Recreational Diving Instructor/side gig

[narcosisjunky315]

Hey guys I’m eligible for post 9/11, G.I., Bill benefits through the VA and I see on the STI/TDI website that veterans are eligible for certain courses and certificates to be paid for with my benefits. One of them being FILL STATION ATTENDANT. How important is it to have that training when working for a shop? if I were to open up my own dive center should I shoot for ever single certificate/training module? Just kinda trying to see what’s important and what’s not.

Here a link for reference:

Veterans - Use your GI Bill to earn scuba certifications and licenses - International Training - SDI | TDI | ERDI | PFI

Are you a veteran or active service member who would like to learn to dive, build new skills, or become a dive industry professional? Now you can, using GI Bill® benefits!

www.tdisdi.com

 

[VikingDives]

I'd say no, you probably don't need it. Of the courses:

SDI Visual Inspection Procedures
Air Fill Station Technician
TDI Nitrox Gas Blender
TDI Advanced Gas Blender
SDI Equipment Specialist Diver
TDI Oxygen (O2) Equipment Service Technician

If you had your own rec-type shop, VIP would be useful, as would Nitrox and maybe O2 service. I'm assuming you're going to work as a DM, and instructor for someone else first, and you'll probably learn about fill stations along the way.

If you decide to take these courses, make sure you check to ensure there's an instructor who can teach them that will be accessible to you.

You can search for TDI instructors by state on the website.

If you really want to open your own dive center, and it seems like you do based on your post, I'd really recommend you spend a couple of years working for someone else first. Even better, manage a shop for someone or buy out an existing shop.

Starting from 0 is kind of brutal. Be prepared to spend years in the red.

 

[tursiops]

Hey guys I’m eligible for post 9/11, G.I., Bill benefits through the VA and I see on the STI/TDI website that veterans are eligible for certain courses and certificates to be paid for with my benefits. One of them being FILL STATION ATTENDANT. How important is it to have that training when working for a shop? if I were to open up my own dive center should I shoot for ever single certificate/training module? Just kinda trying to see what’s important and what’s not.

Here a link for reference:

Veterans - Use your GI Bill to earn scuba certifications and licenses - International Training - SDI | TDI | ERDI | PFI

Are you a veteran or active service member who would like to learn to dive, build new skills, or become a dive industry professional? Now you can, using GI Bill® benefits!

www.tdisdi.com

Absolutely. No good shop will let you fill tanks without proper training.

 

[Johnoly]

Just kinda trying to see what’s important and what’s not.

Important = The actual physical location building must be a legal school registered 'as an accredited school ' from that state's education board. Most dive shops don't have that accreditation. But some Florida shops have taken and completed that additional step. You can't submit those forms, the actual school must submit them. A couple of Florida IDC schools have been licensed for GI Bill courses. The ones that I know of are

* Eastern Academy of Scuba Education- Vero Bch (Deep 6)
* Dive Station Orlando (now closed)
* Pura Vida - WPB
* Sea Experience - Ft. Lauderdale
* Rainbow Reef - Key Largo (Dbl Chk?)

 

[VikingDives]

Important = The actual physical location building must be a legal school registered 'as an accredited school ' from that state's education board. Most dive shops don't have that accreditation. But some Florida shops have taken and completed that additional step. You can't submit those forms, the actual school must submit them. A couple of Florida IDC schools have been licensed for GI Bill courses. The ones that I know of are

* Eastern Academy of Scuba Education- Vero Bch (Deep 6)
* Dive Station Orlando (now closed)
* Pura Vida - WPB
* Sea Experience - Ft. Lauderdale
* Rainbow Reef - Key Largo (Dbl Chk?)

This is all mistaken. For the courses the OP is talking about, any TDI/SDI instructor can teach them.

There is a route for becoming an educational facility is a very complicated procedure for dive shops (what's referenced above), but in this case, it isn't necessary.

I spent about 5 minutes looking at the educational facility route before I nixed it. Too many hoops, and too little demand locally. The route that the OP is referencing is one where the student pays for the classes upfront and is reimbursed upon completion. I have one student working through this right now, and we are not an educational facility licensed by the state...

 

[berndo]

I'm not enitrely sure how the GI bill works (so there is that) but there is something simular in Germany. When you leave the army you can get job training type stuff and gear paid by the government.
If that's what it is, do not spend it on scuba classes or gear.
An instructor trainer that used to know sold losts of gear and training to ex army folk and basically scammed them by telling them how much money they would make and how good their career chances were. They all burned their job training time and budget on becomming scuba instructor and ended up doing some other job.
I'm not sure if that is what you're considering doing and I don't know if I'm talking out of my a$$ here but... but everytime I hear someone talking about opening a dive shop it gets me worried.
I'm just saying be careful and don't believe everthing you hear from people that sell instructor programs. Some of them are full of sh_t.

 

[tursiops]

I'm just saying be careful and don't believe everthing you hear from people that sell instructor programs. Some of them are full of sh_t.

 

[Robert H. Diver]

Do you already have a stable job or income source and want to do this on the side?

 

[narcosisjunky315]

Do you already have a stable job or income source and want to do this on the side?

Yeah, I have an established excavation company, 9 rental units, and a decent little Atm business. Im 35 years old and kind of getting burnt out on busting my ass. I took the winter off and went to Florida this year and hit the water hard. It made me want to change how I’m approaching the way I’m living. So I’ve been thinking about keeping the rentals and ATMs and just selling all my excavation equipment and starting over somewhere new. With my residual income from army disability percentage, ATMs and rentals I really don’t have to make a ton of money to survive.

 

[Robert H. Diver]

Yeah, I have an established excavation company, 9 rental units, and a decent little Atm business. Im 35 years old and kind of getting burnt out on busting my ass. I took the winter off and went to Florida this year and hit the water hard. It made me want to change how I’m approaching the way I’m living. So I’ve been thinking about keeping the rentals and ATMs and just selling all my excavation equipment and starting over somewhere new. With my residual income from army disability percentage, ATMs and rentals I really don’t have to make a ton of money to survive.

Ok good. Because you probably won’t make much at least for a while.