Where to move as a Dive Instructor?

[Cthippo]

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

No inland whale watching?

 

[SlugLife]

I'm certainly no expert. However, here's where I would start:

• Medium-Large to Large population centers.
• At least one dive-shop with a compressor.
• Nearby diving locations of some kind. Even if they're relatively unimpressive.

After that:

• Whether diving in a location is popular or not may not be the best metric for whether or not you could succeed or find work as an instructor. It's both possible that a highly-active market may be saturated, or an inactive-market may have a huge need.
• Check craigslist used gear in the area. The secret-sauce, is the amount of used-scuba-gear on CL will tell you about how many divers there are in any given area.
• Check for local job-listings for scuba-instructors. You may have to directly visit the websites of scuba-shops in the area, rather than browsing job-boards, because of how small the industry is. However 1-or-more listings looking for instructors may indicate unfulfilled demand in the area.

Maybe some of that is helpful, maybe not. Good luck with wherever this adventure takes you!

 

[Scraps]

The most prudent part of your plan is keeping your real job.

For me and almost all the instructors I know who don't own shops or boats, instructing is a side hustle or a retirement gig.

You may want to re-think your plan to be independent from the start. It is very hard to get traction as an independent instructor without a network that is built through affiliation with a dive shop or charter operator. Doesn't mean you can't do it, but you'll have to hustle to market yourself, which may be hard with a regular job. It may be better to get experience working for a shop, then go off on your own after you've established a reputation.

I can't offer any advice on where you'd be most happy, but if you have questions about the Florida Gulf Coast, send me a message.

Best wishes,

 

[lexvil]

The best way to make a million bucks as a scuba instructor is to start with 2 million $.

move someplace warm and connect with a shop since equipment sales aren’t a big part of the deal, think curaçao and dive bus sort of thing.

 

[boulderjohn]

you'll need a pool if you're not teaching where it's warm.

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.

You may want to re-think your plan to be independent from the start. It is very hard to get traction as an independent instructor without a network that is built through affiliation with a dive shop or charter operator.

All of the above information is good, and it points out why location is important. I will contrast where I live in Colorado with wintering in Florida to show the difference.

Colorado: An independent instructor in Colorado is viewed by dive shops as a competitor, and you will get no help from any of them in any way for any reason. (OK, there may be exceptions I don't know about.) Pool rental is either not possible or enormously expensive. You will have to carry and maintain a large inventory of gear to fit the various sizes of students you will have. You will need a compressor and tanks, and you will need a place to keep them. You will need a way of advertising for students. I am currently an independent, and I can do that because I now teach almost exclusively tech diving to students who have their own gear and do not need pool sessions. I am lucky enough to have a get relationship with the shop for which I used to work, and that takes care of gas fills.

Florida: There are lots of different shops all over the place, and that creates a surprising contrast to Colorado in terms of independent instructors. They see them as customers rather than competitors. They will assist with pool times and gear rentals, giving discounts to instructors for each. Dive charter boats will also offer discounts for instructors working with students. That makes it possible for an independent to work there. Unfortunately, there are so many that you would have a hard time doing more than a very part time business.

 

[boulderjohn]

I will address a separate difference between working for a shop and working independently. I worked for a shop that had me teaching on their instructor schedule and doing their technical diving instruction. We had differences on a couple of issues, including especially pay, both for regular classes and especially for technical classes. I left the shop but continued on good terms with them, which helped as described above.

When I left, that eliminated my ability to teach most recreational classes because I no longer had access to gear inventory or pool time. I focused on technical instruction and advanced classes that did not require pool work and for which students had their own gear.

As a result, I lost nearly all of my total income for recreational classes. I taught more technical classes than before because the shop's marketing for that was about nil, but not a lot more. The total result was that my gross income from scuba more than doubled when I went independent.

That should give you a clue as to what percentage of a course cost goes to the instructor. I rarely made minimum wage (back when it was about $7/hour) working for the shop. Frequently it was less than half of minimum wage. To give you an example, if I were teaching a trimix student and doing a dive to 270 feet for 2 hours, the shop wanted to pay me at the same rate it paid a recreational instructor for dive with students--$15.

 

[LordHavoc]

Thanks very much. This is good knowledge. I did my own research before I post and these comments prove what I previously also believe. It tells me to look at Florida. Bigger market, more divers, more dive sites etc.

 

[scubadada]

I've been diving year around in Boynton Beach, West Palm, and Jupiter. FL for a dozen years. Teaching and instruction seem very tight and competitive.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Thanks very much. This is good knowledge. I did my own research before I post and these comments prove what I previously also believe. It tells me to look at Florida. Bigger market, more divers, more dive sites etc.

Another thing to consider if you locate in an area where there's a high concentration of shops and instructors is you'll need to find some way to set yourself apart from the herd. Because I never taught to pay the bills, I was able to turn down those students who didn't want to spend 6 weeks training for open water. I could charge what was roughly double for advanced and specialties compared to others around me because I never taught to standards and left it at that. Always exceeded them and had requirements to earn every card. If that meant having to do an extra weekend of dives or an additional pool session, that's what it took.
You'll need to be able to explain in solid coherent terms why you teach the way you do and the difference it will make to your students.
I preferred not to teach basic open water. Advanced and specialty classes were more fun, took less time, and were much more profitable. I taught a private 5 day AN/DP class and the tuition and books alone was $1500 for the student. We shared lodging expenses and he paid for most of our dinners.
I took a week's vacation from work to do that class and got my vacation pay as well.
With the amounts I charged for something akin to advanced open water (425.00 per person, 650 for a private class) I didn't need to have more than the two students at a time max I taught.
If you don't do something to make your class standout, you'll have to charge what everyone else does and hope it's worth the time and effort you put in.

 

[SlugLife]

Another thing to consider if you locate in an area where there's a high concentration of shops and instructors is you'll need to find some way to set yourself apart from the herd. Because I never taught to pay the bills, I was able to turn down those students who didn't want to spend 6 weeks training for open water. I could charge what was roughly double for advanced and specialties compared to others around me because I never taught to standards and left it at that. Always exceeded them and had requirements to earn every card. If that meant having to do an extra weekend of dives or an additional pool session, that's what it took.
You'll need to be able to explain in solid coherent terms why you teach the way you do and the difference it will make to your students.
I preferred not to teach basic open water. Advanced and specialty classes were more fun, took less time, and were much more profitable. I taught a private 5 day AN/DP class and the tuition and books alone was $1500 for the student. We shared lodging expenses and he paid for most of our dinners.
I took a week's vacation from work to do that class and got my vacation pay as well.
With the amounts I charged for something akin to advanced open water (425.00 per person, 650 for a private class) I didn't need to have more than the two students at a time max I taught.
If you don't do something to make your class standout, you'll have to charge what everyone else does and hope it's worth the time and effort you put in.

SideMounting.com is a great example of the above. Obviously, he's been at this a while, and built up quite a library, however his videos are interesting, engaging, easy to follow, and he has a good number of them. He has also chosen a specific specialty, and focused on being really good at that specialty. Even though I'm reasonably comfortable SideMount diving, I would probably travel to take his class if I had the available time and budget.

To really set yourself apart, you may need to do something which shows why your classes are different, interesting, special, fun, etc. Perhaps something which would convince a person like me .... who finds the standard agency material really boring, and is hesitant to spend hundreds of dollars on a class, that I would really learn something from you specifically.

For me personally, I do like the idea of longer classes, bundles .... I'd rather spend $600 for "6 units" of training, than $300 for 2-units of training. Though that's just me, and I don't want to project too much (the market may be the opposite).