PADI Career

YourName

None of this CFT / PADI debates here, I'm just asking about PADI for the moment.

I'm not sure if I'm right in thinking that if you would like to work in the diving industry you could go down two routes, recreational and commercial, obviously both have their pros and cons, and one is better suited than the other for some people. However I am just wondering what it is like being a PADI Instructor, not owning your own Dive Shop or anything, but training up to be an instructor and working away, is the money any good? (Sounds very shallow of me, but is it survivable)

Maybe it is insiders info but it always intrigued me, does the dive centre or independent dive instructor have to pay PADI a certain amount every time they certify someone following doing a course, a percentage of the course price perhaps??? Or is there a membership that has to be paid by the instructor to teach???

All in all I am really just asking what a career in the PADI system (however flawed or unflawed it is) would be like??? Any instructors out there???

elcowboyspace

I suppose where there's a will theres a way and there are possibilities for anybody determined and willing to put the time and work in. In this country most PADI instructors are part time and hold other jobs. There are the lucky few who work at it full time but these would generally be the owners of more recognised clubs or diving centres/ resorts. If you are genuinely interested in diving and develop a passion for it then being an instructor can be quite rewarding. It's great to pass on the training and see new divers getting their certs and heading off to start their own diving life. IMHO if you are looking at getting into diving to replace your current full time job then I dont think the market is quite there at present. It could always pick up though....

tedshredsonfire

your name I am guessing in Ireland but most PADI instructors abroad would just survive on what they get and really appreciate tips etc if they are just acting as a guide with qualified divers etc. I think in Ireland you could end up doing ok as I think the sea is a much under utilized resource here but it would take a while to build up a business maybe lnger than a traditional business. I am just starting out having set up my own freediving business which is a niche but no one else is doing it and I think outdoor pastimes hobbies etc are growing so hopefully I am in at the ground floor. I htink you have to be innovative in seeing where the market is for it ie my market is not freeidvers as there are so few of us on the ground at present. Note, there were very few surfers on the ground 20 years ago.

denismc

To become a PADI instructor can cost upto 2k depending what level you are at and where you do your training. A lot of places allow you to do an internship to cover most of the cost.
To maintain your instructor status you have to pay a fee each year of about 150 euro.
The diving season in Ireland is short, 3-5 months but if you work somewhere more tropical you may get work all year round.

Most dive centres pay their instructors a wage, you may get extras like free diving and accomodation but you certainly won't get rich.

Also instructing and diving everyday can be pretty tiring so i think its a young persons game.
Saying all that, if you want to travel and meet people it is worth a go.

Denis

YourName

denismc wrote: »

To become a PADI instructor can cost upto 2k depending what level you are at and where you do your training. A lot of places allow you to do an internship to cover most of the cost.
To maintain your instructor status you have to pay a fee each year of about 150 euro.
The diving season in Ireland is short, 3-5 months but if you work somewhere more tropical you may get work all year round.

Most dive centres pay their instructors a wage, you may get extras like free diving and accommodation but you certainly won't get rich.

Also instructing and diving everyday can be pretty tiring so i think its a young persons game.
Saying all that, if you want to travel and meet people it is worth a go.

Denis

I never planned on getting rich quick with diving but if I could make ends meet then I feel it would be worth it. Of course you can have have bad days diving and teaching the same things over and over again but thats 100 times better than having an office job and having a bad day in fairness.

To become a commercial diver can cost up to 12k and to become a PADI PRO can cost 2k upwards, it does seem like a more favourable option if it suits your personality and lifestyle. So the E150 is the only fee you pay so the rest of the cost for a course goes to the instructor to pay for costs and to make a minimum living?

@elcowboyspace

Yes i noticed a lot of diving instructors in Ireland are part-time, however over the last while I have seen that diving in Ireland has grown and that is of course a positive trend. I just feel that passing on a skill would be a great feeling and that doing that at least once a week would make everything worthwhile in fairness

@tedshredsonfire

Bets of luck with your freediving venture. Of course anything is possible, and if you can offer the consumer the right product in the right way you can become successful, and diving is no exception, life is what you make it in fairness and if you think you can make ends meet doing something you love then why not give it a bash ! ! !

denismc

Generally if you are working for a dive centre they will just pay you a wage but if working for yourself then you can pay yourself more.
Costs to consider are; training materials like manuals, videos etc which you get from PADI.
You will also need equipment, transport,fuel, air fills, insurance, access to confined water which may be a swimming pool and you may need a divemaster depending on the size of the class.
The other big thing here is the weather, there will be a limited number of weekends where you can run courses.
I am not trying to talk you out of the idea, just trying to give you a heads up. So by all means go for it.
Denis

YourName

Brilliant thanks for the information DenisMc and all the rest, my plan is work towards it anyway, because I have a bit of a way to go before I get anywhere near the "PADI PRO", thanks for the info.

Gav104

Hi,

Im a PADI instructor in Puerto Galera in the Philippines.

Normally the first thing most people ask is what the pay is like and its not brilliant .I earn in a month here in Puerto Galera what id earn in a week in my old job in Ireland but with some sacrifices its enough to get by.Its a third world country so its cheap to live.You just need to live like a local not a foreigner .No one really becomes an instructor to make money.

However,they do become instructors so that they can live on a tropical island teaching people something that most of us are obsessed about in some of the most beautiful parts of the globe.Doing a job that I love in a place I genuinely believe to be one of the best in the world sure beats my old job in a garage on the N7.No offense to any N7 garage workers.

For me anyways, the pros far outweigh the cons.I think the quality of life it brings is massive and I know quite a few people who have quit good paying jobs to come live here and its normally for the dive industry (the drinking one being a very close second).Might be why they needed the good paying jobs.

Its not something that can be done forever but if your young like me go for it.

YourName

Gav104 wrote: »

Hi,

Im a PADI instructor in Puerto Galera in the Philippines.

Normally the first thing most people ask is what the pay is like and its not brilliant .I earn in a month here in Puerto Galera what id earn in a week in my old job in Ireland but with some sacrifices its enough to get by.Its a third world country so its cheap to live.You just need to live like a local not a foreigner .No one really becomes an instructor to make money.

However,they do become instructors so that they can live on a tropical island teaching people something that most of us are obsessed about in some of the most beautiful parts of the globe.Doing a job that I love in a place I genuinely believe to be one of the best in the world sure beats my old job in a garage on the N7.No offense to any N7 garage workers.

For me anyways, the pros far outweigh the cons.I think the quality of life it brings is massive and I know quite a few people who have quit good paying jobs to come live here and its normally for the dive industry (the drinking one being a very close second).Might be why they needed the good paying jobs.

Its not something that can be done forever but if your young like me go for it.

Thanks for a brilliant post, did you study and become certified as an instructor here in Ireland or did you do it all abroad??? Was it just a matter of wanting to live on a tropical island all along that brought you to living there or did you have no choice but to go to the Philippines to get a job??? I hear that when you become a pro you have access to the job listings on the PADI website and it is always full with jobs. Also do you have a second language, I am sure this is better when you are applying for a job but is it essential???

Gav104

I only took up diving in Feb 10 while in Puerto Galera .Dived in some other places and then by the end of May I was a DM and by the start of September I became an instructor with 200 dives so everything was done abroad while traveling.

I originally wanted a job somewhere in Malaysia or the Philippines to work as in my eyes for a few reasons its a very good place to work.So it was a combination of wanting to live in that particular area and chancing my arm to see if there are any jobs available after becoming a DM.I have to say I got very lucky in finding a job in the conditions I wanted.I see it as just graduating from college.You might not get the job you want at first and might have to take no pay for a while but you'll find something..... eventually.

Yes,there is a job section on the Padi pro site that becomes available once your a pro with many jobs coming up weekly.I didnt go down that route because I felt there was people far more experienced than me with as you mentioned other languages which like any job makes you more desirable.I just turned up to a shop as a customer at first,was nice to the people in charge and mentioned I was looking for a job and got lucky that another DM that was there was off work with a scorpion fish injury so I took his place.Good for me bad for him.I would say a good chunk of people find jobs in the business like this.

If you have any other questions fire away.I like answering anything to do with diving.

YourName

So with in 4 Months you went from a Try-A-Dive to a Dive Master, wow that is a great achievement, It does take a lot of money to do your Open Water, Advanced, Rescue and then the Divemaster course so you must have got fairly well hooked from day one to get your mind set on achieving that in 4 Months. How many dives did you get done within those 4 Months before you took the Divemaster course???

Did you become a DM because you wanted to live in Malaysia or the Phillipines and you felt that this would be a way to really enjoy the life over there, get an enjoyable job and live the life??? I.e. did you get the job to supplement the dream or did the dream supplement the job.

So in your opinion do you feel that there are jobs out there for a Divemaster and jobs out there for you to progress to Instructor level??? Or are they hard found, but still possible??? Because it takes a lot of money to get into Diving and to get to Divemaster or instructor level, would it be true that this means that not a lot of people go through it all, so there is always a need for DM and instructors even in this climate (The Financial one, not the sunny one you are in right now)???

So what does your average day consist of, do you wok in the shop half the day or a certain amount of days a week, how often do you dive / instruct??? And what are your plans to progress, and are they facilitated in the centre you are in now.

Gav104

I'd say I had 70 someting dives by the time I started my DM course and then 110 I think by the time I was finished it.

For me anyways it was 50/50,I wanted to live here and I wanted to dive alot so it seemed like a good idea.

There is openings out there but you have to search for them,its a desirable job so there is competion of places,having said that you will find a job but it takes time.I know of one guy who a few months back done his DM and Instructor course and couldn't get a job in the Philippines ...... or he did but felt it wasnt paying enough so hes back in Mallorca now working as a DM.

At the minute im not teaching today but still helping around the shop but ill be teaching for the next few days for the whole day pretty much so 8 till 5:30 perhaps.The shop im in now is a small dive shop so its not an IDC centre but having said that I dont plan to progress onto any further PADI qualifications .I dont feel its a good return of investment.

Where do you dive mostly now ? Ever dived in asia ?