10 Highest Paying Diving Jobs in 2024

Diving is an amazing sport that can help you achieve fitness and health, but it’s also a great way to make money. There are many amazing diving jobs out there that you can find if you’re interested in the industry. Here are the ten highest paying diving jobs in America!

What jobs can you do as a diver?

Divers are some of the best people to be a part of the ocean. They can go into the water and swim for hours, never getting tired. They can also dive with great precision, often able to find treasure that other people would miss. So what is a diver’s job? diver jobs are many and varied. Some jobs include: lifeguard, search andrescue, open water swimming instructor, water polo coach, and more. Whether you want to work in the ocean or become a diver, you’ll need to have some skills.

How much do scuba divers make?

commercial diver salary – Do you think you know about scuba diving? Do you know the average salary for a scuba diver? If not, this blog post is for you. In this blog post, we’re going to explore how much scuba divers make.

Read: Learn About Being a Commercial Diver

Divers make a national average salary of $49,602 per year according to Indeed Salaries where salary averages are frequently updated. Your salary as a diver depends on a variety of factors, such as your geographic location, your employer, your experience level and the type of diving you do. Apart from your salary, you may also earn benefits such as parental leave, professional development assistance or relocation assistance, all dependent upon your employer.

High-paying diving jobs

Whether you want to live on a boat for a given period or return home at the end of your workday day, the diving industry offers many high-paying positions for you to explore. Understanding what each career path entails can help you make a more informed career decision. Here are some high-paying diving careers for you to pursue:

Saturation diving

Saturation diving allows you to explore the ocean for weeks at a time. While you may stay underwater for 28 days, you can expect one to two months off after your diving mission. On the job, you can expect to work as part of a team of divers who depend on each other during their underwater excursions. Some of your duties as a saturation diver may focus on oil well intervention and installation.

As with other diving jobs, a saturation diving career requires both physical and mental fitness. Since you may encounter life-threatening situations, it’s important to have the mental capacity to stay calm and use procedures you learned from your extensive saturation diver training when needed. While this job comes with a high level of danger, it also presents you with a lucrative salary.

HAZMAT diving

HAZMAT diving involves removing hazardous materials from various bodies of water. As a HAZMAT driver, you can expect to handle toxic waste such as raw sewage when you repair sewer pipes found deep underwater. You may also encounter oil sludge, wet cement and radioactive material.

With this diving career, you need to take many precautionary measures. For example, you need to get vaccinated and undergo extensive decontamination processes. In addition, you can expect to use expensive safety equipment on the job. HAZMAT divers also wear suits that range in thickness depending on their environment. Each suit comes pressurized and sealed to avoid leakage or exposure to hazardous materials while underwater. All of these precautions ensure you’re taken care of both pre- and post-dive.

Nuclear diving

Nuclear divers dive into radiation-exposed bodies of water. While all diving careers have some level of danger, a nuclear diving career exposes you to an even riskier environment. Even if you’re diving into water that may seem harmless, it still has the potential to harm you because of its radioactivity. Fortunately, nuclear diver’s get their radiation levels closely monitored to ensure diver safety. When they face danger, they’re trained to return to topside.

Read: Learn About Being a Lifeguard

With the right equipment and skills, you can perform this job successfully. Apart from the dangers this job presents, you also get to experience the exploration, operations and technical aspects of diving within a nuclear reactor.

Off-shore commercial diving

A job as an off-shore commercial diver provides you with a proper introduction to the commercial diving industry. You can pursue this career as an entry-level candidate with proper certification.

Some of your duties as an off-shore commercial diver may include rigging, welding a pipeline or measuring the spacing for the placement of various material underwater. Your exact duties depend on the work that needs completion.

It’s also worth nothing that this profession doesn’t offer a steady stream of work because of off seasons and weather. Despite this, this job can help you determine your suitability for a commercial diving career.

Inland diving

Inland diving provides divers with a steadier work schedule and fewer hazards and work hours compared to off-shore diving. As opposed to other diving jobs that involve staying on a boat for a prolonged period, inland diving typically allows you to go home at the end of your workday.

As an inland diver, you may work in a lake, on a river, on a bridge or dock. Your duties typically involve salvaging, topside welding, cleaning water intake and outtake systems, inspecting designs or repairing bridges or piers. Like off-shore divers, inland divers may also perform some welding work and repair pipelines or vessel hulls.

Naval diving

Various military branches employ naval divers. Naval divers undergo training and have duties related to those you’d find with an off-shore or inland commercial diving position. Since naval divers work for the military, they’re required to abide by strict rules and leadership. Some of your duties on this career path include salvage, underwater welding and marine equipment maintenance.

Scientific diving

A scientific diving career lets you explore underwater plant and animal life. As a scientific diver, you use unique instruments to perform underwater experiments and collect samples. You can typically find employment at a large organization that conducts underwater research.

Military and police diving

Both military and police divers work for the government. Military divers assist with underwater bomb defusing, demolition and search and rescue. Typically, they’re part of the special forces. Police divers, on the other hand, look for evidence or clues that help with a criminal investigation. For example, police divers may find a dead body or a weapon involved in a crime during an underwater search.

Underwater photography

Also known as media divers, underwater photographers use waterproof cameras and equipment to record footage of marine life, coral reefs, caves and shipwrecks. While underwater photographers typically start their careers as freelancers, they may start their own business later on, or work under another underwater photographer. They can also work for a resort and take photos for the resorts advertisements. Each of these work experiences allows them to gain valuable experience with their underwater craft.

Apart from regular photography skills, underwater photographers also need to know how to adjust to various underwater conditions that may affect lighting, staging or coloring.

Aquarium and pool diving

Aquarium divers work for zoos, theme parks and recreational merchants. They clean and look after a variety of underwater animals. Pool divers work at theme parks, training a variety of marine animals and entertaining the park’s attendees.

Tips for pursuing a diving career

Diving, particularly of the deep-sea variety, is one of those career paths that is just not for everyone. But if you are fit, dedicated and passionate about the water, following these tips will help set you on your way toward a fascinating career journey:

• Improve your physical fitness. In order to become a diver, you need to have the physical capacity to complete your job duties. Spend time improving your physical fitness and your swimming skills. It’s also important to consider your mental health since diving often puts you in high-risk situations where it’s important to stay calm.

• Connect with your dive school. Dive schools can connect you with potential employers because of their industry connections. Consider networking with some of your diving school alumni to learn about opportunities you might find interesting.

• Review the job description for required certifications. Certain diving jobs may require specialized certifications. Review the job description for the job you’re interested in and note which certifications you need. Then, pursue them. If you’re not required to have a specialized certification, you can still consider exploring them if you think they’ll help with your future career.