Love scuba diving, and want to get paid for it? There are quite a few different scuba diving roles where you can combine your passion for diving, and make a living from it. If you are looking at how to make money scuba diving, then here are some of the top scuba diving employment opportunities out there!
Scuba Diving Employment Opportunities
1. DiveMaster and Dive Instructor
The most obvious way when figuring out how to make money scuba diving is to teach new scuba divers! As an instructor, you will teach people how to master the basics of scuba diving and how to improve their diving. It is a very sociable role as you will be meeting new people. There is a lot of responsibility, and very rewarding work.
Another professional scuba diving position is being a Divemaster. A divemaster will also have responsibilities, but they will be taking already certified divers and guiding them around dive sites, and helping divers refresh their skills.
2. Underwater Photographer / Videographer
If you want to preserve your scuba diving memories and the marine life that you see on your dives, then becoming an underwater photographer or videographer can be a great profession. There are many courses that offer specialities for digital filming, where you can practise your buoyancy and your camera skills. Photos and videos can then be sold to other divers, magazines, or even as printed artwork.
Usually scientific divers will be scientists first, and scuba divers second. So it is an easier progression into this career if you already have a scientific background. These divers will use scuba diving to collect data underwater, and analyze back in a lab. Most common scientific divers will be marine biologists, or marine geologists.
Archaeology is not always thought about in an underwater setting, but we can find out a lot about our past and future dive sites through marine and maritime archaeology. It is a fascinating way to study human history, and maritime archaeologists will dive for data, artefacts, wrecks, human remains, and more.
A public safety diver works with law enforcement, fire rescue, and search & rescue/recovery dive teams. Public safety divers are on call and respond to emergencies 24/7, and may work in contaminated and often tough conditions. They may recover cars that have been driven into lakes, recover jewelry that’s been lost in the water, or in more somber cases, recover human remains.
This role can be volunteer-based, and the divers will often but not always, be already working in emergency services. PADI offers a course as a public safety diver.
6. Commercial Diver
Commercial divers are paid to do specific tasks underwater. This will be for industrial, construction, engineering, maintenance or other commercial purposes, such as fish-farms. It is often tough and dangerous work, and the divers work long hours. Commercial divers can work in scuba equipment, or use more technical equipment such as full-faced masks, and surface-supplied diving via an umbilical hose.
We chat to Ioannis Savva, a marine biologist from Cyprus currently working as a Junior Marine Researcher/Biologist in the Marine and Environmental Research (MER) Lab. He is an avid scuba diver with a passion for the marine environment.
What is a marine biologist?
A marine biologist is basically a biologist who is specialized in the marine environment. Marine biology is therefore the field of science that studies the marine life/biodiversity and its interaction with the physical environment. There are a few ways of doing that.
Some marine biologists will scuba dive or freedive to collect data. While other marine biologists will work on scientific vessels and collect samples from the sea surface, water column, and even from the sea bottom without getting wet.
In the lab studying fish morphometrics. Photo courtesy of Ioannis Savva
In some extreme occasions, some marine biologists could spend 100% of their time without interacting with the marine environment by simply studying a marine-related subject in the laboratory, or even applying mathematical models on data in order to explain biological patterns.
Nowadays, marine biologists do not just conduct research on marine organisms. They are also implicated with topics related to anthropogenic pressures exerted in the marine environment (e.g. marine litter), mitigation measures, environmental consulting, education, as well as carrying out restoration practices on degraded marine habitats.
Personally, I would like to believe that marine biology is not all about research and science. Presently, there is a great need to raise awareness, conserve marine life, and get involved in the policymaking process. Marine biologists can absolutely take part in these fields by utilizing their knowledge and expertise.
How did you get into marine biology? What do you need to study to become a marine biologist?
I must admit that I am a Biology graduate from Cardiff University (Wales, United Kingdom), even though I always loved the idea of becoming a marine biologist from step one.
Long story short, my passion for marine biology arose with the thought of working with marine mammals (as most marine biologists initially want) as early as I remember. Due to job security reasons at the time, I felt it was necessary to study something broader. Thus, I got into a Biology degree first. This, however, did not stop me from chasing my dream career. During my bachelor’s years, instead of going back home for the summer holidays, I would always travel to Spain and volunteer in a non-governmental organization (NGO) that conducted research on marine mammals in the strait of Gibraltar for conservation purposes.
Following my bachelor’s degree, I decided to pause my studies and take a placement year in marine conservation in Greece. It was then where my entire perception towards marine biology shifted completely from just loving marine mammals to appreciating the entire marine ecosystem approach.
Measuring Seagrass Coverage. Photo courtesy of Ioannis Savva
I began to explore the importance of marine habitats and discover the beauty of seaweeds and seagrasses as well as all the fascinating things they can do and offer to the entire planet. Yep, that’s right, to the entire planet! My placement year led me in applying to an International Joint Master’s degree in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, where I spent two years of my life in Portugal, Sweden, Belgium, France, and Mallorca. Those were the best two years in my 20s, as I became part of an outstanding group of international people who had the same passion as me, and at the same time, I was pursuing my goals to become a marine biologist.
Every person has a different motive for becoming a marine biologist, and they can simply accomplish this by undertaking a degree in marine biology (or biology and then specialize in a marine-related subject), which basically allows you to pick up all the necessary skills and tools you require in the real world of business. However, I feel that is not enough. I truly believe that you certainly need a great deal of passion for the marine environment and persistence in order to sustain your career as one, which is a common trait among those who pursue it.
Working in science and in the marine environment is challenging and a daunting task, therefore you need to keep that spark alive.
What are you currently working on?
In MER Lab we do all sorts of different things. Our most renowned project is RELIONMED, which aims to combat the lionfish invasion in the Mediterranean Sea and control their already established populations in Cyprus.
It is a multidisciplinary project as it includes various fields of action such as researching the biology and ecology of the lionfish, conducting social surveys, raising awareness, education, implicating citizen science, applying conservation practices and testing their effectiveness, assessing marketing strategies, as well as dissemination in media.
Additionally, we participate in a biodiversity monitoring programme on Artificial Reefs within the Marine Protected Areas of Cyprus. We are also involved in two new enormous projects; one related to elasmobranchs and their interaction with fishing activities and the other to marine habitat mapping along the coastline of Cyprus, with particular emphasis on the Mediterranean endemic seagrass Posidonia oceanica.
Using photoquadrats to sample a specific area underwater. Photo courtesy of Ioannis Savva
As far as concerning our major projects, we further expanded our work in offshore environments. We take part in environmental baseline and monitoring surveys within the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone as part of the natural gas exploration activities that are currently ongoing in the region. Our role there is to examine the biodiversity from the water column and deep-sea bottom before and after an exploration drilling.
In reference to the offshore operations, I also recently got certified as a Marine Mammal Observer and a Protected Species Observer, which basically allows you to mitigate the impacts of noise pollution on marine mammals and protected species from the activities of offshore industry. I can’t wait to put this in practice! Continue reading…
Marcel van den Berg is a PADI Platinum Course Director who resides and teaches in Koh Tao, Thailand. He left The Netherlands to become a scuba diving instructor. As a Course Director, he now teaches professional divers to become scuba instructors.
How did you get into the diving industry?
It all started in 2003 when I took the PADI Open Water Diver Course in Gilli Trawangan in Indonesia. I always loved watching marine life documentaries and adventure movies, and taking a scuba diving course on my holiday was very attractive to me.
I have to admit that before the start of the diving course I had my doubts and worried about how safe diving was. This fear was taken away very quickly in the confined water dives. During my first dive, I realized what an incredible new world there was underwater.
Scuba diving costs money. So I was thinking about how to make money with scuba diving instead of paying for it, and becoming a dive instructor could make this happen. Later I realized that there are many more benefits to becoming a diving instructor. Especially teaching others to overcome their fears, introducing them to the aquatic world, and just giving them an unforgettable experience on their holiday is just incredibly awesome!
What did you do in your ‘previous life’ and where?
I had many different jobs and studies in Amsterdam, the Netherlands where I am from. I always felt a bit lost, not knowing what I wanted to do in my life. So the idea of living abroad on a tropical Island, being surrounded by happy people, and teaching someone my passion seemed like the best next step. I have never regretted it!
Tell us about your personal journey to becoming a PADI course director.
I initially thought about becoming a diving instructor, travel the world, and making a living with something I love to do. However, throughout my diving courses, I noticed some of the best dive instructors and some of the worst. I realized quickly like in any other industry that you had amazing professionals, bad professionals, and everything in between.
Having fun and teaching scuba diving on Koh Tao. Photo courtesy of Marcel van den Berg.
What was important to me was seeing divers being trained by great diving instructors who usually had a life-changing experience and some even became dive professionals themselves, inspiring others to become like them. I also saw some people being trained by the worst diving professionals resulting in most of them quitting scuba diving or even worse, getting inspired to become bad dive professionals themselves.
I believe that if you teach someone with a positive attitude and give 5000%, they most likely will be inspired to do the same. This started my journey towards becoming a PADI Course Director. I wanted to inspire a future generation of successful diving instructors.
How do you become a PADI Course Director?
To become a PADI Course Director you need to tick checkboxes before you can apply. As mentioned before, I started my PADI Open Water Course in 2003. I kept thinking about becoming a Diving Instructor almost every day and finally after 4 years, I booked the PADI Advanced Open Water Course to PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer. This was a Zero to Hero Package including the PADI Advanced Open Water, EFR, Rescue Diver, Divemaster, IDC, and MSDT course. It took me 1 year to complete all these courses including some extra experience during my Divemaster Course.
During my PADI IDC Course, I was so inspired by my amazing PADI Course Directors Jonas Samuelsson and Tim Hunt, that I decided to take my PADI IDC Staff Instructor Course straight after the MSDT program.
After completion, it was time for more experience. There need to be 2 years between your PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor rating and the PADI Master Instructor rating. In this time I taught all PADI Recreational courses and every few months assisted an IDC Course as an IDC Staff Instructor.
Marcel assessing instructors during his PADI Staff Instructor Course. Photo courtesy of Marcel van den Berg.
One of the best parts of training and working on Koh Tao is the number of people visiting the Island. Koh Tao trains some of the highest amounts of diving students worldwide. With this amount of students, I had the opportunity to gain a lot of experience and teach people on all PADI levels. By the time I was ready for my course director course I had taught over 4000 students in all PADI levels.
From day one I focussed on the checklist to be able to apply for Master Instructor and Course Director, so by the time I was allowed to apply I had more than enough PADI credits to apply for the Courses. Finally, in 2011, I received amazing news from PADI that I was allowed in the PADI Course Director Training Course (CDTC)!
Did you have to overcome any fears, or obstacles to get where you are now?
Personally, the biggest obstacles to becoming a Course Director was time, money, and reputation.
Time
Not only does it take time to complete all those courses, but it also takes even more time to become a successful Course Director in the future. There is a lot more to being a CD then most people think. Besides giving 100% energy to your students, we also need to build websites, answer emails, work on marketing, keep studying, and updating ourselves. Being a manager, owner, teacher, secretary, marketeer, SEO, website builder, and more all together is best described as being a Course Director for IDC programs. Some Course Directors have it harder than others. I am grateful to work at Sairee Cottage Diving that has great management and staff with lots of support towards my program.
I always say “it doesn’t manner how good you are as a teacher, without any students you can’t shine as a teacher”. This Sounds a bit demotivating, but I can tell you teaching future generations of Dive Instructors is worth every minute you put into it!
Money:
It was quite expensive to become a Course Director. All of the courses cost money; a lot of fees, materials, and diving equipment. However, the biggest cost for me was assisting extra IDC’s for more experience. I staffed 12 IDC courses before taking the Course Director course, instead of the minimum 2 (after completion of the IDCSI course).
During these months you cannot work and I was already making good money as a recreational diving instructor. I know a lot of people believe that being a diving instructor does not pay well, but it depends on how you play your cards. I was working for the biggest Dive School in the world at that time, so I earned a very nice income. That loss of income was a big obstacle.
Finally, the Course Director course was expensive and I had to travel to the Caribbean where the CDTC was giving. I do have to say that it was worth all the investment. Not only was the PADI Course Director course amazing, but you get a valuable certification and the opportunity to earn your investment back. So was it worth it? Absolutely!
Reputation:
Climbing the ladder to success is not always easy. You do meet fantastic friends down the road that help you, but also some people that might get a bit jealous. It is vital to building a good reputation as a Course Director to receive students that want to learn from you. Working on this reputation is not always easy and very time-consuming. But if you stick to it, work hard, and have a positive attitude you will get there!
What has been the most rewarding part of your diving career?
The most rewarding was also one of my most challenging situations. Dealing with a student diver having a panic attack quite deep, in bad visibility, while having a strong current and just pretty much some of the worst conditions. The diver hit my mask and regulator second stage off my face on the way up to the surface. This was definitely not one of the best moments in my career, but we both made it back safe and I learned a lot from the situation. With a bit of extra training, the diver continued diving with me on one on one courses and is now an active PADI Divemaster helping others to overcome their fears. She became my friend and we are still in contact regularly.
This taught me, that with the right training, patience, and good attitude you can not only overcome people’s fears, but you can inspire them to teach others to overcome their fears. This is extremely rewarding to me and one of the best parts of being a dive professional.
What is your biggest professional milestone so far?
There are 3 milestones for me. The first was becoming a PADI Course Director, the second was receiving the PADI Outstanding Contribution to Instructor Development Award and the third was being able to teach monthly IDC Courses, this resulted in receiving the PADI Platinum status since the start of my Course Director Career.
What is your preferred teaching style?
I love teaching with storytelling. Relating the topic with actual real-life stories can make a power memory imprint. I learned that by just mentioning information or reading will not create a long-lasting memory for most people. Storytelling in my opinion does.
I believe that passing the Instructor Examination is not the end goal. The end goal should be getting work and becoming successful in your new career as a Diving Instructor. This needs good storytelling. Passing the IE can sometimes be achieved by just mentioning the information. Some IDC’s are taught like that, as it is easy for a Course Director with the least amount of effort. Storytelling takes more energy, but it is also fun, like reading a good book.
In your experience, what makes a great instructor?
Having a great attitude!
There are many more attributes that make a good instructor, but attitude is by far the most important one. I understand that being an excellent scuba diver, being knowledgeable, speak languages, etc. are important to be a good Dive Instructor. But none of that matters if you have a bad attitude.
Sadly in most cases, people with bad attitudes don’t know they have them (otherwise they would change them). They are convinced they have amazing attitudes and this is one of the main reasons, why they fail in getting or maintaining work as a diving instructor. They usually blame it on everyone and the industry, but we know it’s because of their negative or weird attitude… Continue reading
Today we are scuba diving in Puducherry, India. This French colonial town is formerly known as Pondicherry and is the capital city of Indian Union Territory of Puducherry.
WHY ARE WE DIVING IN PUDUCHERRY?
Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry), was a French colonial settlement in India until 1954 and now a Union Territory town bounded by the southeastern Tamil Nadu state.
Many travelers are drawn here due to the French legacy preserved in its French Quarter. Streets are lined with trees and sheltered by mustard-colored colonial villas and chic boutiques. A seaside promenade runs along the Bay of Bengal and passes several statues, including the 4m-high Gandhi Memorial.
As Puducherry is along the country’s East Coast, there is some amazing scuba diving here, packed with enchanting marine life. A dive into the sea will let you explore the rich life comprising of beautiful natural coral reefs and other exotic creatures such as manta rays, kingfish, sea snakes, lionfish, butterflyfish, crustaceans, moray eels and many more.
HOW DO WE GET THERE?
Puducherry has its own domestic airport. So if you are an international traveller you can get a flight to Pondicherry from any Indian international or domestic airports like New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, or Hyderabad.
As it is not an island and connected to the mainland on the east coast of southern India it is easy to reach by bus and train with regular schedules.
Once you are in the city, there are a lot of public transport options such as buses, cabs, cars and even Tuk-Tuks. If you are feeling more independent, you can also rent electric bicycles, scooters, bikes, and cars. Traveling to Puducherry from anywhere in India is very easy and safe.
WHICH DIVE SITES ARE MUST-SEE?
Photo by Tushar “TC” Chaudhary
If it is your lucky day, you might spot whale sharks. And possibly even sharks, dolphins, and turtles. You also have the option of enjoying a dive at an artificial reef and experience its thrill. All this makes scuba diving in Pondicherry beach irresistible.
SOME OF THE DIVE SITES IN PUDUCHERRY
There are about 22 dive sites in and around Puducherry. They range from 12 to 50 meters.
4 Corners
The depth is 18 meters, mostly used for Open Water Courses as well as fun dives. It’s an artificial reef made up of pyramid structurs and trees. It also features some vehicles now home to several fish like Potato Groupers, Pufferfish, Lionfish, Yellow Boxfish, Trevally, and others.
Canyon Wall
The depth ranges from 32 to 37 meters. Canyon wall is situated on the Tectonic plate and allows divers to peer into small cracks on the rocky bottom. It is known for Giant Moray eels, Sea snakes, Lionfish, Shrimps, Slugs, and more.
Danny’s Eel Garden
The depth is around 16 to 18 meters. It’s a man-made rocky bottom on a sandy plain. As it’s name suggests it features many species of eels and in September to October it’s Cuttlefishtime!
Fan Garden
The depth ranges from 35 to 38 meters. The dive site is situated on the tectonic plate with a huge area covered by soft and fan corals.It feels like flying when you swim over the garden of colourful fan corals. Schools of small Blue triggerfish & Lionfish are commonly seen.
Shy Shark & Table Top
Shy Shark is at a depth of 20 meters. If you are lucky you can spot a lot of Grey reef sharks here. Barracudasare also commonly sighted.
Table Top reaches a depth of 35 meters with the natural structuring of the rocks appears arranged like a chessboard. Under these rock slabs as well as in the cracks, we spot a lot of Moray eels, Lobsters, and Sea Snakes. Sometimes a Whale Shark visits Table Top.
Photo by Tushar “TC” Chaudhary
There are lot of other beautiful dive spots around the tectonic plate filled with various marine life.
DO I NEED ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT?
The Puducherry sea lies in the Bay of Bengal and is considered tropical water. Therefore the temperature of the water ranges from 27-30 degrees Celcius. The diving can be done in wetsuit, rash guard, or simply shorts/bikini.
The diving season is from November till May. The best months for diving are January, February, March, and April. From March onwards whale sharks can be spotted on several dive sites. Mostly there is little current but sometimes the ocean is calm like a lake.
The visibility varies throughout the season from around 30 to 5 meters. During the months of April, and May the water becomes a little green because of plankton, however, there is an increased chance to spot whale sharks.
WHAT LEVEL CERTIFICATION SHOULD I BE?
Diving in Puducherry is great for beginners, try dive, Open Water level, and up! Puducherry has several dive centers and resorts that accept licenses from PADI, SSI or RAID. Diving is conducted by professionals, insured by DAN.
WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS?
The diving in Puducherry is beautiful featuring tectonic plate diving in international waters as well as diving on artificial reefs in the sand. Sometimes the diving can be challenging too with currents and drift dives. Puducherry is a good spot to learn drift diving.
Photo by Tushar “TC” Chaudhary
There is even some technical diving in Puducherry with a few deep dive sites.
There is a fishing boat wreck at 30 meters depth where a school of trevally and silver moony is commonly sighted. Most of the diving is conducted around 18 meters, so an open water certification is sufficient and the diving is super awesome!
Photo by Tushar “TC” Chaudhary
There is also boat and shore diving in Puducherry. Some dive sites are further away from the shore are reached by boat from Puducherry harbour. The closest dive site is about a 15 min boat ride and the farthest is about 2 hours away.
Most shore dives are conducted in the quarry on the mainland, which is reachable by car.
HOW MUCH WILL I SPEND?
Almost all dive centres in Puducherry will offer discounts for professional divers.
Scuba diving in Pondicherry prices are very cheap compared to other south-east Asian countries. The average cost for 2 fun dives in one day is about ₹6500 (INR). You can complete your Open Water course for about ₹26,500 and your Advanced Open Water course for about ₹19,500. Specialties such as Nitrox can be completed for around ₹13,500 or the Deep diver specialty about ₹16,000.
WHAT TYPE OF ACCOMMODATION IS AVAILABLE?
Various types of accommodation is available in Puducherry to suit all budgets.
Hotels in Pondicherry
There is a range of 3- to 4-star hotels that are available from ₹2000 to ₹10,000 a night. Many hotels feature sea views and are situated on the beach with many of them built in French-style architecture.
Hostels
There are a few hostels that are very affordable for backpackers. The facilities are pretty good and they charge around ₹800 for a night.
Resorts & Aashram
There are beach resorts in Puducherry that range from ₹1500 to ₹10,000 a night. Aashram in Puducherry needs to be booked online in advance.
Auroville
Auroville is a world-famous city situated about 8 kilometers outside of Puducherry. The hotels, hostels, and resorts there are the best options for people looking for a peaceful, natural, and yogic experience. Cars can be hired to travel to Puducherry. Even houses in Auroville are available for rent for around ₹6000 to ₹20,000 a month.
THINGS TO DO IN PONDICHERRY DURING THE SURFACE INTERVAL
There is plenty to explore when you are not diving in Puducherry.
A favourite for tourists are the beautiful beaches around Puducherry. Every beach is different in its own way. Popular ones are Paradise and Rock beach.
There is also Auroville beach is liked for surfing, Serenity beach for sunbathing, Quiet beach like the name suggests for a laid back vacation vibe. There is also Promenade beach favoured for beach yoga enthusiasts.
If you want to catch a mesmerising sunset, Veerampattinam beach is where you need to go.
While you are here, be sure to visit White Town, French Colony and the many Cafes around there.
There is a Sunday market and even a nightclub for the party goers!
These are the most visited places in Puducherry. Roaming around the beautiful city in the morning having refreshments at several cafes, bakeries is the perfect way to spend your surface interval. Going clubbing until 2 am is also an option, but not before you have a day of diving planned. On Sundays, there is a crowded market that offers you everything, anything you want.
As a result of French colonial history, there are some very beautiful French architecture and even mind-boggling churches.
Since Puducherry is located in the southern part of India, it holds a very vast variety of cultural, and religious heritage. These beliefs are reflected in the amazing architecture of their temples. There are a lot of religious festivals, and rituals happening throughout the year.
Auroville & Osudu Lake
Auroville is an experimental township in Viluppuram district mostly in the state of Tamil Nadu, with some parts in the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. It was founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa and designed by architect Roger Anger. It “represents humanity’s aspiration for peace and goodwill” and that it is “a unique symbol of human unity”. Well worth a visit!
How long does a scuba tank last? A simple question. However, there is no shortcut for the answer. Several factors will determine how long an air tank lasts. In this article, we will draw on physics and my personal experience as a diving instructor.
Let’s base the average on the most common scuba diving conducted around the world. New divers taking their try dives, certification courses, and fun divers with less than 30 dives, make up the largest portion of divers in my experience.
These divers are often still nervous and learning to control their air-consumption. They use standard equipment with a 80-cubic-foot cylinder filled with 200 bar of air. Dives at these levels are not deep at around 18 meters / 60 feet.
Based on my experience as an instructor these dives last between 35 and 45 minutes with 20% lasting as long as 60 minutes. This is surfacing with a minimum of 50 bar air-reserve still in the tank.
Let’s look at some determining factors.
Diving Physics
Everyone’s favorite subject in school, physics. Don’t worry, diving physics at the recreational level is very simple and easy to understand. Most of it comes down to Boyle’s Law which states the linear relationship between depth, pressure, volume, and density.
Our atmosphere exerts 1 bar of pressure on us. This is where we can assume 1 bar of pressure on the surface of the ocean. Because water is almost 800 times as dense as air, it exerts vast amounts of pressure even in shallow depths.
Here’s a quick excerpt of Boyle’s Law at 20 meters:
Depth
20m
Pressure
3 bar
Volume
1/3
Density
3x
This means that we are under 3 times the pressure at 20 meters depth compared to the surface. Under that pressure, air particles are three times closer together, therefore air is three times denser. To fill the same lung volume at that depth, three times the amount of air is required. In turn, if our air-consumption rate at the surface is x it becomes 3x at 20 meters. This means the deeper we go, under more pressure, the more gas we will use. There is nothing we can do to stop this. This is how physics affects how long our tanks last.
Air Consumption Rate
We can calculate gas consumption at various depths more accurately by using formulas based on a diver’s SAC rate (Surface Air Consumption rate) and Boyle’s Law. This will give us an expected air-consumption rate.
We need to figure out how long does a scuba tank last at the surface and then we can answer how long does a scuba tank last at 47 meters.
For simplicity’s sake, let’s assume our SAC rate translates to us using a full 80-cubic-foot tank on the surface in 3 hours. We can then use the density at 47 meters, which is 5.7, to calculate our consumption rate at that depth:
More experienced divers breathe slower and dive more relaxed and efficient, which reduces their air consumption. Mastering buoyancy control helps reducing air-consumption as well as breath-awareness.
Tank Sizes
The most widely used scuba tank size is 80 cubic feet or about 12 Liters. Other common scuba tank sizes used in diving are 8-, 10-, 15-, and 18-Liter cylinders. While there are many more sizes, in my experience, the most commonly used sizes besides the 12-Liter tanks are the 10-Liter for children and 15-Liter for air-hogs (divers with rapid air-consumption).
A few standard 80-cubic-foot scuba cylinders on a dive boat.
Next, it will depend on how much air the scuba tank compressor has filled the tank with. Air is so light, so why are these tanks so heavy? Many new divers ask me how much does a scuba tank weigh? The standard scuba tank weight in kg is about 16 or 35 pounds. A common misconception is that steel tanks are even heavier. In fact, a steel tank with a similar volume actually weighs in at 30 pounds or 13.5 kilograms.
Because steel is stronger than aluminium, steel tanks are a lot thinner. Aluminium tanks have an average wall thickness of 15.5 mm whereas steel is around 5 mm. Now even if steel is a heavier material, that’s a lot of extra aluminium needed to hold tank pressure.
The valve opening on a standard aluminium scuba cylinder.
A cut open scuba tank that shows the wall thickness.
Now, while size matters, it also matters how much pressure is in these tanks. An average male’s lung is about 6 Liters. So if we fill our standard 12-Liter tank with atmospheric pressure of 1 bar, that’s two breaths on the surface. 200 bar, however, is 200 x 12L = 2400L, so about 1200 breaths on the surface. Remember depth will use more as we established above.
Female’s often have smaller lung volumes, giving women an advantage in air-consumption rates when scuba diving.
Scuba cylinders are rated to maximum pressures that they can safely hold. This is why we can’t pump 500 bar into a standard scuba cylinder.
Don’t fancy lugging that much weight around? Maybe figure out how long does a pony bottle last, and take that instead.
Tips to Improve Your Air-Consumption Rate
This is a very common question I get asked. People want to stay down for longer, so they want to make their tank last longer. Experience is one of the factors that matter greatly. However, I often tell my students these tips to improve their air consumption:
Relax yourself and your breathing
Don’t use your arms to swim
Find perfect buoyancy and kick efficiently, not constantly
Move slowly and as little as possible
Try to breathe out longer than a breath in
For more advanced divers, I also suggest finding a rhythm. Really experienced divers don’t simply breathe in and out and kick. They find a rhythm of breathing and moving that is comparable to meditation!
This is why scuba diving is so awesome!
Other Factors Limiting Your Time Underwater
Air is important for survival. But no matter whether you take your certification with PADI, SSI or RAID, you will learn about other limiting factors. Temperature can limit a dive if you are diving in Norway for example. Dive buddies in your dive team with faster air consumption than you can end a dive early. When diving at depth, no-decompression limits can also be your limiting factor.
How Long Does a Scuba Tank Last?
Now that we have established the answer is more complicated than the question, we know there isn’t a simple scuba tank time calculator we can use to calculate the exact time. It goes without saying that you should never push air limits to last a little longer underwater. Finished it in 20 minutes? No worries, make a safe ascent, and switch to a new tank. Air is free after all.
One thing I do know is that a scuba tank never lasts long enough!
