Why can't you make a living as an Instructor?

[bfw]

A very large majority of OW classes here in Sweden will be done with wetsuits.
It's hard to make money doing OW classes here as it is and the added expense of stocking a ton of rental drysuits to fit students is financial suicide for the majority of dive shops.
I'm glad I was able to do OW/AOW with a drysuit here years ago, but it is DEFINITELY not the norm.

Most people who go on to take further classes end up in a drysuit though, it's a must have here unless you want to limit your diving to the summer months only.

There are shops/instructors in Ohio who offer a dry suit option for OW, and I bet any dive shop would give that option to an OW student willing to buy a dry suit. In addition, there are probably a lot of people diving dry without any certification. I was at a DUI Demo weekend at a local quarry attended by over 200 people, and they were comping DM's and/or Instructors to get them to volunteer to accompany people trying out their suits who were not dry suit certified. As far as dry suit checkouts in a pool prior to arriving at the quarry went, it was don't ask/don't tell. At least 100 people (some of them friends of mine, dove dry for the first time in their lives with no more than a five minute briefing, and the DUI reps were taking direct orders for suits. I used a dry suit a few years before I eventually took an ice diving class that included dry suit certification.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

It's hard to make money doing OW classes here as it is and the added expense of stocking a ton of rental drysuits to fit students is financial suicide for the majority of dive shops.
I'm glad I was able to do OW/AOW with a drysuit here years ago, but it is DEFINITELY not the norm.

Most people who go on to take further classes end up in a drysuit though, it's a must have here unless you want to limit your diving to the summer months only.

The local shop 8 only teaches in dry suits, and they are doing quite well. Their con ed retention is far higher than the shops that don't. That to me is more sustainable than the one and done folks.

 

[Degenerate]

The local shop 8 only teaches in dry suits, and they are doing quite well. Their con ed retention is far higher than the shops that don't. That to me is more sustainable than the one and done folks.

Like I said, very happy I was able to do it with a shop that had drysuits for hire.
Sad truth is a lot of shops here don't because it's a pretty big expense and they can't handle that, diving is extremely niche here.
I see zero reason to dive a wet suit in our waters, but I can see how it makes sense financially for shops here.

 

[Guille G]

You mean me, specifically? Well, because I am not trained as an instructor nor do I want to be. Others make a fine living in the scuba industry though - so implying that no one can is a bit of a stretch.

To be fair though, everyone I know who does well in the scuba industry is more than “just” an instructor, though I find it is a similar stretch as you would see in any career with people who take it seriously and have been at it for decades.

 

[bfw]

The local shop 8 only teaches in dry suits, and they are doing quite well. Their con ed retention is far higher than the shops that don't. That to me is more sustainable than the one and done folks.

No surprise there.
No one's going to learn to use a drysuit unless they're going to dive in cold water, and there's a higher retention rate among cold water divers for both diving and continued dive training. Cold water diving is more challenging, so it attracts a different type of person.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

No surprise there.
No one's going to learn to use a drysuit unless they're going to dive in cold water, and there's a higher retention rate among cold water divers for both diving and continued dive training. Cold water diving is more challenging, so it attracts a different type of person.

That's not entirely true. Some people who want to be comfortable. Part of the problem is shop monkeys telling them that lots of people dive in wetsuits, which is true and that they don't need to be in a dry suit, which is false. People who dive in wetsuits have a higher tolerance for cold and they are not sitting on their knees doing nothing, not generating any heat, like most classes around here.
The students really suffer. It works for the shops that rely on Groupons and selling mask, fins, and snorkels. But they have to be mills. Their con ed numbers are less than 10%


But this is a whole 'nother conversation.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

A very large majority of OW classes here in Sweden will be done with wetsuits.
It's hard to make money doing OW classes here as it is and the added expense of stocking a ton of rental drysuits to fit students is financial suicide for the majority of dive shops.
I'm glad I was able to do OW/AOW with a drysuit here years ago, but it is DEFINITELY not the norm.

Most people who go on to take further classes end up in a drysuit though, it's a must have here unless you want to limit your diving to the summer months only.

It’s like that here too in Northern California.
Most if not all OW is done in wetsuits and the water averages about 10 C (50 degrees). But that is year around, spring being the coldest since the winds come up and that brings up the ice cold Alaskan current from the depths. But during those times vis can soar.
In fact, I went from a wetsuit, to a drysuit, then back to a wetsuit. I decided that I really don’t like drysuits at all. For my type of diving they suck. I just use 7 mm suits and I’m fine.
I’m half Swedish and the other half eastern european so maybe that makes me tougher against cold, IDK?
Or maybe I’m just weird?

 

[Esprise Me]

I'd call you lucky! I too prefer wetsuits for a variety of reasons when the water is warm enough for me to stand it. But my cold tolerance is much less than yours, so I'm frequently in a drysuit even when the water is in the 60s. I can't imagine diving wet when it's only 50.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I'd call you lucky! I too prefer wetsuits for a variety of reasons when the water is warm enough for me to stand it. But my cold tolerance is much less than yours, so I'm frequently in a drysuit even when the water is in the 60s. I can't imagine diving wet when it's only 50.

I like my dry suit for 75 or less for long dives. A 3 hour dive? 80 degrees or less.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I'd call you lucky! I too prefer wetsuits for a variety of reasons when the water is warm enough for me to stand it. But my cold tolerance is much less than yours, so I'm frequently in a drysuit even when the water is in the 60s. I can't imagine diving wet when it's only 50.

We have a Norcal joke that we go down to Socal for our tropical dive getaways! Lol.
Those Southern California dive boats are the best.
That’s something we don’t have up here.
But we do have lot’s of great wine, if you’re into that?