Working in the scuba diving industry isn’t all glamour and bubbles you know. It is hard work. And yes, it is amazing to pursue your passion as a career but you must always remember why you love it and take time for yourself.
So what is a typical scuba instructors day like? Diverse, that’s for sure. Here’s an example of a typical day here in Costa Rica to chew on…
6.00am
Yes you start that early. Up in the morning, get a hearty breakfast in you before heading out the door and getting to the dive shop for
7.00am
Instructors and crew arriving at the dive shop. Check the shop board and see what is coming in today. You will always have an idea the night before but you learn pretty quickly that things can change overnight very rapidly. Then head downstairs to the bodega to prep the equipment for the boat. Cooler full, spare dive kit ready, water filled and time to get your own equipment ready. Now is the time to double check your gear and make sure you have everything, not when your students and clients arrive and you aren’t as focused.
7.30am
Clients start arriving. Make sure paperwork is filled out and reviewed and then head downstairs to gear up. You can start briefing your students as for student dives you will have a lot more to go over. Maybe you need to look at underwater navigation or maybe you are going over the way to do a CESA underwater. If you are working with certified divers you might be checking their last dive experience or what they are thinking about for the upcoming dive.
8.15am
And the boat heads out for the morning trip. Brief your guys, set up equipment and it’s into the water exploring the reef. Two dives later and you’ve met some fishy friends, hung out with an eel and got to check in on some awesome local resident sharks. Nice. Enjoy the scenery and remember why we do what we do!
12.00pm
Back at the dock, unloading the boat before heading up to debrief and sign some log books. A good chance to chat with your divers about what you saw, sign their books and have them sign yours. If you have students you can chat with them and talk about the dives. What they did great, what they could work on and the next step.
Finally…enjoy some lunch!
1.00pm
After lunch it can go a number of ways. Tanks need doing so maybe it’s your turn for tanks for a couple of hours. Luckily with a nice new fast compressor it goes by pretty quick.
As a scuba instructor there are always lots of different classes coming in so maybe you have something scheduled for the afternoon. It could be a discover scuba pool and class or an open water pool session. With our fun marine conservation program we regularly have workshops in the afternoon so that could be something that you are teaching. One thing for sure, the variety of courses here keeps you busy and interesting.
5.00pm
With the afternoon boat returning and pool sessions wrapping up it’s time to look back on you day over a nice cold beer. Watch the sunset and talk about your fun dives today, ready to repeat tomorrow.
