So you want a career in scuba diving, but not necessarily teaching?
No problem, there are lots of ways to be a scuba dive professional. Some are exciting and some really cool, we’re all individuals with different strengths and interests. There are jobs for all ages, and many use other life-skills that you picked up along the way.
We’re here to get you thinking about your options. While not all of these suggestions require you to be an instructor, the more qualified and experienced you are, the more likely you are to get the job.
Think of this as a tree with lots of branches going to different career paths. The trunk is the starting point and that’s becoming a scuba instructor. Then as you grow and develop, you branch out into your chosen field.
Equipment Technician – a career option for scuba instructors with a mechanical leaning
For those with a practical mechanical leaning, Equipment Technician is a well paid, essential service that keeps our dive industry running. Being able to go out onto a liveaboard and fix a broken compressor, service tanks and tank valves, look after and repair rental equipment, or maintain and service Nitrox delivery systems. These services are highly skilled and highly sought after. You don’t have to be an instructor to do this, but it is a natural progression for some instructors.
I taught an instructor 6 years ago who was a truck mechanic before changing career to work as a dive professional. After 6 years of travelling the world teaching scuba, he has found his niche as the only Equipment Technician on the busy island that he works on. He services all the dive gear on the island, the compressors and the tanks and keeps the island’s scuba industry operational.
Photographer / Videographer – a career opportunity for the more artistic PADI instructor
This is a common progression route for scuba instructors. As we become more confident and capable in the water it’s common to want to record what we see. Sometimes this is for ourselves, or maybe it’s an extra source of income, selling photos to our customers.
However it starts, a reasonable camera along with a basic understanding of white balancing and lighting can soon become a new career direction. Add this to a working knowledge of good posting practices on social media and you become very employable.
Check out the work of this videographer: https://www.instagram.com/wediditourway/
Safety Diver – a little known career option for scuba instructors
Safety divers are the behind-the-scenes guys and girls who make sure the stars are able to do their job safely. Always off camera or out of sight, these are the people ready to act if anything goes wrong, or sometimes more pro-actively making sure that things go right.
They can be in pools assisting circus stars or NASA astronauts, on the surface during water shots in the latest movie, or underwater with spare equipment for underwater action.
Check out this story on the PADI Blog about being a Safety Diver with Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas
Dive Centre Manager – a career opportunity for experienced scuba instructors
Running a successful dive centre is a busy job. You have courses going on, boats going out, equipment rental and maintenance, tank filling and stock management. Then you have the personnel to manage – instructors, students, captains, fun-divers, guides, office staff and sales staff.
The job requires a calm organised personality, and life-skills learned along the way can definitely make a big difference. While you don’t have to be an instructor to do this job, it is difficult to help instructors to meet performance requirements and do a great job of teaching if you haven’t been there yourself. Dive centre managers often have a few years of teaching experience under their belt, which enables them to support newer instructors as they develop.
Marine Archaeologist
This is a rather specialised job, and requires an investment of time and energy to become appropriately qualified in the field of archaeology, but if this is your passion then why not do it underwater?
The job requires amazing buoyancy, the ability to multi-task underwater, and infinite patience – archaeology is a slow study. Becoming a Divemaster is essential as it teaches you the necessary buoyancy skills and calmness underwater. Becoming a PADI instructor helps to re-enforce those attributes.
Check out this story on the PADI Blog about being a Marine Archeaologist
Liveaboard Cruise Director – a great career for instructors who have worked on liveaboard boats
Running a liveaboard boat requires good communication skills, a calm easy manner, the ability to deal with problems as they arise (and they will) and a good amount of charm and personality.
As with a Dive Centre Manager job, you are dealing with both logistics and personnel, but without the luxury of being able to call on local tradesmen to fix things until you get back to port. You need to be able to improvise, think on your feet, and get the most out of the crew that you are working with.
On the plus side, good planning and regular maintenance will reduce the number of things that you have to deal with, and most trips will go smoothly if you meet them with a smile. You get amazing diving with an ever changing group of enthusiastic divers, meals cooked for you every day and a bit of autonomy to run your boat the way you want to. What’s not to love?
Golf Ball Diver
This post on facebook says it all. You too can be a golfball hero!
We’re looking for a golf ball rescuer to start immediately.
Personal dive equipment with a dry suit is required. Tanks will be provided.
These cute little golf balls are all non-swimmers and are waiting to be rescued. For each ball rescued, there’s a reward. Plus, every retrieval is a win for environmental conservation. Win-win – and you decide how many balls to save each day! We currently need reinforcements for our recovery team on several golf courses across Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Become the hero lost golf balls dream of! They’re waiting eagerly to be pulled back into the light. Due to the climate, it’s a race against time. And if you’re interested, there are options to continue with us worldwide!
Jobs that you can do as a scuba instructor? I think we found a few!
Hopefully this got you thinking about options and possibilities.
If you would like more information about becoming a Divemaster or Scuba Instructor, then we’ll be happy to help.
