Hi everyone, I’m Tom, 19, from England. I’m an SSI Divemaster and starting the 10-week HSE Air Diver course at CDT on 7th September. I’m looking to get into inshore commercial diving straight after qualifying, build up experience and then move offshore. I’ve been reading up a lot before the course and would be interested in any advice on getting that first inshore job, what companies are good to approach and what experience/tickets are worth getting for eventually moving offshore. Cheers.

Let's build out a global pay rate range. In the e-book I wrote, I flat-out refused to print a day rate. The second I write "$X is how much you'll earn in this industry," it's already wrong for someone — wrong country, wrong sector, wrong year. But let's be honest about who that silence actually serves: the only people who win when divers don't talk numbers are the ones signing the cheques. Some of these outfits are still paying 2013 rates and counting on you not knowing any better, or so desperate for a job, you'll accept nearly anything. So I'll go first. All cards on the table. Me — offshore sat, one of the majors out of the Middle East: $500 USD/day, door to door +$30/hr, in what's usually a 25–27 day sat 3–4 sats a year The offshore air diving guys are on around $350–450 USD depending on experience. The untypical bit for this part of the world that nobody mentions: my company covers every ticket renewal and all my training apart from my annual dive medical. That's rare as hen's teeth out here, and over a career it's worth more than a few dollars on the day rate. Do the maths on what you bleed on recerts and travel before you compare headline numbers. The other end of the same gulf — some companies out here run $420 / $20 for sat work, half rate while you're travelling, and you cover your own renewals. They'll often give you more sats a year (+5-ish), so it's never a clean apples-to-apples. And back home — inshore New Zealand sits around $450–550 NZD/day, depending on the company/project. 4 completely different realities in the "same" industry. I want to build the real picture — a proper rate map for the people staring down a $30k decision to do a dive course with no clue what's actually waiting on the other side. So here's the ask. Drop yours below — ballpark's fine, round the numbers, no need to name the company. •Region / country: Sector + level (inshore / offshore air / sat — and your ticket): •Day rate + currency (state which — e.g. USD / NZD / GBP / NOK):