If you decide to become a professional scuba diver, ensure that you have made the most exciting choice ever, but it’s also a big commitment, because diving as a hobby is physically and mentally challenging, how about the one who coaches other divers through their challenges? You will need to prepare yourself to be developed as a person and a professional and to do that perfectly, You need the right training and support. Here, we will give you all the information you need to become a professional scuba diver.

Divemaster

On becoming a divemaster, you will be on your first step to become a professional scuba dive. Once you are qualified as a divemaster you will lead certified divers on their Dives and also assist instructors in their training sessions. And to be a certified divemaster, you must take the PADI divemaster course and also have a few milestones under your belt:

• You need at least 40 logic Dives before you enroll in the course.
• Before taking the certification, you will need 60 logic Dives as minimum requirements and always remember that the more time you spend in the water, the more experience you have.

If you decide on making a living as a divemaster, you must not waste your time and start the divemaster course to get certified and begin working.

Most professionals in diving know that your time in the water is the best teacher you will have because at first, you will need to gain experience as you can. 

You can choose dive centers that offer “divemaster internships” which consist of long-term programs where they will involve you in the day-to-day mechanics of their center while you are completing your own divemaster training on stages, too. 

It sounds like you will be working for free but it’s well worth to invest your time and money in a reputable center that will train and mentor you well, in addition to giving you a good experience with customers, but be aware of centers that offer free internships because you will find yourself at the end working more than you bargained for and with no training.

Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI)

Another way to become a professional scuba diver is to become an instructor. But in order to become a scuba instructor, you will need to have a divemaster certification first and at least 100 logged dives to begin with. 

And if you didn’t invest in your scuba diving equipment for your divemaster, you should do that now while becoming an instructor. And to be qualified as a scuba instructor, you must take the instructor development course (IDC) and pass the instructor exam (IE).

If you finished your divemaster a long time ago, it’s crucial to look for a dive center that offers an instructor development  ‘prep’ course. This ‘prep’ course will help you refresh your knowledge about the basics of dive physics and physiology before you start the IDC course.

It may seem difficult but you should also think about what you are going to do after passing the instructor exam. When it comes into your career it will be good to be as versatile as possible to know what you teach well. That’s why you should look for the PADI instructor specialties.

Choose a dive center that offers a package that includes some training after passing the instructor exam. You will need one of these speciality courses to set you up well when you look for a job.

MSDT

Another choice to become a professional scuba diver is to become a master scuba diver trainer. You will not need any courses or exams for this but you will have to pass some milestones to apply for the rating, including:

• To be able to teach about five diving specialities.
• To be certified at least 25 PADI divers.

This means that you need to meet all the requirements for those 5 PADI speciality courses. The best way to do that and gain experience as well is to get an MSDT internship.

The MSDT internship is very similar to the Divemaster internship in being a longer-term program. You will work side by side with your instructors to gain experience on teaching scuba diving. Although this will be a big financial commitment it’s your perfect way to be confident in your diving skills before you get employed as a pro.

If you are going to start your journey to become a professional scuba diver you need to think and do some research to see which are the specialities you would like to teach. There are a lot of choices, but not all that dive centers will offer them all, so after choosing the specialty, insur to find a dive center that can accommodate you.

After you become a professional scuba diver, there are great Adventures waiting for you. You will get your experience from the good training, the opportunities to practice what you have learned and above all, the time you spend in the water. 

Take your time in building a solid foundation as a diver, develop your diving knowledge and skills and make sure you get the needed support. Always remember that there is a generation of novice scuba divers out there waiting for you!