Paid To Travel: Diving Instructor
Living Abroad as a PADI Instructor or Divemaster
A quick guide to a career in scuba diving. The differences between PADI divemasters, PADI instructors, and how to get paid to take people diving abroad.
If you’re looking to travel the world, and get paid to do it, few occupations are more exotic, healthy and enjoyable than that of a professional scuba diving instructor. Why slave away in a dingy office, when you can earn a living by the coast, enjoying year-round good weather, and constantly meeting and working with new people.
PADI Divemaster or a PADI Instructor
You can work in scuba diving as either a PADI Divemaster or a PADI Instructor depending on your level of certification. A Divemaster is qualified to assist certified divers and to lead them on diving trips. A PADI Instructor is qualified to train qualified and non-qualified divers on PADI courses from the basic open water certificate right up to Divemaster. Either way you’ll spend much of your time out at sea leading dives. When not actually diving, you’ll likely work in the dive school shop flogging scuba equipment to dive students.
Scuba Qualifications
To work in scuba diving you must be certified to the required level, however, this is something that can be achieved in a matter of months with the right PADI courses. You can advance from a basic open water qualification to PADI Divemaster in just three months, although courses can be spread out at your convenience.
To become a PADI Instructor you must have held a PADI licence for a minimum of six months and have completed the required course. Courses and equipment can cost several thousands dollars depending on where you study (south-east Asia traditionally being one the cheapest and most popular places to train), but you’ll soon pay it back when you start your new career.
Where Can You Work?
As a PADI Divemaster or PADI Instructor you can choose from among some of the word’s most exotic locations. Thailand, Egypt, Australia, and the Caribbean all have a hugely popular diving culture, and there are plenty of dive schools in the various resorts all continually recruiting dive staff. Your only real restriction when it comes to location is that you’ll need to live and work near the coast, or at least, near a swimming pool.
Scuba Salaries
Pay for PADI Divemasters and PADI Instructors is universally low but the job has numerous perks that many clearly believe make the job worthwhile. For example, you’ll get to dive all day long for free, a pursuit many spend thousands on every year. PADI Divermasters/instructors traditionally don’t pay for food and drinks in local bars and restaurants, and this, coupled with the often free accommodation means that you can save much of your salary. It’s also possible to make additional commissions from selling dive equipment and future dive trips.
If you do decide you want to make more money, a more lucrative diving career is that of a commercial diver. However, you’ll have to give up the warm currents, friendly clientele, and colourful coral in favor of altogether murkier waters.
For Information of work abroad websites and resources click here
Or find out how you can get paid to travel as a tour leader, tefl teacher or travelwriter.
