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I am a commercial diver, I often get a lot of questions from people
via email and in the shop from people who want to become commercial
divers or want to make a living from diving.
In this column I will only address becoming a
commercial diver. There are other jobs available for divers, but I
will cover them in a future column.
First of all, there seems to be a gross misconception
among divers about what a commercial diver does. Let me be perfectly
clear on this point. No one that I know of pays you just to dive.
Diving, in all of the underwater professions, is just how you get to
work. You must be able to perform a useful function once you are down
there for anyone to want to hire you as a diver.
To be a certified commercial diver you must graduate
from a military diving school, or an accredited commercial diving
school. Commercial diving schools are expensive. Currently, they range
from about $6,000 to $10,000, depending on the course material you
take. At the end of your training you will receive an ADC --
Association of Diving Contractors -- certification card.
Your first job in commercial diving will be as a
tender. It is the lowest paid and least appreciated job in any diving
company, but it is where you start to really learn the skills that you
will need to be a diver. This apprenticeship normally lasts anywhere
from a few months to a couple of years and depends on how fast you
learn and available openings for divers.
More is better in trying to find a commercial diving
job. The more things you know and can do, the better chance you'll
have in finding a job. The commercial diving schools will tell you
differently, but there are a lot of divers and very few jobs. One of
the most useful skills that a diver can have is mechanical ability.
Diving is often only a very small part of your job. You will be
required to repair and maintain a large variety of equipment. Other
useful skills include construction, rigging, seamanship, welding and
knowledge of pneumatic and hydraulic hand tools.
The most consistent employment for divers is in the
oil fields of the world. There are inland diving companies, but the
work is spotty for the most part and not usually reliable. You can
almost count on having to spend time away from your family on a
regular basis if you expect to make a living diving.
Conditions often may be very harsh in oil field
diving. You will work long hours in all types of weather. Visibility
in the water is almost always zero and it is cold. Saturation diving
involves working deep out of a lockout bell and days and nights spent
in a chamber while breathing a mixture of helium and oxygen until the
completion of the job. The bottom line on any diving job is getting
the job done. No excuses and no exceptions.
Finally there is the pay. It all depends on where you
work and what you are doing. Union scale in Florida starts at about
$25 an hour. On the west coast it averages about $47.50 an hour. There
is no union in the oil fields and your base hourly rates will run
closer to $8 an hour, but you make up for it with overtime and depth
pay increments. I have seen some inland diving companies that pay as
little as $7 an hour for divers. The top money is paid for saturation
diving and that varies from company to company.
It takes a special kind of personality and aptitude to
be a commercial diver. I have often heard it said that a diver is just
an underwater laborer and there is a lot of truth to that sometimes,
but there also is a lot of satisfaction in being able to do an
extremely difficult and demanding job. If you are looking for glamour
or big money, you might be better off in another profession.
Randall Rush is the owner of the dive shop Treasure Divers of Miami.
He has been a sports diver since 1958 and a commercial diver since
1969. He may be contacted online for questions, suggestions, or
comments at www.treasuredivers.net
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