Teaching/operating dive shop as semi-retirement job?

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Seadog83

Registered
Messages
5
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Location
Halifax, Canada
# of dives
100 - 199
After ~10 years as a petroleum engineer, saving most of my money along side thrifty living, I've put enough away that I can basically pull a living wage from investments indefinitely. I never loved the work, super high stress, long hours, and no life beyond work which was priority #1 even above family etc.

I was always passionate about diving, and would love to take it to the next level, and am currently a DM with ~200 dives, and also started down the path of tech diving.

I have thought about becoming an instructor, but just about all my instructor friends have almost lost their diving spark if that makes sense. It's become a tiring job, 6 12 hr day, no money, and 8 months after completing my DM returning to the place I did it in Indonesia, I would say over half of the instructors had left.

Is there anyone out there who teaches purely for the fun of it, and not just becoming a cog in a machine where you need to work your ass off just to make rent? Simply from the observation of the huge turnover and listening to instructor friends complain, it just doesn't seem to be the sort of job people would do when theres no financial benefit.

The other option, and while I probably don't have the experience yet would be to buy into a dive shop or something along those lines. An acquaintance went that route, he is mid 40s, had lots of VP level jobs, but has zero interest in teaching, but is a silentish partner in an operation over there, and just goes over every couple months to do recreational tech diving.

Has any one else been in that position? How did it work out and what did you do?
 
From my perspective:

I don't teach full time I have my own business which pays the bills and sustains my scuba addiction.

I like to teach (and guide) for fun, I also like to dive without students and with friends of a similar level and experience.

One reason I chose to teach (amongst others) was for a change. Diving with my usual crowd, while fun didn't require much thought because everyone is really experienced. GUiding newer divers for instance give you a mental challenge because you need to be 110% alert all of the time.

I do love teaching, but I guess on my terms. I like to pick my courses and my time (as far as possible). I do enjoy when I give myself a week or 10 days full time at a dive centre. Its a fun place with a fun crowd.

But the flip side. It can be hard to get excited if you're in the pool most days with OW classes, or you learn how much you've aged after a few days humping tanks on and off a boat. It's long hours. You need to be at the centre early, and then often (if at a vacation destination) the customers like to hang out for a beer - and being social is part of diving. While the younger crowd can burn the candle at both ends, as you get older it becomes harder.

Could I do it 24/7. No way. I like to be able to return to my home desk and relax my body but also subject my brain to different mental challenges.

I like the best of both worlds and like to keep a balance (although it can be hard sometimes).

Suba can be alluring but you need to experience it full time to see if it's for you.

Running a centre? Not for me however I have a friend who's young and is a Course Director looking to buy her own centre somewhere nice. Having seen her operate I know she has the enthusiasm as well as understanding the Scuba business model (she's already build up one centre before it got sold) I would be happy to invest in that business as a "part time sleeping partner" But no way would I run one myself.

But that's just my perspective
 
I'm in a similar position and I've determined that owning is not for me. Too much like work, and the last thing I want is to turn fun into work. I work through a shop and teach on my own, but just enough so it remains fun.
 
It's funny because when my renewal for agency and insurance came up this year I thought I'd take a break from teaching yet fate was not going to let that happen. I started by accepting one request, then another, until now I am looking at one of my busiest seasons ever. I teach for fun, not for a living which means I can take my time and pride myself in a quality product. I've been teaching almost exclusively tech for about 15 years now and still love it.
 
Most (or all?) of the 16 or so instructors at the shop where I used to DM were part time, mainly weekends. Some taught more courses than others. None seemed burnt out and they all seemed to do pleasure diving as well.
This seems to be the case a lot of the time in North America anyway, as I've seen this situation in other shops. I guess that means the key is to be part time and not depend on the pay to pay the bills.
 
After ~10 years as a petroleum engineer, saving most of my money along side thrifty living, I've put enough away that I can basically pull a living wage from investments indefinitely. I never loved the work, super high stress, long hours, and no life beyond work which was priority #1 even above family etc.

I was always passionate about diving, and would love to take it to the next level, and am currently a DM with ~200 dives, and also started down the path of tech diving.

I have thought about becoming an instructor, but just about all my instructor friends have almost lost their diving spark if that makes sense. It's become a tiring job, 6 12 hr day, no money, and 8 months after completing my DM returning to the place I did it in Indonesia, I would say over half of the instructors had left.

Is there anyone out there who teaches purely for the fun of it, and not just becoming a cog in a machine where you need to work your ass off just to make rent? Simply from the observation of the huge turnover and listening to instructor friends complain, it just doesn't seem to be the sort of job people would do when theres no financial benefit.

The other option, and while I probably don't have the experience yet would be to buy into a dive shop or something along those lines. An acquaintance went that route, he is mid 40s, had lots of VP level jobs, but has zero interest in teaching, but is a silentish partner in an operation over there, and just goes over every couple months to do recreational tech diving.

Has any one else been in that position? How did it work out and what did you do?
Done exactly that. Retired from local telecom after 30 yrs, have pension. Income from teaching allows me to delay taking social security until age 70 so that payments will increase to maximum. At the LDS I pretty much make my own hours most days, teach both group classes and private (which pays better) and run trips to resort locations.
 
In the same boat, looking everywhere thru out caribbean for something to buy - small resort, dive shop even rental property. Boarding a plane home in three hours, always the worst part of a vacation
 
Some get to the point in their life where another dollar ain't worth the hassle - I'm betting money is meaningless in the afterlife
 
Just keep in mind that the best way to make a million dollars in diving is to start with 2 million.

You beat me to it Bert
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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