DIVE INDUSTRY STATISTICS | SCUBA INSTRUCTOR JOBS & CAREER
Survey Results: The “Economics” of Being a Scuba Diving Instructor (Part 3)
Differences in dive professionals' income based on the instructor’s gender, location, training agency affiliation, experience, age, and more.
Darcy Kieran is the author of the handbook “Your Career and/or Life as a Scuba Diving Instructor: How to Make a Good Living Out of Your Passion for Scuba Diving” and a unique advanced logbook & checklists for scuba divers, divemasters & instructors.
Through 2021, Scubanomics conducted a worldwide survey of scuba diving instructors. This is the third part of the survey result analysis.
First, let’s recap.
In the first article, we presented the “economics” of being a recreational dive instructor compared to a technical diving instructor. You can read that first part of our analysis here:
In the 2nd part of our dive instructor survey report, we looked at scuba diving instructors who were no longer in teaching status. Why did they drop out? Is their decision permanent, or do they intend to come back? What were the profile and financial conditions of those instructors who decided to stop teaching scuba? And other questions along those lines.
In this 3rd article, we will search for differences in income, based on:
- Gender
- Training Agency Affiliation
- Work Location
- Years of Experience
- Age of The Instructor
We will also check if there are differences in income between:
- Instructors vs. Instructor Trainers (Course Directors)
- Working in a Tourist/Non-Tourist Location
- Working as an Independent Instructor or for a Dive Center
You may look at a summary report on the profile of the survey respondents in the first article.
For the following article, we will examine 2019 numbers since the 2020 results were atypical due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unless otherwise specified, “instructor” in this post includes instructors and instructor trainers (course directors).
“Income” in this survey was defined as earnings from dive teaching, including tips & commissions, and converted to US$.
Income of Dive Instructors by GENDER:
Unfortunately, the dive industry doesn’t seem to do better than the rest of society on gender pay equity.
Female dive instructors reported an annual income 32.5% lower than that of their male colleagues and 35.8% less per hour.
Income of Scuba Diving Instructors by DIVE TRAINING AGENCY AFFILIATION:
We are only reporting on the three dive training agencies with the most respondents as sample sizes for other training agencies were too small to be reliable.
On average, SSI dive instructors earn 7.5% more annually than PADI instructors, while TDI/SDI instructors report 21.3% more annual income than PADI instructors.
Income of Dive Instructors by WORK LOCATION:
We are only reporting on the four regions with the highest numbers of respondents since other locations’ sample size was too small to be reliable.
In terms of annual income in tourist destinations, it appears Mexico and the Caribbean Islands offer the most profitable places to work.
On a per-hour basis, though, instructors in origin locations (USA & Europe) fare better than those working in tourist destinations.
Income of Scuba Diving Instructors by YEARS OF EXPERIENCE:
From our 2021 survey on the “economics” of being a dive instructor, it appears that the number of years of experience as a dive instructor matters.
These results raise a question. On top of the significant investments required to become a dive professional, how can you consider a career where you will have to work five years before earning even minimum wages?
Income of Dive Instructors by AGE:
Is there a significant difference in dive instructors' income based on their age?
Because you can become a dive instructor at any age, I doubt income analysis by age means much. The income per year of experience (presented above) is more telling.
Comparing Income of Dive Instructors & Instructor Trainers (Course Directors):
There’s no surprise here! We all know that training dive instructors is big business in the dive industry. Of course, instructor trainers (course directors) also have to invest significantly more to obtain these professional credentials.
Please note that the amount spent by instructors and instructor trainers in the graph above is an average that includes recreational and tech diving professionals.
Let’s look at recreational scuba diving professionals with no pro-level tech diving ratings.
Comparing Income of Dive Instructors Working in a Dive Center in a TOURIST Destination to Those in Dive Centers in NON-TOURIST Locations:
Although both levels of annual income are low, scuba diving instructors in tourist dive destinations and resorts are faring better.
Further reading: Clarifications on origin vs. destination dive centers.
Comparing Income of INDEPENDENT Dive Instructors to That of Instructors Working for a DIVE CENTER:
It is somewhat surprising to see that independent instructors are faring better, considering the fact that most dive certification agencies are making independent instructors invisible by only promoting dive centers on their websites.
So What?
There are numerous variables at play underneath the results of this survey. However, at first sight, it appears that the best place to be for a career in diving is as an independent TDI/SDI instructor trainer in a tourist destination, preferably in the Caribbean. Just saying!
Please leave your observations in the comment section below.
A Very Special Thank You!
Michael Menduno (InDepth) and Darcy Kieran (Scubanomics) want to warmly thank the following organizations for their support with this study:
GUE, SITA, International Training (TDI/SDI/ERDI/PFI), Tec Clark — The Dive Locker, RAID, DAN Europe, X-Ray Mag, DiveNewsWire, and Scuba News Canada.
Also from Darcy Kieran:
- Handbook: Your Career and/or Life as a Scuba Diving Instructor: How to Make a Good Living Out of Your Passion for Scuba Diving.
- Logbook: Advanced Scuba Diving Logbook with Checklists for certified scuba divers, divemasters & dive instructors.
- Handbook: Advanced Guide to SPF Scuba Diving for Scuba Divers, Divemasters & Dive Instructors: Develop Better Scuba Diving Skills, Dive Safer, Save Money & Have More Fun!
- Handbook: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide To Scuba Diving: How to Increase Safety, Save Money & Have More Fun!
- Logbook: STARTER Scuba Diving Logbook with Checklists while getting your open water diver certification!
- Reference book: Scuba Diving Industry Market Reports, Data & Statistics.
Side note: During your surface intervals, have a look at my novels with a scuba diving twist, starting with “Mystery of The Blue Dragon” and “Shadows on Ocean Drive.”
You could help the dive industry by taking part in ongoing dive industry surveys. You will also find results from our past scuba diving market studies here.
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What now? Have a look at the complete Scubanomics Table of Contents.
