gives you options. I skydive/scuba dive with gypsie surf bums living in vans and doctors/lawyers/judges everyday. A nice house, health insurance, retirement, children, and how important those things are to you will factor into your life's decisions. Studying, working hard, diving, and saving will help you find out what's best for ya. GOOD LUCK! And a fun ride
OKay, so I read a lot in other threads where "the life of a scuba instructor is not enough to get by" more or less at least. For me it works. If you want something enough you can make it happen. I have a degree which was my initial focus and it has lead me down various paths to dive instructing and I created my own position and job as I moved up the ladder. As Quero mentioned above, pick a goal and if it changes as you work towards it then so be it. I do believe that a good degree will get you a solid standing for the future. IMHO, it worked for me, good luck with your choices and do follow your dreams! I work full time as a dive pro in a beautiful place, love it, but am consistently setting myself my next goal in life and continually working towards it 
Mustard Dave
Contributor
I'd personally rethink my career plans. Whenever I dive on holiday, I always find myself envious of those that can live abroad and dive for a living, however, when I come home, I realise I made the right decision in pursuing a career in construction and property. The staff at the dive centres work for peanuts and a lot of it is seasonal. My club visit Malta every year and the staff all seem to have bar jobs to pay their way. We get picked up at 8:30 am, get driven to the dive centre, then get driven to the dive site or boat, we are driven home and then we go for a beer.
When you think about it, they will have been up at stupid o'clock to get to work, they will have been humping kit about, and at the end of the day when we are in the bar, they will be humping more kit and filling cylinders. Then they go home, have a shower, and go to work in a bar. Although I don't get to dive daily in blue seas, I manage to get enough diving in, both in the UK and a couple of overseas holidays. More importantly, I go where I want rather than the same site to teach skills on the seabed or training platform. I am able to save money and have a pension scheme so I will be comfortable in retirement. I doubt many of your average backpacking instructors have considered this.
On the other hand, there are plenty of diving instructors who love what they doing, many of whom will be on here. There are some that make a good living from diving, but these are generally those that are highly respected and can afford to name their price (such as tech diving instructors, those that have been on major expeditions, successful underwater photographers etc.) those with good business acumen, or those that have had a successful career outside diving and have the money behind them to do something they love rather than something that pays well. There are plenty of people who will work for peanuts and unfortunately, that drives down pay throughout the industry. Jobbing instructors are practically slaves in most cases.
I would not advise anybody who has never dived to pursue a career in diving - in fact I urge you to completely reconsider. Instead, go out and learn to dive, and get good at it. Only then should you think 'Can I make a living doing this?'. I would not do a degree in recreational diving - it sounds like a degree an employer would wipe his bum on, like sociology or media studies. Hospitality is a good suggestion. It is something that fits in well with the dive industry. Also, many hotels have in-house watersports facilities so knowledge of the hospitality industry along with diving experience could be useful.
What I ask you to do though is think of the students. Your career is not the important thing if you go for a career in diving. The important thing is the safety of your students. A novice diver should be able to assume that the person he hands his hard earned cash to is going to be able to ensure he is not only safe in the water during the course, but comes away from it with the skills and competence to look after himself when he is diving without the supervision of an instructor. I know somebody who is an MSDT. He learned to dive on holiday and decided to become a diving instructor. I've dived with him and he is horrendous. All he did was dive at the same site to log the bare minimum dives to be signed off - he has minimal experience yet he is a Master Scuba Diver Trainer! The fact he is now qualified to teach others scares the living bejesus out of me. That is why I suggest you learn to dive for pleasure before considering it as a career.
When you think about it, they will have been up at stupid o'clock to get to work, they will have been humping kit about, and at the end of the day when we are in the bar, they will be humping more kit and filling cylinders. Then they go home, have a shower, and go to work in a bar. Although I don't get to dive daily in blue seas, I manage to get enough diving in, both in the UK and a couple of overseas holidays. More importantly, I go where I want rather than the same site to teach skills on the seabed or training platform. I am able to save money and have a pension scheme so I will be comfortable in retirement. I doubt many of your average backpacking instructors have considered this.
On the other hand, there are plenty of diving instructors who love what they doing, many of whom will be on here. There are some that make a good living from diving, but these are generally those that are highly respected and can afford to name their price (such as tech diving instructors, those that have been on major expeditions, successful underwater photographers etc.) those with good business acumen, or those that have had a successful career outside diving and have the money behind them to do something they love rather than something that pays well. There are plenty of people who will work for peanuts and unfortunately, that drives down pay throughout the industry. Jobbing instructors are practically slaves in most cases.
I would not advise anybody who has never dived to pursue a career in diving - in fact I urge you to completely reconsider. Instead, go out and learn to dive, and get good at it. Only then should you think 'Can I make a living doing this?'. I would not do a degree in recreational diving - it sounds like a degree an employer would wipe his bum on, like sociology or media studies. Hospitality is a good suggestion. It is something that fits in well with the dive industry. Also, many hotels have in-house watersports facilities so knowledge of the hospitality industry along with diving experience could be useful.
What I ask you to do though is think of the students. Your career is not the important thing if you go for a career in diving. The important thing is the safety of your students. A novice diver should be able to assume that the person he hands his hard earned cash to is going to be able to ensure he is not only safe in the water during the course, but comes away from it with the skills and competence to look after himself when he is diving without the supervision of an instructor. I know somebody who is an MSDT. He learned to dive on holiday and decided to become a diving instructor. I've dived with him and he is horrendous. All he did was dive at the same site to log the bare minimum dives to be signed off - he has minimal experience yet he is a Master Scuba Diver Trainer! The fact he is now qualified to teach others scares the living bejesus out of me. That is why I suggest you learn to dive for pleasure before considering it as a career.
Actually, Mustard Dave, I have a fairly comfortable retirement/lifestyle. I'm happy that what worked for you, works for you. I'm not a backpacker. I don't earn peanuts. And I didn't inherit my wealth. What do they say about assumptions? I'll censor my own further comments "mate"
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