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Top Scuba Diving Jobs

Top Scuba Diving Jobs

Written by Rianne Poesse
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Published on December 20, 2022
underwater scuba diver

Do you love scuba diving so much that you’re thinking about turning it into your profession? We don’t blame you; life is often better below the surface. Becoming a full-time scuba diving professional is possible. You’ll be surprised by the diversity of scuba diving jobs available in the industry.

Some scuba diving jobs involve fantastic working conditions like diving in warm water with beautiful tropical fish. Meanwhile, other jobs are in the murky cold water but are possibly more lucrative. Each dive job will have its pros and cons. To help you get started, we have listed 10 of the most common scuba diving jobs.

scuba divers surfacing to water next to dive boat
Photo by Malek Bee on Unsplash

10 Scuba Diving Jobs You Should Consider

1. Dive Instructor

Do you remember your first dive instructor? Chances are you do. Dive instructors are often the face of a dive shop, and the face people remember, especially students. Without instructors, we’d have no more new scuba divers.

The main job of an instructor is to teach people how to dive or to teach certified divers extra skills. They also guide certified divers on dives and help in the shop with maintenance. It’s possible to work as a dive instructor in a dive resort, on a liveaboard dive boat or at a local dive club. Often when it’s with the local dive club, it’s on a volunteer or cost-basis.

Required Training to be a Dive Instructor

To become a dive instructor, you’ll need to take a dive instructor course with one of the scuba training agencies such a PADI, SSI, NAUI, etc. While each agency might have some specific requirements, the general requirements are that you need to have at least 100 logged dives before starting the dive instructor course. Also, you must be a certified Dive Master.

The instructor course includes a theoretical part, where you are expected to have an in-depth knowledge of scuba diving and physics. It also includes a practical part where you demonstrate to an examiner your teaching skills.

2. Dive Master

Before you can become a dive instructor, you’ll need to be a certified dive master. Being a certified Dive Master means that you can guide certified divers on dives. You can assist an (Assistant) Instructor with courses, work in the dive shop by filling tanks, and teach a couple of courses that do not require open water dives. If you’re in doubt between Dive Master and instructor, know that in general, instructors make more money and are in higher demand. Shops prefer instructors over dive masters as they can teach courses.

But don’t let that discourage you. There are plenty of opportunities for dive masters guiding certified divers, helping in the dive shop, and filling tanks. Dive Masters also will find that liveaboards boats are popular workplaces, as usually liveaboards have already certified divers on board.

Required Training to be a Dive Master

To work as a Dive Master you’ll have to complete the Dive Master course. The Dive Master course is a very hands-on course, often completed as an internship at a dive shop, completed in 2 to 4 months. During this time part-time or full-time course, you learn how to give good dive briefings, assist in courses, help with the discover scuba diving dives, maintain gear, fill tanks, create a dive site map, learn everything about dive physics and much more.

3. Dive Shop Owner

Though definitely not for everyone, another role in the tourism dive industry is the owner of the dive shop. There are some very successful dive shops out there. Many factors can contribute to success such as the location of the dive shop (are you located inside a resort or on the main street of a popular dive spot?). Also, as a dive shop owner, you’re able to offer a diverse range of dives and employ service-minded people.

Required Training to be a Dive Shop Owner

There are no hard requirements to start your own dive shop. In fact, you don’t even have to be a diver. However, a good knowledge of the dive industry and the area is an absolute must. It’s also very important you have an entrepreneurial spirit.

underwater scuba photographer
Photo by Malek Bee on Unsplash

4. Underwater Photographer

Everyone can take photos, but taking good photos is a whole different story. Being an underwater photographer (or underwater videographer) requires a very specific skill set both underwater as well above the surface when it comes to editing. Dive shops, resorts, and liveaboards often hire photographers to create promotion material for their business. These are the best assignments — you can paid to dive at the most incredible locations in the world. Underwater photographers can also work full-time for a specific dive shop. There, they take pictures of divers on fun dives. After the dive, divers purchase the pictures from you.

Required Training to be an Underwater Photographer

While you need to be a certified diver, there is no other set requirement for a career in underwater photography. However, shops looking to hire a photographer will decide who to hire based on the quality of the photos in a portfolio. This means that it will take a lot of training taking photos, and also some decent photo equipment. You can speed up your training process by taking (underwater) photography courses.

5. Marine Biologist

If you’re interested in everything that lives underwater then a career in marine biology might be a good pick for you. Marine biologists research aquatic life. Their jobs can include monitoring and rescuing marine animals, as well as compile lots of data and undertake experiments. In many cases, monitoring and research can be done while scuba diving. There is still a whole lot we don’t know about the ocean and the animals that live there, and marine biologists help us understand the blue world better. They also have a key role in the protection of vulnerable species.

Required Training to be a Marine Biologist

To become a marine biologist, you have to go to university and study marine science or marine biology. Besides that, and especially if you want to work in the ocean, a scuba diving certificate is required.

6. Marine Archaeologist

While also academic, a marine archaeologist doesn’t quite do the same as a marine biologist. Where biologists focus on living species, marine archaeologists research sites of historical value. Underwater, that could mean exploring shipwrecks or other sites that could possibly hide interesting artifacts.

As a marine archaeologist, you’re getting paid to search for treasures left by humans a long time ago. Will you be the one who finds the long lost gold? Archaeologists usually do a lot of research on dry land before scuba diving an area, especially if it’s an exploration dive. In their research, they look at the history of the area and analyze data sets.

Required Training to be a Marine Archaeologist

As you’ll be diving on wrecks, a wreck diving certification is a must. Given that wrecks and artifacts can be located quite deep on the ocean floor, it is also wise to investigate technical diving certifications. Besides that, a study in maritime archaeology is a common academic study for marine archaeologists.

scuba diver surfacing next to boat
Photo by gokhan polat on Unsplash

7. Scuba Diving Blogger or Vlogger

Do you enjoy traveling, exploring, and diving? Then a job as a scuba dive blogger might be for you. You can get paid to travel the world, capture the best experiences, and share it with the world.

In this career, companies hire you to promote them. You could be promoting on your own platforms or that of the client. You could be working with a dive resort, a travel agency, dive magazine, or even a tourism board of a specific country. Sounds good right? Unfortunately, it’s a very saturated career, and in the last decade lots of people have tried to make a living out of this. Only very few succeed. Do you have what it takes?

Required Training to be a Scuba Diving Blogger

This job comes down to being a good writer, storyteller, and marketeer. It’s important to capture good videos or shoot beautiful photos. Once you’ve created your content, it’s a must that you reach the right audience. To achieve this, it’s critical to have good social media skills.

8. Scuba Travel Agent

Who is expected to know everything about the best diving locations in the world? That’s right, a scuba travel agent! And how do they acquire that knowledge? Preferably through personal travel.

It’s no secret that the best way to sell something is to be able to relate and share your personal experiences. Because of this, agencies send their employees on study trips. Sometimes the tourism board of a country invites them and other times it’s organized through the employer themselves.

Even though jobs in the scuba travel industry are scarce, they are out there, and getting one is a fantastic way to visit the best scuba holiday destinations.

Required Training to be a Scuba Travel Agent

Being an Open Water or Advanced Open Water diver is a must if you want to dive and visit the destinations that your company sells. It will also help you to understand the needs of your client much better. Aside from being a diver, a tourism degree is also very handy when trying to land this job.

9. Public Safety Diver

A public safety diver is a diver that works within law enforcement. They’re the divers that are called in to handle accidents and even crime scenes. For example, when someone is missing and there is a suspicion they’re in a body of water, the safety diver will be called in to try and find them.

While a big part of their job is recovering and in the best cases, rescuing people, safety divers also search for evidence related to crime scenes. Think about a weapon that was thrown off a bridge, for example.

Required Training to be a Public Safety Diver

This job is not for everyone. It’s incredibly challenging physically, as well as mentally. You will see a lot of things you will need to emotionally train for. On the other hand, when you rescue someone, it will be incredibly rewarding. If you’re the right person for the job, you’ll have to do extensive training within the law enforcement division you work in. Many specific skills will be taught when you’re hired for the job.

10. Commercial Diver

Besides jobs in the tourism industry and law enforcement, you can also work in the industrial business as a commercial diver. Commercial divers can have a wide range of jobs. For example an underwater welder is a commercial diver. They’re hired to weld underwater — sometimes at great depths.

Some commercial divers even practice saturation diving. This is a specific kind of diving where divers live for a longer time underwater in a sealed environment where they’re kept under pressure. The goal is to reduce the risk of decompression sickness greatly for divers that dive this deep. In the United States, there are only about 400 divers that work as saturation divers. All other commercial divers have jobs that involve less depth, but can include welding, hull cleaning, and inspecting structures.

Required Training to be a Commercial Diver

There are special schools that teach commercial diving. Basic training takes usually at least 16 weeks. Any further education all depends on the type of job the commercial diver does. It’s by far one of the most challenging scuba diving jobs out there.

underwater scuba diver
Photo by NOAA on Unsplash

Frequently Asked Questions About Scuba Diving Jobs

Can you make a career out of scuba diving?

The short answer is yes, absolutely. There are many different scuba diving jobs out there. Some of these jobs offer opportunities to progress, while others have more limited growth. While a dive guide can relatively easily move up to become an instructor, the growth opportunities for a travel agent. for example, are less mapped-out. If you’re happy with your job, that could be ideal!

What are the highest paying diving jobs?

Commercial divers, especially saturation divers, will make the most money. The average salary can reach up to $45,000 a month. However, this is not a job you can do for life. Usually, you can do the job a maximum of 15 years, and during that time there are serious health risks. A less dangerous and stressful dive job is that of a dive shop owner.

Conclusion

There are many different jobs where you can get paid to scuba dive. The first thing you should ask yourself though: will you still enjoy scuba diving if it becomes your job? For many people, scuba diving is an activity that they do to escape day-to-day life. Once you work in scuba diving, it becomes every day-to-day life. Does that sound good to you? If it does, then these 10 scuba diving jobs could be perfect for you.

Rianne Poesse

Rianne Poesse

Rianne Poesse is a passionate scuba diver and writer. She is the founder of the scuba blog Dutch Mermaid and travels around the globe, exploring the underwater world. She writes articles for travel agencies and dive magazines. When diving, she always has a camera with her and you can follow her on YouTube to get […]