If you're not willing to take the long days the same as you take the short days you're going to be disappointed with any job

you miss the point completely. sure, you never going to be satisfied as a mediocre PADI instructor but nobody told you cannot become the top 5%..

I totally get it . Repetitive work and you get burnt out

yeah good choice because you are young and you have a lot of road to travel. when i started scuba diving at age 40ish I already had a stable career as a design architect and being a contractor on the side. I became an instructor three years after I got first certified as a diver which was an unexpected turn then started this path teaching on the side. Now as an Instructor Trainer and Course Director 9 years later I am still teaching not only on a beginner level but instructor level as well and molding them on ways to teach their courses. And yes I am already retired from my day job 5 years ago and just doing what I love the most which is teaching scuba diving.

No it's not, that back room work cleaning out Kit and New people. I'll tip my hat to these people who are.

Young people stop teaching because they come to a time where they realize they need to start "adulting". Lots of older divers become instructors when they are done "adulting" and want to be young again and have a care-fee life again.

I always wanted to be a dive instructor...I have a good job I love now ... but still think about being an dive master/instructor... if I decide to keep working to that path.. I'll probably do it part time... since I live 3 hours away from good diving. I don't think it's all about the money for me, it's about the passion and giving knowledge to new divers and getting more involved with the sport

So what are you doing now?

Good reasons, its a big responsibility. I like your sea shepherds shirt.

This is funny, we stopped using touristy dive shops too, we don’t teach, but we dive, and it always seemed like their wasn’t enough instructors or safety divers per group, and we dont wanna see anyone hurt so we used a lot of our personal time, just watching and making sure no one was hurt, some divers was never in open water but on that trip, it became to much and wasted to much time, now we hire local divers for guides if required, it’s actually better to find dive groups in country, and build communication up and relationships while planning the dive, it’s a win win, ❤❤❤I hope you didn’t quit diving as a whole, if you did you probably won’t be able to stay away for long 😂

I have been teaching Scuba for 38+ Years (SSI), 30 years (SDI/TDI). Im in Colorado, USA. I have been diving since 1977. I started teaching in 1983. I started teaching when I was around 19/20, I just turned 60. I For the most part I have been a part time career instructor. (I still am involved at the dive shop between 30-40 hours per week.-- Part time ha ha ). I certify approximately 100-150 students per year. I did manage a dive shop for 3 years and attempted to buy it.... long story.

And I just got into watching your videos. Good luck in your future endeavors.

As someone that has made the dive industry a career for 30 yrs after getting out of the military so long ago it really bugs me when I see instructors like you reach this decision, and frankly most do. My observation regards resort instructors (and was one for 5 yrs in Cayman) is that most do about 2 yrs, then the next big drop is at 5 years. Most that do the 10 it's more that you see do longer.

I never started teaching for several reasons. #1 I checked out liability insurance for instructors. They told me I would have to keep it FOR LIFE in case any of my past students ever had an accident! #2 Many people see diving as a daredevil/kamikaze/extreme sport and take bizarre chances. I put my life on the line too many times to save idiots. #3 Dive companies were selling equipment and dive tours to people who were an accident waiting to happen.

Thank you for the shout out! Proud of you for making the decision that’s right for you. Now let’s see more of that freediving/boatlife 😍

Can you please make a ship wreck dive video?

One thing I've been wanting to look into is possibly teaching or being a dive master part time. I work in a career job and don't "need" the extra money, as much as I need to get in the water. Life is so busy, I think that if I could become a dive master or assistant instructor, it would keep me focused on getting in the water more often.

I became an instructor back in 2019, worked until COVID and then stopped.

If you wanna have fun diving, and see interesting places and beautiful marine life, the last thing to do is become a scuba diving instructor. The dirty little secret of the industry is that the pay is peanuts (this actually isn't so secret...just go read the Scuba Board forum). The hours are long and the work is grueling; and 60% of the time you'll be teaching totally green, nervous, and panicky (sometimes even non-swimmers) Discovery Scuba Diving walk-ins and Open Water students. The next 20% will be AOW students, the the last 20% all the other gimmicky courses most dive agencies sell. Of course, all this work for low pay will leave little time, or money, for your own diving and travel. The only ones who make real money in the scuba industry are the dive shop owners, some sectors of the liveaboard industry, and of course the dive certifying agencies themselves, who are happy to take your hundreds of dollars in annual dues, while providing precious little of value in return!

I always keep it as part time job and for fun