Is it possible to get a job working on a snorkel/scuba boat for tourists in the Caribbean?

Question

As a SCUBA dive master, I am contemplating a move to the USVI. How do people get jobs working on the boats that bring out tourists snorkelling and scuba diving in the USVI? I've been on these trips before. Generally, its a catamaran type boat with a captain sailing the boat and two or three guys who help the people on the boat with drinks, entertainment, and then snorkelling/scuba diving. How do you get this job? Are these easy to come by?

Answer 1

No offense,but judging by your question you must be very new and inexperienced and that may work against you.
Also,you will be an outsider up against a pool of local people who will know more about the local dive locations,conditions and other operators than you do and they will usually hear about an opening long before you do through the coconut telegraph. They also live there and have family there so a dive operator knows or feels that they are less likely to leave than someone who just recently showed up. I am a long time PADI Dive Master/AI and have had the opportunity to work many different places in the US as well as several other countries over the last ten years..It was very difficult getting started,but after a number of different assignments I now have a excellent reputation and a lot of contacts in the industry. People will call or email me when they have an opening. I usually just do vacation relief so no one is worried about me taking their job while they are sick or on family business, vacation,etc. I consistently get 3 to 6 job offers a month. The jobs usually run from two weeks to three months.
and the loctions will vary.The most important thing that you need to be aware of in the beginning and to always remember is that the diving community is actually very small and word, good or bad, travels fast. Your reputation is 'everything' Always give more than is asked or expected of you. Hope this helps..Buena Suerte, juan23

Answer 2

juan isdright that it's a small community, and that there are already people here ( I'm on ST Thomas) that would have an in.......however, everyone starts sometime, and somewhere...show up, have all your paperwork in order ( hint: if you have a 'six pack' Captains license or at least a STCW training card you are one step up), be clean, neat, enthusiastic and available. All the jobs are taken? Well eventually someone is going to call in sick, or, given that there are a lot of flaky kids doing this work, call in lost in a rum squall.....and there you go.........there was a Yankee's first baseman named Wally Pepp; one day he told his manager he'd like a day off...a guy named Lou Gehrig go the start that day..and every day for next ten years...so show up, be prepared for a while without work and then jump when someone needs an extra hand....also, season here is running full bore already; you may be a bit late for this year.......

Answer 3

Actually, you will notice, if you read his comments carefully, that he complained also about ,“The ship was just sat there not doing anything". If you look at the photo, which shows the harbour at low tide, you can see that there is no water at certain times. What does he expect the ship to do when the tide is out? Fly? Float on air? Drive around the shore? The name of the father may be a clue - David Copp[ed]. One of the meaning of cop is to avoid fulfilling a commitment or responsibility, hence, copped out. Here is a guy who blames everything and everyone else for his own stupidity. Take responsibility and get the hell out of the place if its smell offends you. You couldn't invent him.