Where to move as a Dive Instructor?

[LordHavoc]

My real job situation is freelance work from home with sometimes travel. I was living in the New York area but now due to remote work, I can live anywhere in the USA. For 2023, I want to do my SDI instructor certification. Because I am able to live anywhere in USA by mid 2023, I want to live where it is cheap and where I can build a good student community. I do not want to teach with a shop and will chose to teach independent with small gear sales. I look at a few places to move. Please remind me what you think.

Florida: This looks like the only place where dive people make money. Dive shop is all over.

Michigan and Great Lakes area: I dont like hot climate so this is better, cheaper. Great Lakes diving is good too. Is there future to build a good diving student community?

South Carolina: Cheap place to live. Close to NC diving and Florida diving.

Those who live here please let me know your thinking. If there is any other place I can look at then please tell me too.

Thanks a lot.

 

[RobPNW]

I'm interested what people say about Florida because I have considered relocating there as retirement approaches. My big concern is living close enough to the ocean to dive weekly but I'm worried about going broke paying for home owner's insurance.

 

[Marie13]

Do you LIKE cold water diving? No use to move here if you don’t like cold water.

 

[Marie13]

@Tracy

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Insurance has been going up and up. It's just one of the reasons I retired from teaching. As to where to locate to start teaching, there's way more to it than just getting some students. Unless you plan to not teach OW students and focus on specialty and advanced classes, you'll need a pool if you're not teaching where it's warm.
That can be a massive expense if you don't form a relationship with a facility that has one. And finding one that will even allow you to bring students and gear in. I was fortunate the last 10 years or so having virtually unlimited access at low cost to the only indoor heated pool dedicated to scuba training in my area at very low cost.
I looked into using a local high school pool. $500 per 3 hour session. I had to cover the cost of the pool use plus a lifeguard, maintenance man, and security guard. For a while the shop pool I was using was down and I simply did not take OW students on.
Then you have to think about if they will allow you in and the cost is reasonable, is there a shop or instructor already using it. If so, do they have a contract that gives them say over when they can get in? Can they preempt you? Or are they just pricks who will try to make it difficult for you.
If you have the gear issue covered (have enough and have the extra insurance to cover renting to students) where are you getting fills? Using your own compressor? Better have the extra shop coverage.
If you are lucky you may find an intelligent shop willing to work with independent instructors and not screw you over on gear, wanting to process your certs through the shop, let you set your own rates, and give you access to a pool.
Those are few and far between. Very few and very far.
If you can solve those issues, what kind of schedule do you want to keep? Fixed or flexible.
The latter is better.
And if you can focus on con-ed students rather than OW, you can make more money and have to give up less time.
Great Lakes region is mainly cold water in some places year round. There are smaller quarries where it does warm up in the summer. But if you plan on doing checkouts in the Great Lakes or early/late in the season you'll need 7 mil suits or drysuits for students. Some will freeze their students in 5mm's or make the dives the minimum 15-20 minutes and get in and get out quick. And the students look like it.

 

[LordHavoc]

Do you LIKE cold water diving? No use to move here if you don’t like cold water.

I felt I would not like it because I was diving in 7mm wetsuit. Then I dived in Canada in drysuit and love it.

 

[Marie13]

I felt I would not like it because I was diving in 7mm wetsuit. Then I dived in Canada in drysuit and love it.

Are you really into wrecks and little to no marine life on them? I’m very passionate about our wreck diving here. Drives me bats when people can’t be bothered to do any research on wrecks before diving them.

I’m a MI native. Would move back, but no jobs for my industry. Dive a lot in WI these days. The Straits are my favorite place to wreck dive. But you have to like cold, love the wrecks, and be willing to dive when the outside temps aren’t the best. I dive year round. Snow on the ground doesn’t matter.

 

[Tracy]

Michigan and Great Lakes area: I dont like hot climate so this is better, cheaper. Great Lakes diving is good too. Is there future to build a good diving student community?

There is a future to build a dive community, but I don't think there is demand for an independent instructor doing enough to cover fees and costs and an actual income. There are a dozen dive shops within an hour of my house. Most of them are struggling hard because there are a dozen dive shops within an hour of my house. I have a local shop I work with who has an indoor heated pool. He allows outside instructors to use it for no charge. His only ask is that the students purchase gear through him. He doesn't normally stock what I put students in, but he is a dealer for about everything and can usually order what I want. It is a good working relationship. I get a pool, he gets some gear sales.

 

[johndiver999]

I'm interested what people say about Florida because I have considered relocating there as retirement approaches. My big concern is living close enough to the ocean to dive weekly but I'm worried about going broke paying for home owner's insurance.

If you own the home, you don't need to buy insurance, but it does require attendance of church EVERY Sunday.

 

[RobPNW]

The need for a pool would be a serious hassle. Luckily, I know the local pool lifeguard supervisor and he told his folks it was okay for me to do equipment checks during the late night session on the down low. So it would be me in my scuba gear and little old ladies doing water aerobics. There was a strict, no underwater photography equipment, stipulation though