SCUBA INSTRUCTOR SALARIES - Updated job list for 2023... PLUS my salary with YouTube 

why the link is not working with me

@@MRIDDICK86 The Patreon link? Not sure! If you go to Patreon.com and search for Azul Unlimited, my page will pop up. Then you can see how often I post and what I'm offering in the different membership tiers

Sounds like tough work, but maybe doable depending on your lifestyle. Thank you so much for sharing!

Thanks so much for watching!!!

Thank you so much! Glad to help :)

My pleasure!

Yes, quality control is not consistent in many of the agencies. Another systemic thing that needs to be reworked.

Yes! I just did my advanced open water and one of the two instructors I had really sucked! For my underwater naturalist dive, he literally said "look for five fish, five plants/algae, five inverts " and then disappeared under the water to lead the dive. Wow. No instruction, no "here's what you might see, these are the names of the most common species, etc" and no post dive debrief of how we did and what we saw.

@@BrandonSchmit Yikes... Sorry to hear that. Definitely not in the professional camp of instructors.

Thank you for your support!

Absolutely agree. Thank you for sharing 🙏

I have seen that in real life. I am a certified deep diver who has been on dives with people who aren’t AOW certified going to 90 feet.

Thanks so much!

Thank you so much! You rock🥹

Thank YOU! Really appreciate the support🙏

Thank you so much 🙏 appreciate you

Thanks so much! I appreciate hearing from you all who have been in the industry much longer than myself. Really helps to learn from you!

Thanks! Yes, I'm slowly incorporating more van life content, but I have to admit... I don't want to become a van life influencer 😅 I am, first and foremost, a scuba instructor 🤓

Hahaha glad to hear it 🤙🤣

It's a great way to build community. I've loved getting to know people better. Thanks for watching!

Amazing! I would love that. Connect with me on ig or by email and we can see if I'll be visiting your area next year azulunlimited@gmail.com

@@AzulUnlimited will do. Recently dry suit certified. Maybe you should schedule a trip to wreck dive the Great Lakes

@@ScottUrbach I keep getting recommendations for those dives! Maybe I'll see you out there :)

💯 they’re the most fun to teach too

Thank you and yes! The work is incredible and will make you a lifetime of memories. I do think it should pay a living wage though so it’s good to talk about it. Have so much fun with your course!!!

Thank you very much! Life is good💙

Yes, a diverse income plan is the way to go for sure

Thank YOU for watching whatever ads you decide to watch (I know some of them are ridiculous, so I don’t blame people for skipping them 😊)

Thanks for subbing!

Scuba isn’t easy or simple but we have fun🤪

Haha great ideas🤙

Happy to help! Teaching is a tough gig no matter the subject matter. It’s good to have those experiences and know what works for you🤙 good luck out there. Thailand is lovely

Really depends on what you're doing and where you are. When I lived in Mexico and taught beginners through IDCs I was able to save money.

Amazing! Scuba diving is a great retirement gig. Let me know if you have any questions about training. I happen to know a great Course Director in Mexico :)

​@@AzulUnlimitedHi Sarah, I do have questions and I will take you up on your offer as I am homeworking my instructor & location options. What's the best way to contact you?

@@deanm.3881 email. azulunlimited@gmail.com :)

@@AzulUnlimited 👌😊

Totally. It's a common sense problem, yet people still operate in that way 🤷‍♀️

Commercial diving is a whole different beast.

Thank YOU!

100% It's a shame, and should really change.

Some people don’t have the privilege or disposition to do that kind of work. Every full time job should be able to cover basic cost of living. Period.

hahaha i literally know nothing about rebreather brands. Thanks for watching! Glad it's starting to work out for you :) I can imagine how hard you've worked to get there.

I totally forgot about people who do that!! Thank you for sharing. Good to know🤙🙏

I plan on it, one of these days!

I plan on it, one of these days!

Incredible you can do it. We need people like you who can handle that type of work!

Yes, tech instructors do have an easier time charging higher rates but it's also something us recreational instructors can do with the right marketing.

@@AzulUnlimited : Hey, that old joke about the Pizza, and the Diving Instructor; that was originally for *Stagehands!* *_:D_*

Yeah that's what I've seen and I get it. Beginners are a lot of work, but there's also a lot of reward when they figure it out.

@@AzulUnlimited : Pizza and family of four: That's the same joke we'd tell ourselves, or cry over in the Stagehand's Union!

@@lfreeman2511 hahaha I know. I just figured I'd get it out of the way so people don't think they're clever. It's kind of like the van down by the river joke for all of us living in vehicles 😆

Yeah, prices need to be higher for courses like that 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think it's a general industry issue.

Hmmmmm I didn't know that! 😍

Thank you!

Woof. That is rough. I'm sorry. Thank you for sharing.

That’s great! I love to hear about responsible and supportive shop owners🙌

Ah yeah, I've heard of people dealing with stuff like that. No fun.

Yes DSD means discover scuba diving. I’m not familiar with SDI standards. Consult your instructor manual🙏

It’s a complicated system and unfortunately bc the salaries are not great, a lot of good instructors don’t stay in the industry. Not sure what the solution is, but I’m hoping that being open and honest about the situation will bring some change.

I speak from my experience and those of my friends in the industry. Of course there are going to be people in both camps of professionalism, but I've had some major snakey experiences with people that I would never have seen in other industries.

@@AzulUnlimited same here, and in my starting years was a broke instructor in the islands. There are paths, a few (very) lead to good money that involves being in the water teaching/guiding. Others are a hybrid. But, strait up, most new instructors bring less to the table and have unrealistic expectations when getting into the industry. Then if they stick, finding and affording a path forward is tough. Funny enough, we lack horribly in the middle but the industry doesn't develop people well, from starting to when getting some experience. We treat proven folks with 5-6 yrs in the industry like crap.

I’ll be back through that area in October. Maybe we can connect then! Email me if you have any courses in mind azulunlimited@gmail.com

My life is hair and fur. I don't even see it anymore 😂

@@AzulUnlimited 😀

Yikes. Your mentors did you a disservice 😔

Also I never earned as high as 1500 dollars in mexico....

I’m really sorry to hear that. Unfortunately that’s what a a lot of people experience. I’m releasing a course about making money as a scuba diver. Email me if you want to know more: info@azulunlimited.com

Hell yeah. Love that

Australia and some places in the US. However, the ones in the US are primarily weekend trips do you can’t put together a full time salary with it

I've shared in a few other videos that I also work on websites, content creation, and social media management for other brands. My goal is to make the switch to only work on my own stuff but you're right, I wouldn't be able to survive on RU-vid right now.

@@AzulUnlimited ah I missed that in other ones, sorry. Thanks for the transparency!

@@WeiseGuy91 always! Thanks for being here

I actually do not. Each certifying organization will have a job board, but I haven't seen this kind of peer review on any website. Maybe someone else has. There may also be Facebook groups for that. Not sure!

@@AzulUnlimited sounds like an opportunity

Haha thanks. You're my people then 🤣

@@AzulUnlimited absolutely 🌞

Totally. It's risky. You can always do it part time on the weekends if you want to test it!

@@AzulUnlimited : I've done inland light salvage. I'd charge U.S.D. $100. per foot of boat, and U.S.D. $25 per foot of depth upto 30 FFW. Past that, U.S.D. $75 per FFW..

@@lfreeman2511 Thank you so much for sharing this!

@@AzulUnlimited : Oh, I also forgot: I charge U.S.D. $40/hr with a 4-hr minimum!

@@AzulUnlimited : Oh, I forgot to mention: *I WAS LOWBALLING THE INDUSTRY, AND THEY ALL GOT MAD AT ME!* 😁

I believe both work. A click is probably better, but then you will be getting ads from that company across other sites so I understand if people don't want to do that. Thank you!

There's a lot of opportunity for it, especially if you're good at networking and marketing!

I wish. Just need to get out and network! And actually work in the business.

New SAC/RMV video :) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-13CroGr8wQQ.html

You do not! You just need the knowledge of how to do it and the community to sell to (either in person or online. I have a course that will help you do it: www.patreon.com/azulunlimited/shop/125392

🤔

Yeah I hear you. Unfortunately it probably wouldn’t be smart to go for it full time in your situation but you could get involved part time as a Divemaster or instructor. I know loads of people who work in the industry in that way and then it’s a fun work option for retirement.

You get what I mean though

See that's why we need to push the reset button and change things in this industry. That's not ok. Take care of yourself 💙

@@AzulUnlimited I thought this was a really great video and very thorough. One thing I hear from a lot of tourists is how expensive a dive experience is and I can also see where they are coming from. I’m not sure I have the answer for the industry. I love how you covered all the angles though. I am not cut out to be an instructor, you made a great point around that. I might need to turn on monetization for my videos, I just don’t like the ads either lol.

@@meridacavediver Honestly, in this economy, every little bit helps. People generally don't hate on you for the ads either. We're all trying to survive out here.

I’ve been working as a sole proprietor. Been thinking about creating an LLC but it’s really expensive to maintain in California… still looking into options for that…

I’ll be through there in October or November! Email me azulunlimited@gmail.com

Love you more!

I hate that you had that experience. It's truly sad that in 2023 we are still having to deal with businesses like that. As a former business owner, it's painful to see people bend over backwards to give more and more discounts to clients and cutting costs by reducing salaries. Not sustainable (OR SAFE) in any way.

That is not true, not all of them are getting paid poorly. Not all barbers are paid poorly, not all of chef are paid poorly, it all depends who you work for. I know dive instructors earning 12k a month, you just have to make your way up.

Correct. It’s really lame, especially bc some of those ads are like 3 minutes long🙄

@@AzulUnlimited dually noted! As much as I watch.. I might as well do my part🤷‍♂️

That's just embarrassing. Wow. I'm hoping you didn't dive with them 🤦‍♀️

For real though 🥴

I’m in teaching status but haven’t taught in person yet

@@AzulUnlimited Glad to hear. I'm new to your channel and just getting caught up to "live". Your Compass video got me through the navigation portion of AOW.

@@ansonrinesmith Glad to hear it! Welcome to the channel :)

Then please share more for everyone to benefit 🤙

@@AzulUnlimited Sure, don't forget there is the equipment side, with all that manuf/distribution involves with a variety of roles from engineering, marketing, bean counting etc. You will find that many on that side (not all) have a solid dive CV, having been dive instructors at one time or even still teaching but secondary to their daily work in the industry. Travel of course is a huge part of our industry, and many dive pros end up in that field. Could be reselling to dive shops, dedicated dive travel agency, leading groups only etc. Lot's of aspects Every destination heavy dive place has "that person" that is the local equipment guru. That can actually be really good money , you get to live in a great diving location, dive whenever you want, fix dive gear and control your own schedule. Even teach if desire. Specialized Instructor trainers that are very good in an area that keeps them busy. It is possible to make 6 figures if you don't mind being on the road all the time and are truly an expert The mega yacht industry for an instructor with ancillary skills can make a very good living. Often it's a watchkeeping cert, EMT/Nurse, engineer cert in addition to the dive, and many mega yachts the owner is a big diver, or the yacht is a toys and dive type charter so get lots of diving You touched on SM influencer, there is a TON of avenues that are open in that in diving that could generate revenue, some that i am amazed nobody has done (tempted myself at times, but honestly more interested in transitioning to semi retired at the moment) Teaching diving in a university setting, often also safety for their scientific diving, and of course there are gov and industry positions for scientific divers. In case you think i am just full of it, here is a brief but not quite comprehensive CV for me.. Lots of consulting stuff I have done isn't listed there www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-e-richardson-75561345?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3Bljo8au%2BmRS6Jdyc05hZ2rQ%3D%3D

@@chrisrichardson4899 Great! yes, I touched on some of these topics, but didn't want to make an hour long video so thank you for laying out more details.

Iv been making a good pay scale on diving in my area checking mooring chains and replacement it's just a side gig but makes it easier to justify the cost associated with diving equipment, if it takes off more next year I'll work less at my other job.

@@lilypondgarage2968 Interesting! Would you mind sharing what you make with that kind of work?

Lol what?

@@AzulUnlimited divetalk.

Capitalism, baby! The bane of our existence...

Aww thanks for watching! I know a lot of people who combine ski and scuba instructor to make full time fun work for themselves. Totally agree about the entrepreneur mindset. That’s why I just started teaching my marketing for scuba professionals workshop and offer it in instructor Development courses. New instructors need to know how to make money in this industry.