{"id":4350,"date":"2022-09-02T06:17:59","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T13:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nadivers.com\/?p=4271"},"modified":"2022-12-05T21:40:29","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T04:40:29","slug":"everything-you-need-to-know-about-becoming-a-professional-scuba-diver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nadivers.com\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-becoming-a-professional-scuba-diver\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything You Need to Know About Becoming a Professional Scuba Diver"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Deciding to become a professional scuba diver, or a PADI Pro, is one of the most exciting choices you could ever make \u2013 but it\u2019s a big commitment, too! Even as a hobby, diving is physically and mentally challenging; when you\u2019re a Pro, you\u2019ll be the one coaching others through their own challenges. You need to be prepared to develop yourself as a person and a professional but to do this properly, you also need the right training and support…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Divemaster (or \u2018DM\u2019)<\/u><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Divemaster qualification<\/a> is the first step on the Pro ladder. Once qualified as a divemaster, you can lead certified divers on \u2018fun dives\u2019 and assist instructors with training new divers. To do this, you\u2019ll need to take the PADI Divemaster Course, and have a few other milestones under your belt, too: you need to have 40 logged dives before you even start the course, and to qualify, you\u2019ll need at least 60. Think of these as the minimum <\/em>requirements \u2013 the more time you spend in the water, the more experience you gain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re seriously planning on making a living as a pro, it might seem tempting to try to rush through the Divemaster<\/a> course to get certified and begin working. Hold your bubbles! The best pros out there know that \u2018time in the water\u2019 is the best teacher there is, and you need as much experience as you can get when you\u2019re first starting out. Many dive centres offer \u2018Divemaster internships\u2019, which are long-term programmes (from a month upwards) where you will be involved in the day-to-day mechanics of the centre while completing your own Divemaster training in stages. While this sounds like you\u2019ll be working for free \u2013 or most likely, paying to work \u2013 it\u2019s well worth investing the time and the money in a reputable centre that will train and mentor you well, as well as giving you solid hands-on experience with customers. Be wary of centres that offer \u2018free internships\u2019, as you might end up working more than you bargained for, while the promised training gets forgotten about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Open Water Scuba Instructor (or \u2018OWSI\u2019)<\/u><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To become an instructor<\/a>, you\u2019ll need to have the Divemaster qualification and at least 100 dives to begin with. By this point, you should also have invested in your own equipment, if you didn\u2019t already for your Divemaster. Qualifying as an instructor means taking the Instructor Development Course (IDC)<\/a> and passing the Instructor Exam (IE). If you\u2019re serious about becoming an instructor, it\u2019s worth looking for a centre that offers an IDC \u2018prep\u2019 course as well, especially if it\u2019s been a while since you finished your Divemaster \u2013 an IDC prep course will cover the basics of dive physics and physiology to refresh your mind before you really get to the good stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it might seem daunting at the time, you should also be thinking about what you\u2019re going to do after you pass your IE \u2013 this is your career, after all! It\u2019s really good to be as versatile as possible in what you can teach, and this is where the PADI Instructor Specialties come in. When you\u2019re choosing your IDC centre, see if they offer a package that includes some training after<\/em> your IE, like a couple of specialty courses, which will set you up well when it comes to looking for jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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MSDT<\/u><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most instructors will go on to become a Master Scuba Diver Trainer<\/a>, or \u2018MSDT\u2019. There\u2019s no course or exam for this, but you\u2019ll need to have passed some more milestones in order to apply for the rating. You\u2019ll need to have certified at least 25 PADI divers and be able to teach five specialties, which means you need to pass the requirements for five PADI Specialty Instructor courses. An ideal way of doing this and <\/em>gaining experience, while teaching enough students to certify, is an MSDT internship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the Divemaster internship, the MSDT is a longer-term programme where you\u2019ll work side-by-side with instructors to gain hands-on teaching experience. Again, this can be a big (financial) commitment, but it\u2019s a sure-fire way of becoming confident in your skills before you walk into your first paid employment as a pro. If you like the centre you did your IDC at, see if they have any options for staying on for a couple of months. If you think it\u2019s time to move on, do some research and see which specialties you\u2019d really like to teach \u2013 there\u2019s lots to choose from! Not every dive centre will be able to offer all of them, however, so when you\u2019ve decided, make sure you find a centre in a part of the world that can accommodate you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becoming a PADI Pro<\/a> is a great adventure, so don\u2019t rush it. Experience comes with good training, opportunities to practice, and above all, time in the water! Take the time to build yourself a solid foundation as a diver, prepare to develop your knowledge and your skills every day, and be proactive in making sure you get the support you need. You\u2019re not only investing in your future, after all \u2013 there\u2019s a generation of new divers out there waiting for you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deciding to become a professional scuba diver, or a PADI Pro, is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[178,162,167,23],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nadivers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/pexels-diego-sandoval-4767081.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nadivers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4350"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nadivers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nadivers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nadivers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nadivers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4350"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nadivers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5244,"href":"https:\/\/nadivers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4350\/revisions\/5244"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nadivers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nadivers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nadivers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nadivers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}