bmaber
Registered
I am a PADI diver, and selected PADI for the high quality of their course material and the recognition. Even dive shops that teach other courses all know what you are talking about if you say you are PADI AOW. My problem is the way PADI sells "careers in diving" and the way some dive shop owners use their DM and instructors as free labor. As a rule any job that is a lot of fun does not pay well, but in diving it appears to boarder on kind of slave trade. I only know of one branch of professional diving that pays well, and those jobs are some of the worlds most dangerous. To any young people just walking into a dive shop thinking of making a career of it -- I have some advise. Talk to a staff member who has worked for three years or more with this dive shop/operator. Find out how they are paid, now subtract any cost the dive shop expects you to shoulder, like equipment and lessons and ask yourself is that enough money to live on for three years? If the shop/operator has no one who hung around three years, ask yourself if you will too.
It is not just the employees who are victims, In my experience, four out of five dive shop or dive operators with more than three years into this game are very very excited about the idea of selling their business.
On one hand, OK so the industry is run by a bunch of broke SCUBA bums so what? Perhaps diving means more than money, whats the harm of doing what you love? To them I say nothing is wrong as long as you go into it with your eyes open and that is what you really want. Also as long as you can work day to day where you are responsible for peoples lives and safety, without compromising that safety to get your next meal. I can understand the temptation for a dive shop not to retire some old regs and BCs or fix that compressor problem when the kids need braces and the rent is due.
What do you think? Have I got it right or have I just run into the wrong people?
It is not just the employees who are victims, In my experience, four out of five dive shop or dive operators with more than three years into this game are very very excited about the idea of selling their business.
On one hand, OK so the industry is run by a bunch of broke SCUBA bums so what? Perhaps diving means more than money, whats the harm of doing what you love? To them I say nothing is wrong as long as you go into it with your eyes open and that is what you really want. Also as long as you can work day to day where you are responsible for peoples lives and safety, without compromising that safety to get your next meal. I can understand the temptation for a dive shop not to retire some old regs and BCs or fix that compressor problem when the kids need braces and the rent is due.
What do you think? Have I got it right or have I just run into the wrong people?
... of course I agree with some of the individual nit-picks. But even Walter teaches diving, last I check that's what PADI teaches. It's fun to draw attention to the few differences, but most instructors who use PADI materials and methods have a similar aim - to teach safe scuba diving, to share our beloved sport with others who will hopefully keep diving for life.
