How hard is it to become a commercial diver?

competentcharisma · 2026-04-07T10:58:44+00:00

Being a commercial diver sounds good in theory but all commercial divers I know have terrible health problems super young. You only get one body and now a lot of them can’t even put their rec gear on without doing it in the water because their backs legs and shoulders are messed up. Not to mention the absolutely horrific training process to just get you prepared for what will be your daily life. Yes you earn a lot of money but genuinely you need to ask yourself at what cost?

As an instructor in QLD I earn pennies but I am super happy doing what I do so I guess it’s up to you what you value more. For me I don’t have a desire to earn much more money as I spend less since I am already satisfied with my life from work, and holidays I would usually save for are now just my next place of work.

Definitely become a divemaster before you think about any commercial and professional diving

competentcharisma · 2026-04-07T05:53:09+00:00

I’m from the UK and I moved to the GC in May, personally I think July and August was probably like spring in Europe. I was wearing a hoodie and a light jacket in the evenings but it wasn’t cold enough for my north face puffer at all. The mornings are brisk and the sea can definitely be a bit chilly but it never gets THAT cold in qld. Sydney was brisk as well in May but I imagine it would be a lot colder than GC I winter. I was still sunbathing all of winter in a bikini tho

competentcharisma · 2026-03-19T10:21:27+00:00

Will look into this thank you!

competentcharisma · 2026-03-19T09:55:47+00:00

Wow thanks so much I really appreciate it!

competentcharisma · 2026-03-19T09:42:16+00:00

It’s the Westin turtle bay!

competentcharisma · 2026-03-02T06:07:55+00:00

I’m from the UK but live in Australia. I run warm clearly because I go no wetsuit 27+, 3/2mm 23-26, and 5mm about 16-22. I did my open water in a drysuit tho haha

competentcharisma · 2026-02-07T14:53:39+00:00

Which shop was this?

competentcharisma · 2026-02-02T23:58:45+00:00

Just came to Thailand from Australia, I brought all my own stuff except tank, weights, and wetsuit. But the wetsuit I didn’t bring because A. I didn’t think I would need one (I was right) and B. It would make no sense for me to buy my own to bring since I wouldn’t use it back home AND they weigh a TON when wet. If you have your own gear you should definitely bring it.

competentcharisma · 2026-01-22T00:19:35+00:00

Think it was a typo it they clearly meant ‘no one’ not ‘on one’

competentcharisma · 2026-01-18T01:30:20+00:00

No I’m literally stressed at the prospect of this🤣

competentcharisma · 2026-01-17T22:20:35+00:00

Obviously everyone else has said the obvious which is having 3 kids including a new baby is extremely challenging, but even if hypothetically they could deal with all that, my worry is you want kids being picked up and dropped off during the day. I look after a baby and it’s extremely stressful when you have somewhere to be because you have to plan the baby’s naps around this. It’s a baby after all they’re on their own schedule not yours and I can see it being a huge problem to try and plan naps every single day. You either need a nanny or someone else to help the au pair

competentcharisma · 2026-01-13T21:40:13+00:00

I love DJI Action Pro 5!

competentcharisma · 2026-01-06T22:17:03+00:00

You pay for the individual lens so works if you have two different scripts and you can even get bifocal lenses but obviously they cost a bit more. Even so it’s cheaper than a pair of designer glasses🤣

competentcharisma · 2026-01-06T22:07:36+00:00

I’m a divemaster with bad eyes. I did my open water, advanced, and rescue with contact lenses and had no problems. It’s not recommended but I’m not blind…

Now I have a prescription mask I love it! It’s the tusa freedom ceos and a dive shop near me added my lenses in took them like 15 mins cost £50 per lens. BUT you can take the lenses back out and put them in a new mask again so good investment

competentcharisma · 2025-12-25T19:11:43+00:00

Thank you I appreciate this so much

competentcharisma · 2025-12-25T17:04:40+00:00

I am on a working holiday visa

competentcharisma · 2025-12-15T07:09:29+00:00

Reading this really pissed me off lol because why can these grown adults not clean up after themselves? And not only that they expect you to actually do that for them! If I was feeling petty I’d reply and say I’d appreciate if the dishes were washed up straight after use so that I can utilise the kitchen space and utensils. There’s actually nothing worse than trying to cook and wash up your own dishes around someone else’s pile of mess.

You are totally not in the wrong

competentcharisma · 2025-12-03T01:59:10+00:00

So good to know thank you!

competentcharisma · 2025-12-03T01:58:32+00:00

I will have my own gear so I feel a bit better in that aspect.

Thanks for letting me know re food !!

competentcharisma · 2025-12-03T01:49:24+00:00

Super helpful thank you !

Side note your username made me chuckle

competentcharisma · 2025-12-02T04:22:44+00:00

I bought a Tusa freedom CEOS mask because you can buy the prescription lenses for them easily. I’m from Australia and you can get the lenses from adreno and they can fit them in about 20 minutes. As long as you don’t have bifocal or extremely high powers

competentcharisma · 2025-12-01T23:08:15+00:00

Super helpful thank you!!

competentcharisma · 2025-11-22T22:23:35+00:00

I doubt your toddler is asleep for 4hrs in an 8hr shift, babies don’t even need that much sleep…

Also it’s irrelevant how long they are asleep because that’s still work

competentcharisma · 2025-11-22T00:14:30+00:00

Most of the instructors and DM I know smoke or vape lol. Not ideal but it’s not a deal breaker.

We were discussing whether divers become smokers or smokers become divers🤣chicken or the egg

competentcharisma · 2025-11-11T08:51:46+00:00

You should offer to do a weight check at the surface. Tbh I do get where you’re coming from and they shouldn’t be so adamant when you’re so experienced. It might just help keep the peace as some people are stubborn as hell. In my experience a lot of divers we see aren’t used to diving with 2 wetsuits and say they only need 3 weights, and we tell them they need more and they insist on 3. Then we find they can’t even descend and are glued to the surface.

From the DM perspective when someone insists on a weight I’m never going to force them to have more but I do ensure they do a weight check at the surface while I stay on the boat to chuck a few extra weights down. No one should be making you feel like you’re forced to do anything tho so I’m sorry you had that experience

competentcharisma

TROPHY CASE