Nick Pelios
Freediver, Creator
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Nick Pelios
Freediver, Creator
Some jobs are just jobs. You clock in, you clock out, you get paid, you go home. And then there are jobs like teaching freediving. At first glance, it sounds like the dream—spending your days in the water, teaching people how to breathe, how to move, how to sink into the silence of the deep. Living somewhere warm, somewhere with clear blue water, somewhere your “office” is the ocean. And for some, it is a dream. But is it sustainable? Can you actually make a career out of teaching freediving, or is it just a beautiful detour on the way to something else? Like anything worth doing, it’s complicated. The answer isn’t a yes or a no—it’s a long dive into what this path really looks like, the sacrifices it demands, and the choices you’ll have to make along the way. So, let’s get real. Here’s what it means to teach freediving—not the Instagram version, not the fantasy, but the actual life of someone who chooses this path. The good, the bad, and the parts no one talks about.
1. You Get to Live in the Water: Let’s start with the obvious. If you love freediving, if the ocean feels more like home than anywhere on land, then teaching it lets you stay there longer. Every day, you get to be in the water, guiding students, watching them improve, seeing the moment they sink into their first real breath-hold and finally get it. You’re not stuck in an office. Your work isn’t sitting behind a desk staring at a screen. You’re in the elements—salt on your skin, sun on your back, the slow rhythm of the tides shaping your days. For a lot of people, that alone makes it worth it.
2. The Lifestyle Can Be Addictive: Teaching freediving often means living somewhere most people only visit on vacation. Thailand. Dahab. The Philippines. Mexico. Remote islands where the pace of life slows down, where your daily routine revolves around the water, where you meet travelers, athletes, and other people who’ve abandoned the traditional path in favor of something wilder. There’s a freedom to it. No commute, no dress code, no rigid structure. Just the ocean, the students, and the work. It’s not just a job—it’s a lifestyle.
3. You’re Sharing Something That Changes Lives: Freediving isn’t just a sport. For a lot of people, it’s personal. It’s about pushing past limits, learning to trust the body, finding peace in a way they never have before. As an instructor, you get to be part of that transformation. You watch nervous beginners turn into confident divers. You see students go from panicked first-time breath-holds to gliding effortlessly through the water. You get to be the person who opens the door to a whole new world for them. That’s not something every job can offer.
4. There’s a Demand for It: Freediving is growing. More people are getting certified every year. Resorts and dive centers are adding freediving courses to their offerings. Spearfishers, surfers, and underwater photographers are realizing the benefits of breath-hold training. If you position yourself well—if you market your skills, if you build a reputation, if you’re willing to travel—you can find work. It’s not easy, but it’s possible. And if you carve out a niche—elite training, deep diving, safety instruction for film crews—you can build something that lasts.
1. The Pay is… Inconsistent (at Best): Let’s talk money. Unless you own your own school, teaching freediving isn’t going to make you rich. Most instructors work for dive centers, and the pay is typically per student, per course. Some weeks, you might have back-to-back students and make solid money. Other weeks? Nothing. Freediving tourism is seasonal. It depends on weather, on travel trends, on the unpredictable ebb and flow of people coming and going. And unless you’re in a rare full-time contract position (which aren’t common), you only get paid when you have students. No students, no money. Can you live on it? Sure, in cheap locations. But can you save? Can you build a long-term future? That’s where it gets tricky.
2. The Physical Toll is Real: Teaching freediving isn’t the same as recreational freediving. You’re not training for your own dives—you’re diving for them. Over and over again, multiple times a day, every day. You’re equalizing constantly, swimming up and down, managing students in the water. Your body takes a hit. Your ears, your sinuses, your lungs—day after day of deep dives starts to add up. Fatigue becomes real. Injuries happen. And if you push too hard? You’re out of the water, which means you’re out of work. Unlike desk jobs, you don’t get paid sick days. If you can’t dive, you can’t teach. And if you can’t teach? You’re stuck.
3. You Have to Hustle (Constantly): There are a lot of freediving instructors. And if you’re not established, if you’re not marketing yourself, if you’re not networking, it’s easy to get overlooked. Most instructors have to piece things together. A little teaching here, a collaboration there, maybe running some online coaching or selling custom training plans on the side. If you don’t like uncertainty, if you’re not good at self-promotion, if you’re hoping work will just come to you—it won’t. Not in the long run.
4. It’s Hard to Build a Long-Term Future: Most people don’t teach freediving forever. Some transition into running their own dive centers, training elite athletes, or working on safety teams for competitions and film projects. Others burn out and move on. Why? Because while the lifestyle is incredible, it’s also exhausting. The low pay, the inconsistent work, the physical demands—it’s not sustainable for most people past a certain point. And if you ever want things like stability, savings, or—dare we say it—a life beyond diving, you start to realize that teaching isn’t always the long-term answer.
That depends on what you’re looking for. If you want adventure, freedom, and a way to spend as much time in the water as possible, then yes—teaching freediving can be one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever do. If you’re looking for stability, long-term financial security, or a traditional career path, then probably not.
Most freediving instructors don’t retire as instructors. They use it as a stepping stone—to own their own business, to train elite athletes, to work in marine conservation or underwater filmmaking. It’s not the end goal. It’s a chapter. A beautiful, challenging, life-changing chapter—but still, just a chapter.
So if you’re thinking about it, ask yourself this: Are you okay with uncertainty? Are you okay with making just enough to get by? Are you okay with the physical wear and tear, the instability, the hustle? And most importantly—does the idea of waking up every morning and getting in the water, no matter what it takes, still feel like the only thing you want to do? If the answer is yes, then go for it. Because some careers are about making money. And some? Some are about making a life.