How to Become a Professional Diver
Take your love of diving to the next level by becoming a professional diver. You could work at resorts, research institutions, law enforcement or the military. You could explore wrecks, caves or the ocean bottom. With the right training and some extra skills, you can do what you love for a living.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Start with an Open Water Diver certificate from the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI). They're a reputable diving organization and have centers all over the world.
-
2
Contact professional divers in your area and talk to them about their work. Call resorts or recreation centers that teach scuba diving. Try universities and institutions that are doing research in the ocean.
-
-
3
Save up for certification as a professional diver. It'll probably cost you several thousand dollars. Both PADI and the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) offer programs.
-
4
Learn a foreign language if you want to work abroad. It could get you hired even as a newbie at a resort or as part of a research team.
-
5
Get experience in sales if you want to do recreational diving. It'll increase your revenue if you can work in a scuba shop and make commissions off your sales. You could also open your own store.
-
6
Earn a Divemaster Certificate from PADI or NAUI to become a professional recreational diver. You'll need the Advanced Open Water Diver Certificate and 20 logged dives to get into the course for PADI; NAUI asks you to complete their Assistant Instructor certificate first.
-
7
Become a diving instructor for the best job opportunities. Both PADI and NAUI let you focus on a specialty like night diving and underwater photography.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Don't be a commercial diver. There's a lot of competition so employers don't have to take a chance on an inexperienced diver.
