Deckhand / Divemaster
A deckhand/divemaster does a full deckhand's job and also runs the yacht's diving. You fill cylinders, look after the compressor and kit, brief guests and guide them underwater. Yachts that cruise the Maldives, Red Sea, Indonesia and the Caribbean hire for this role every season. A strong deckhand who can also guide dives well gets hired ahead of a deckhand who can't.
The jobWhat fills the day
Most of your day is deckhand work: washdowns, line handling, tender driving, watersports, anchor watches and maintenance. On top of that you run the dive locker. You fill and log cylinders, look after the compressor and filters, and do user-level servicing on regulators and BCDs. You keep kit sized and ready for every guest and check the oxygen and first aid kits. When guests want to dive, you choose the site, give the briefing, guide the dive and keep the dive log. Some yachts also send you down to check the hull or clear an anchor. You only do that within your training and the captain's dive procedures.
With no guests aboard, you're a deckhand who keeps the dive kit serviced. On charter, diving can fill the whole day: an early dive, a second dive after lunch, and a night dive if the site allows it. On a 40m yacht you may be the only dive professional aboard, and you may also drive the tender that follows the divers' bubbles. Expedition yachts over 80m often have a dive team with an instructor, rebreathers, a dedicated dive tender and a plan for getting an injured diver to a recompression chamber. Mediterranean programmes dive far less than tropical ones.
Captains hire a deckhand first. If you have a divemaster card, forty logged dives and no deck experience, you'll struggle to get past the CV pile. The strongest candidates have a season on deck, a PADI Divemaster or equivalent with a few hundred logged dives, and ideally some paid time at a dive centre. They also hold RYA Powerboat Level 2 and handle a tender well. Knowing how to run a compressor and blend Nitrox is a real advantage. So is good judgement. You'll be guiding owners and guests who may be rusty, nervous or overconfident, and your briefings need to be calm and clear.
People usually progress in one of two ways. The first stays on the dive side. You complete an Instructor Development Course and become a deckhand/dive instructor, which pays more and lets you teach courses aboard. Later you can lead a dive programme on an expedition yacht. The second follows the deck ladder: lead deckhand, then bosun, then officer tickets through Yachtmaster Offshore and OOW 3000gt. Plenty of bosuns on dive-heavy yachts started this way. Your dive skills stay useful at every rank.
Skills captains look for
- Dive guiding and briefings
- Compressor operation and logs
- Dive kit maintenance
- Tender driving
- Exterior detailing and varnish
- Dive emergency response
- Watersports and toys
A day aboardCharter day, 60m expedition yacht, Raja Ampat, Indonesia
Chamois the decks and check the tenders before the guests are up. Check the analyser on the Nitrox cylinders that were filled last night and log the readings.
Load kit into the dive tender for four guests. Check the oxygen kit, first aid bag, radio and surface marker buoys.
Give the site briefing on the aft deck, then guide a 55-minute drift dive along a reef wall. The second deckhand follows the bubbles in the tender.
Rinse and hang the kit, then refill cylinders on the compressor and log the running hours. After that, help set up the water toys off the swim platform.
Crew lunch in the mess while the guests eat on the sundeck.
Guide a second, shallower dive for two guests while the others kayak. Write up both dives in the yacht's dive log.
Wash down the tenders and the exterior, put the toys away and stand by on deck for the move to the evening anchorage.
Give the night dive briefing with torches and buddy checks, then guide a short night dive off the stern.
Kit rinsed, cylinders on fill, and off watch until an anchor watch at 02:00.
Pay by yacht sizeMonthly, before tips. Estimates. Bars share one scale.
You'll usually earn a few hundred dollars a month more than a deckhand without dive qualifications, and more again as an instructor. Charter tips can add 10-15% of the charter fee, shared among the crew. On busy dive yachts, tips often reflect how well the diving went. See the Bosun & Deckhand salary guide for figures from live adverts.
Tickets and visas
Must have
- STCW Basic Safety Training
- ENG1 medical
- PADI Divemaster or equivalent (SSI Dive Guide, BSAC Dive Leader)
- PDSD
- Emergency First Response or equivalent
Gets you hired
- RYA Powerboat Level 2
- Nitrox and gas blender certification
- DAN Oxygen Provider
- RYA PWC Instructor or Personal Watercraft
- Compressor operator training
Visas
- US B1/B2
- Schengen right to work or visa
Where it leadsA typical career path
Deckhand / Divemaster jobsOpen now on SuperyachtRoles.com
Questions crew ask
Can I get this job with a divemaster card and no yacht experience?
It's hard. Captains hire for deck skills first. A dive card on its own won't get you past a deckhand with a season behind them. Do some daywork or a season on deck, and log as many dives as you can at the same time.
Should I train to instructor level before applying?
You don't need to for a deckhand/divemaster role. Instructor level does open better-paid deckhand/dive instructor jobs where you teach guests aboard. It's best to get a season on deck first. Then you'll know which side of the job you want to grow into.
Will I be doing hull work and commercial diving?
You might do light work like a hull check or clearing an anchor. You only do it within your certification, the yacht's dive procedures and the flag state's rules. Real commercial jobs such as underwater welding or major hull work go to qualified commercial divers.
Do I dive every day?
That depends on where the yacht cruises and what the guests want. In the Maldives or Indonesia you might guide two or three dives a day on charter. A Mediterranean summer can pass with only a handful of dives, and then you're mostly a deckhand.