Start a Career in Diving!

It is true one can make a living from the DIVE Industry!

I am conducting a PADI IDC in Jamaica, this week. What is wonderful about the PADI Instructor Development Program (IDC) is that it has become the most sought after dive program in the world. Not only do we have local Jamaicans in the program, but we also have a gentleman from New York. This is what makes the course so interesting: the diversity of the candidate’s backgrounds and goals. The locals are looking to more than double their income by becoming Dive educators, and the divers from the states look to complete the program and then return home to teach in the local stores. Now if fact, I am also seeing an increasing number of people over 50 who are retiring, and teaching diving becomes a way that they can enjoy their golden years, and not tap into their investments.

Our IDCs are offered all over the country, and in the Caribbean. This Jamaican IDC for example is at Sandals Resort. While you might not normally think of Sandals and diving, they have over 20 properties around the Caribbean, and Sandals just might have more Dive boats and Dive Instructors than any other property in the Islands. They by far put more divers in the water than any other company. Sandals are known for their quality and comfort, and that is one reason they want their staff to be PADI educators.  
What is really nice is that I have seen beach attendants who have in a few years moved up to the instructor rating, doubled his pay, and increased his standard of living.  Sure makes me feel real good!

My next Instructor program is at SCUBA EMPORIUM in Orland Park, Illinois starting on May 14. If you are looking for a way to enhance retirement, or just want to have more fun and do more diving, think about our Instructor Development Program. 

post by: Patrick Hammer

If you Can’t Beat ‘em, Cook ‘em!

So why is a fish that is so beloved in the Pacific the newest Evil Boogeyfish of the Atlantic and Caribbean? Because it breeds at an amazing rate, it eats a large number of tiny reef fish, and it has no natural predators here to keep it in check.

Every month a single Lionfish has the potential to lay 30,000 eggs. If each egg hatches and they also lay 30,000 eggs, you would end up with 8.1 quintillion Lionfish after just three months. Since Lionfish have been known to eat up to 53 juvenile fish before they finish digesting the first, you can imagine how quickly the voracious Lionfish can devastate a reef when no natural predators are there to gobble up a good number of these aggressive ornate guys.

So how do we thin the herd until balance is returned to the reef? 

I would say PADI’s new Invasive Lionfish Tracker Specialty would be a great way to start. The Invasive Lionfish Tracker Specialty class will teach you about the skills and equipment you need to successfully capture, transfer, transport, and euthanize a Lionfish: without incident or injury. And by a surprising coincidence Scuba Emporium’s newest specialty is Invasive Lionfish Tracker. 

Then the only question left is… what do you do with all these tasty, humanely euthanized Lionfish?

I say Eat ‘em Up!

Once you’ve learned to safely deal with the Lionfish’s venomous spines in the your Invasive Lionfish Tracker Specialty class, check out this website to find some great Lionfish Recipies. I think my favorite is the Fluffy Battered Lionfish: maybe the Lionfish Ceviche.

And if you want to learn more about the how the Lionfish is being dealt with in the Caribbean, check out two of our previous posts Shark are Showing their Worth Again and Lionfish, the Beautiful Outlaw.

Instructor Development Course (Orland Park, IL)

Go PRO —Scuba Diving Careers

Love Your Job
      Your Lifestyle
            and Your Freedom

Get a life worth living:
   Become a PADI Professional

You’ll do things others only dream of. Whether you work in a local dive shop at a dive resort or on a live-aboard dive boat, the adventure of a lifetime is yours for the taking. Imagine a job where you actually look forward to work in the morning. Sailing into incredible sunsets could be the rule, not the exception, especially if you work in a tropical dive destination. The commute to work could be as easy as a ten-minute boat ride and work becomes an adventure in itself.

If you are up for the challenge…you are in luck!

This month Scuba Emporium is starting an IDC. The Instructor Development Course (IDC) combines the Assistant Instructor (AI) class and Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI) class into one comprehensive course that will prepare you to take the Instructor Exam (IE) with PADI…and start your Diving Career.

The IDC is traditionally an seven-day course, but here at Scuba Emporium we also have a three-weekend version.

The Three-weekend IDC starts this month: March 25th, 26th, 27th; continues April 16th and 17th; and concludes May 19th and 20th.  

Our Seven-Day IDCs are: May 14th – 20th, June 23th - 29th, and October 1st  - 7th.

For more information check out our web site,
Call us at (708) 226-1614,
or email us at sales@scubaemporium.com.

Already done one of our many IDCs...
...help the new-guys decide and write about your experiences in the comments box.

Go Pro Night at Scuba Emporium with Gary Joyce --- February 15th

Go PRO —Scuba Diving Careers

Love Your Job, Your Lifestyle and Your Freedom

Get a life worth living:  become a PADI Professional
You’ll do things others only dream of. Whether you work in a local dive shop at a dive resort or on a liveaboard dive boat, the adventure of a lifetime is yours for the taking.
Imagine a job where you actually look forward to work in the morning. Sailing into incredible sunsets could be the rule, not the exception, especially if you work in a tropical dive destination. The commute to work could be as easy as a ten-minute boat ride and work becomes an adventure in itself.

Whether you're interested in a dive career or just want more information about continuing your dive education, join PADI Regional Manager Gary Joyce for an exciting and informative Go Pro Seminar at Scuba Emporium Tuesday, February 15th at 6:30.

The night also includes door prizes, giveaways, pizza, beer, wine, and soda. The night is free, but please call the store at (708) 226-1614 to register so we know how much food and drink to bring, and all who register before Friday, February 11th will be entered into a special Early Bird Drawing.

Already a Pro? Share why you wanted to Go Pro with everyone in the comment boxes.

Our World-Underwater ----- February 18th-20th

Our World-Underwater     February 18-20, 2011   Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL

If you’re a long time scuba diver, or just interested in finding out more about one of the fastest growing and most adventurous pastimes out there, don’t miss the Our World-Underwater show this month. Our World-Underwater has been educating and entertaining the Midwest for 41 years. The weekend of February 18th, 19th, and 20th is jammed packed with Workshops, Children’s Programs, Seminars, and more. A quick click through the 61 Presenter Bios, on the Our World-Underwater website, will give you an idea of the incredible talent that this convention brings together; and a quick click on their Children’s Programs  and 2011 Film Festival pages will give you good idea of all the fun they have planned for young and old alike. A wide variety of dive industry manufactures will be there to give Clinics on everything from the fitting, maintenance, and repair of Regulators, BCDs, and Dry Suits, to Packing for Exotic Travel.

So check out the Our World-Underwater website, for the weekend's schedule and to buy your tickets. Then get ready for an amazing weekend!