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What do you think of my newest plan to get work?

I am going for training in diving (ocean dives, cleaning and de-scaling industrial water tanks, salvage, etc) going for a PADI qualification, then i am going to sub contract to dive boats in the tropical areas of the world, i can see myself on the coral reef and exploring ship wrecks - honestly, this is a idea at the minute and i will try make it a reality, because no other job or training has worked out properly, time for a new direction i reckon.

Plus i will charter a boat and take people diving. :T
Owed out = lots. :cool:

Comments

  • MarzipanFish
    MarzipanFish Posts: 550 Forumite
    Sounds like fun, although i imagine very expensive to get the training & experience.

    good luck to you :)
  • Widelats
    Widelats Posts: 3,773 Forumite
    edited 19 May 2009 at 1:41PM
    Sounds like fun, although i imagine very expensive to get the training & experience.

    good luck to you :)

    Cheers mate :D about £500 for the whole course, then i am ready to go!

    http://www.padi.com/scuba/padi-courses/default.aspx
    Owed out = lots. :cool:
  • dmg24
    dmg24 Posts: 33,920 Forumite
    10,000 Posts
    I think it is a lovely idea, but completely flawed. To do what you are suggesting will require you to be (at least) a Divemaster, which will cost a great deal more than £500 and requires a lot of experience.
    Gone ... or have I?
  • tincat
    tincat Posts: 935 Forumite
    I agree with Dmg24. My husband was a master diver and an idc staff instructor. Not only do you have to pay for the courses, but you have to do a certain number of dives before you can even start training at a higher level, and it's a very expensive process.

    To become a commercial diver is a very complicated process as far as I can remember. It's far more advanced than recreational diving, as depths are usually much lower, and you have to use different air mixes and compression chambers.

    If I were you, and this is what you wanted to do, I would see if I could get a job as a lackey at a padi dive centre somewhere in Africa (i.e. south africa / mozambique etc) or Asia, and try to wangle free training and dives while you work. My hubby used to employ a couple of people on this basis.
  • tincat
    tincat Posts: 935 Forumite
    If you have still got to get your open water, then you don't even know if you will like diving. It might be your forte, but just in case have another back up plan:D
  • DKLS
    DKLS Posts: 13,461 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    tincat wrote: »
    If I were you, and this is what you wanted to do, I would see if I could get a job as a lackey at a padi dive centre somewhere in Africa (i.e. south africa / mozambique etc) or Asia, and try to wangle free training and dives while you work. My hubby used to employ a couple of people on this basis.

    This is what i did, I got a job in Eilat renting out snorkels, masks and flippers to tourists, the pay wasnt great (enough to pay for accomodation, meals and a few beers, but I did get free scuba training.
  • briona
    briona Posts: 1,454 Forumite
    Widelats wrote: »
    I am going for training in diving (ocean dives, cleaning and de-scaling industrial water tanks, salvage, etc) going for a PADI qualification, then i am going to sub contract to dive boats in the tropical areas of the world, i can see myself on the coral reef and exploring ship wrecks - honestly, this is a idea at the minute and i will try make it a reality, because no other job or training has worked out properly, time for a new direction i reckon.

    Plus i will charter a boat and take people diving. :T
    dmg24 wrote: »
    I think it is a lovely idea, but completely flawed. To do what you are suggesting will require you to be (at least) a Divemaster, which will cost a great deal more than £500 and requires a lot of experience.
    I'm afraid I second dmg24 on this one!

    A couple of years ago my brother had a similar idea. He spent hundreds of pounds getting his various diving qualifications, and then thousands of pounds getting his boating qualifications – you can't charter boats without them.

    Unfortunately, despite getting some boat handling qualifications, thanks to the weather, his and other people's conflicting schedules and simply finding the time, he never managed to get enough hours out at sea to enable him to charter anything. All in, it cost an absolute fortune, took up every free hour he had and he's still not been able to use either the diving or the boating commercially.

    He's now given both up to train to become a helicopter pilot in South Africa. :o

    I know this may seem a bit like p*ssing on your parade – it's not meant to be but a degree of realism wouldn't go amiss. If this is your "latest plan to find work", I assume you are currently unemployed so how would you fund the courses? :confused: And how sure are you that you could get work in this field?
    If I don't respond to your posts, it's probably because you're on my 'Ignore' list.
  • Widelats
    Widelats Posts: 3,773 Forumite
    Hmm, thanks for all the info here, maybe i will rethink what i want to do.
    Owed out = lots. :cool:
  • dmg24
    dmg24 Posts: 33,920 Forumite
    10,000 Posts
    One of the Blue Peter presenters has just done a big diving challenge. Might be worth downloading the past few episodes to see what is involved?
    Gone ... or have I?
  • Widelats
    Widelats Posts: 3,773 Forumite
    dmg24 wrote: »
    One of the Blue Peter presenters has just done a big diving challenge. Might be worth downloading the past few episodes to see what is involved?

    maybe i will give it a look! cheers.
    Owed out = lots. :cool:
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