Advice about going pro in the Scuba Industry

I really love diving and want to turn it into a career. I am still
doing research before I make the plunge. What is the best PADI school
for your IDC? Is Utilla better than Prodive in Ft. Lauderdale?

What kind of jobs do you get when you go all the way through to
instructor? My ideal job would be working in a resort in the Caribbean
preferrably on a dive boat. I could even wait tables on the side if I
had to until I got the right job.

My instructor said that divemasters stay "bent" all the time. Is that
really true and wouldn't that be really damaging to their body?

Any advice or experience you have in this area would be appreciated.
Thanks.

ECUDiver wrote:
> I really love diving and want to turn it into a career. I am still
> doing research before I make the plunge. What is the best PADI school
> for your IDC? Is Utilla better than Prodive in Ft. Lauderdale?

Don't know if it matters. Maybe job placement might.

> What kind of jobs do you get when you go all the way through to
> instructor? My ideal job would be working in a resort in the Caribbean
> preferrably on a dive boat. I could even wait tables on the side if I
> had to until I got the right job.

Good luck. And you would most likely have to wait tables and do dishes
in order to make a living.

> My instructor said that divemasters stay "bent" all the time. Is that
> really true and wouldn't that be really damaging to their body?

DM's do a lot of the "grunt" work that instructors don't want to do. I
guess it is their way of "it rolls downhill" for them. When they were
DM's they too were "slaves". Now that they are free to "own" the
"slaves" they make them work.
As for being "bent".... not likely. Remember, it is the DM's that do the
grunt work while the instructor tries to hit on the female students.

> Any advice or experience you have in this area would be appreciated.
> Thanks.

The pay is terrible. The benefits aren't that great. Get a REAL job and
instruct/DM on the side. All those wonderful PADI pics of the "careers"
in professional diving are bogus. It's tough work, low pay and low benefits.

Thus spake "ECUDiver" <kabluton@yahoo.com> :

>I really love diving and want to turn it into a career. I am still
>doing research before I make the plunge. What is the best PADI school
>for your IDC? Is Utilla better than Prodive in Ft. Lauderdale?

It depends on what you want out of it. I did my IDC with a guy by the
name of Ralph Ericsson. Of course, I didn't need anything else
besides the instruction.

>
>What kind of jobs do you get when you go all the way through to
>instructor? My ideal job would be working in a resort in the Caribbean
>preferrably on a dive boat. I could even wait tables on the side if I
>had to until I got the right job.

I'm a security consultant. I bill my clients $75 an hour and they
line up to pay for it. That's enough to pay for my "hobby" as an
instructor.

>
>My instructor said that divemasters stay "bent" all the time. Is that
>really true and wouldn't that be really damaging to their body?

Your instructor knows not where he speaks of. I'd find another
instructor.

>
>Any advice or experience you have in this area would be appreciated.
>Thanks.

I've been teaching for 10 years, now. At $25 a student through the
local shop, it takes a lot of classes to cover insurance and
membership, never mind trying to make a living. As a DM on a boat,
you might make enough to not starve.

You'll find that you may have trouble getting a job in the Caribbean,
as most countrie want jobs to go to their people, first.

I'd forget about making it a career.

It also sounds like you are just starting out ("my instructor"). Take
some time to dive before you go off and do something "romantic" and
foolish. Is it really worth $700 a year to teach?

--
dillon

Women should be obscene and not absurd.

In article <1115671978.886842.49830@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups. com>,
"ECUDiver" <kabluton@yahoo.com> wrote:

> I am still doing research before I make the plunge.

We can always use another divemaster.

--
"When I have your wounded."*
-Major Charles L. Kelly, callsign "Dustoff",
refusing an order to leave a hot L.Z., July 1, 1964,
moments before being killed by a single shot.

I guess I should clarify some things. I have been diving for 3 years
now and am currently taking my PADI Rescue Diver. I know that I will
never get rich doing this but if I make enough to survive, that is
reward enough. I can think of a whole lot of things worse than getting
up every day knowing you are going to dive in the beautiful blue waters
of the Caribbean. I absolutely hate going to work in an office everyday
and believe that life is too short to do something for a living that
you don't enjoy. I have cash reserves that should allow me to live
pretty comfortably as long as I can make enough for room and board.

"ECUDiver" <kabluton@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1115731367.920081.268730@o13g2000cwo.googlegr oups.com...
> I can think of a whole lot of things worse than getting
> up every day knowing you are going to dive in the beautiful blue waters
> of the Caribbean.

You'll be getting up every day to take others diving in the waters of the
Caribbean. There is a significant difference.

In article <v%6ge.1302563$Xk.354307@pd7tw3no>, slarson@shaw.canada
says...
> I suppose if you don't mind living in a hovel with 3 or more other starving
> DM's, you'll be fine.

you'll also clean marine heads, clean bilges, scrape barnacles and
paint, put new paint on, load/unload/fill endless tanks, deal with
people who can't clear their ears, etc.

"ECUDiver" <kabluton@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1115731367.920081.268730@o13g2000cwo.googlegr oups.com...
> I guess I should clarify some things. I have been diving for 3 years
> now and am currently taking my PADI Rescue Diver. I know that I will
> never get rich doing this but if I make enough to survive, that is
> reward enough. I can think of a whole lot of things worse than getting
> up every day knowing you are going to dive in the beautiful blue waters
> of the Caribbean. I absolutely hate going to work in an office everyday
> and believe that life is too short to do something for a living that
> you don't enjoy. I have cash reserves that should allow me to live
> pretty comfortably as long as I can make enough for room and board.
>

I suppose if you don't mind living in a hovel with 3 or more other starving
DM's, you'll be fine.

For example, the ex-pat DM's on Roatan that I have met, are almost all
living in group situations and almost all have a second job working as
waiters, bartenders, etc.

If you have cash reserves, why not just take an extended vacation
(sabbatical) somewhere and go dive every day for pleasure. After a while,
you may find that you are ready to get back to home and office. If you find
that the lifestyle actually suits you, you can look to getting your DM
training there.

"Al Wells" <al.wells@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1ceae21fcd876e5a989765@news.verizon.net.. .
> In article <v%6ge.1302563$Xk.354307@pd7tw3no>, slarson@shaw.canada
> says...
> > I suppose if you don't mind living in a hovel with 3 or more other
starving
> > DM's, you'll be fine.
>
> you'll also clean marine heads, clean bilges, scrape barnacles and
> paint, put new paint on, load/unload/fill endless tanks, deal with
> people who can't clear their ears, etc.

Yes, it's all so romantic.

"chilly" <slarson@shaw.canada> wrote in message
news:O89ge.1302957$Xk.598996@pd7tw3no...
>
> "Al Wells" <al.wells@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:MPG.1ceae21fcd876e5a989765@news.verizon.net.. .
>> In article <v%6ge.1302563$Xk.354307@pd7tw3no>, slarson@shaw.canada
>> says...
>> > I suppose if you don't mind living in a hovel with 3 or more other
> starving
>> > DM's, you'll be fine.
>>
>> you'll also clean marine heads, clean bilges, scrape barnacles and
>> paint, put new paint on, load/unload/fill endless tanks, deal with
>> people who can't clear their ears, etc.
>
> Yes, it's all so romantic.

Chicks dig 'em.