Requirements for a career in Scuba Diving.?

Question

An instructor or a guide.

Can anyone give me a rough outline as to the cost / time / amount of dives / age / education needed as I know little of what the job actually entails.

I'm 17 and have done 41 dives in total, and am thinking of becoming an instructor but the cost seems a little scary because, for the moment, my pockets are pretty empty.

Also I think I need more experience before I can even attempt to get the license, in age and more dives.

Any advice / answers are appreciateed, thanks.

Answer 1

My friend went to college for scuba diving. i think it was in the fla keys. im not sure if its considered a trade school or whatever. he lives in key west now and is a dive master for tours and stuff like that.

u could allways join the military and be a diver. navy army and coast guard all have them. you will learn underwater welding, salvage, and other things  

Answer 2

All certification agencies require that an applicant be certified to at least the level of Divemaster and/or Assistant Instructor before participation in an Instructor training program.

Below is from TSI/SDI.

"The SDI Instructor Course will teach current Divemaster or Assistants Instructors the knowledge to safely function as an SDI Instructor with the abilities to teach SDI Open Water Scuba Divers, Advanced Adventures Divers, Rescue Divers, Divemasters and Assistant Instructors. The program is divided into 2 sections, an Instructor Development Course (IDC) and an Instructor Evaluation Course (IEC).

The IDC teaches you how to;

Schedule course

Successfully market scuba

Properly teach and design academic and in water sessions

Effectively utilize assistants.

The IEC evaluates everything you learned during the IDC.  This is typically a two day evaluation process and evaluates your abilities in:

Preparing and teaching academic sessions

Knowledge of subject matter

Pool/confined water lessons

Open water lessons

Emergency management abilities "

The course lengths vary and are dependent on criteria set forth by the certification organization's standards and procedures.

The courses are taught by Instructor trainers or Course Directors.

Cost of the courses also vary anywhere from $1,000.00 or higher.  Some stores offer payment plans or may direct you financial aid assistance.  I have known people to get assistance through the Veteran's Association and have even seen those with American Indian/native Alaskan from their tribal education grants.  The prices are controlled by the Scuba training facilities that offer the courses.

There are many certification agencies out there and I would compare them to make sure that they can meet your needs.

My original scuba instructor course was through PADI eons ago and ran 12 days.

The minimum agae is 18 for all of the certifyings agencies I believe and most require a minimum number of logged dives prior to enrollment as well as a minimum number of logged dives prior to receiving your instructor's certification.  I seem to remember 60 dives as an entry requirements and 100 dives as an exit requirement.  Upon certification  Instructor liability insurance is required prior to actually accepting and training students.

I am currently in my 25th year of teaching and  (knock wood) haven't regretted it as a career.