Scuba Diver Jobs: Commercial and Recreational Scuba Diving

Are you one of those people who look forward to get away from it all and just dive? For the weekend scuba diver who can't get enough of the thrill of floating weightless underwater may want to do this every single day. If you are thinking about leaving your desk job to become a full-time professional diver, here are some things that you need to know.

First of all, if you plan on making your time underwater as your permanent job, you need to understand that being a professional diver is just like knowing how to drive a car. Scuba diver jobs are divided into two categories: commercial and recreational. Unless you want to just be a "driver," you have to combine scuba diving with another skill to rake in the big bucks.

Commercial Scuba Diver Jobs

If you plan on making it as a commercial scuba diver, consider combining scuba diving with underwater engineering, photography, and research. A full-time diver who knows how to work machinery or tell one kind of marine mammal from the other can really make it commercial scuba diving.

If something more dangerous calls out to you, you can join the military. The military constantly needs and trains divers for their underwater infiltration operations. Another dangerous but equally well-paying job is being a Hazardous Materials scuba diver, which means you clean up oil spills, recover bodies, and repair underwater machinery.

Recreational Scuba Diver Jobs

Succeeding as a recreational scuba diver is hinged on becoming a dive master as well as being a great people person. While the hourly rate will probably never be as high as an executive, you often make up for it in tips. Scuba diving jobs can be found in resorts and cruise ships. This is a great way to break into diving when you need the experience.

Another perk of being a recreational diver is the fact that you can practice your trade in exotic locations like Thailand, Hawaii, the Philippines, and many more. If you are business-minded and are willing to take on extra work, you can set up your own dive shop, too.

Whether you decide to become a recreational diver or a commercial one, one thing is for sure. This job is great for those who are young, restless, and want to spend as much time underwater as they can. If this sounds like you, take a chance and be part of the exciting and potentially lucrative scuba diver industry.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7021983 and Matthew Nathan

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

How Deep Can I Dive????

Image by Dude Crush via Flickr

One of the most common questions asked to Scuba Divers is, "how deep can you dive?" Well, there's no easy answer to that question because it depends on a lot of factors. For the sake of argument, we're going to discuss how deep you can dive with standard scuba equipment.

How Deep Can I Go With Standard Scuba Equipment?

Firstly, a little disclaimer: Just because you can go a certain depth does certainly not mean it is safe, especially if you do not have the appropriate training and experience for that depth.

With standard scuba equipment you have a maximum depth of approximately 60m (195ft). This is because, after this depth the pressure exerted on the oxygen in your air supply becomes toxic, going further or experiencing this toxicity for too long could prove fatal. At depths between 30-60m, while not dangerous in itself, is likely to bring on the onset of nitrogen narcosis which can have a severe impact on a diver's decision making, leading to stupid and sometimes dangerous actions.

As we mentioned, oxygen at higher partial pressures (1.44bar to be exact) become toxic. Aside from this, the diver must also be aware since their air is getting compressed, it will provide fewer "breaths" and will of course, run out a lot quicker than if he or she were diving at a shallower depth.

PADI recommend that the absolute maximum depth for a recreational diver is 40m (130ft), while BSAC recommend a maximum depth of 50m (165ft) with proper training.

Is Diving Deep Important?

The short answer to this is, no - diving deep is not important for the recreational diver most of the time. The shallower you are, the more bottom time you'll have and the less you'll have to worry about - a more pleasant experience for all.

Keep in mind the "mission" of your dive when you plan it. There's a lot of things to see at depths less than 40m (130ft). It maybe be necessary though, if a diver is specifically doing a recovery dive or viewing a wreck that they just didn't damn sink at a sensible depth to go deeper. In these cases it is important that you are well versed with your scuba gear, the effects of nitrogen narcosis and know you your limits in terms of experience and ability and of course, of your buddy too.

So How Deep Can You Go With Specialist Equipment?

There are specialised pieces of scuba diving equipment that make it possible to overcome deep diving problems such as nitrogen narcosis, oxygen toxicity and the tremendous pressure you can face at extreme depths.

It is possible to technical divers to go as deeper than 200m (700ft) with closed circuit rebreathers. As we discussed earlier, oxygen at high pressures becomes toxic, so these divers also use mixed gas, the usual mix is helium and oxygen, which eliminates the nitrogen narcosis problem, but does leave you sounding like tweety bird when you talk!

Commercial divers, can operate at these depths (200m/700ft+), for incredibly long periods of time. They will typically work 6-7 hours per day, but stay under the water for up to a month at a time! Rather than waste time decompressing, these guys essentially "live" in compression chambers while they're not diving. These compressors can be on a ship, or in some cases, sunken to be near the dive site.

Thanks to the Scuba Site for this article.

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

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Urgent Help Needed to Protect Lemon Sharks!

Target:
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Sponsored by:
Coalition of scientists, divers and shark conservation groups

Lemon sharks aggregate off the East Coast of Florida every winter. They are an enormously popular attraction for scuba divers, giving a welcome boost to Florida's struggling recreational diving industry. But commercial fishermen are gearing up to target lemon sharks now. The primary purpose for this harvest is for their fins, which is a cruel and wasteful use for this animal. We need your support to stop the slaughter !Research with satellite tags shows that the lemon sharks' winter aggregation is composed of individuals from up and down the Eastern Seaboard and the Bahamas. These large gatherings occur in a relatively small area off Palm Beach, close to shore and within a highly predictable time frame. This makes them easy targets, and scientists studying Florida's Lemon Shark Aggregation fear that commercial fishers can wipe out the lemon sharks in just one or two seasons.Till now the commercial lemon shark fishery has been tiny -- less then 15,000 lbs annually nationwide. The Sandbar Shark, which is now protected, has had a commercial annual quota of 2 million pounds. Because of the new protections for Sandbar Sharks and other fish, commercial fishers have clearly stated their intention to re-direct fishing effort to lemon and other large sharks.Large coastal sharks, including lemon sharks, hammerheads, bull sharks and tiger sharks, have already suffered massive declines of over 90% in the past 30 years, and are badly in need of protection.The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is seriously considering adding Lemon Sharks to the Prohibited Species List and your support is absolutely critical!!If you value sharks and want to help save these beautiful and ecologically important animals, please sign this petition. And if you will be in Florida on October 19th - 20th, please attend one of the FWC Public Lemon Shark Workshops . Everyone is welcome to attend!Oct. 19th - Fort Myers, FL - 6pm - 8pm - Joseph P. D'Alessandro Office Complex, 2295 Victoria Ave.Oct. 20th - Dania Beach, FL - 6pm -8pm - IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum, 300 Gulf Stream Way.

Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com