Freedom, Income and Impact – in this engaging and straight-talking seminar at Atlantic City Scuba Show (6-7 June), veteran Instructor Trainer Bob Collins shares decades of real-world experience working both inside dive centers and independently across the globe. This isn’t theory, this is what actually works.
Discover how to break free from traditional constraints and build a flexible, rewarding career on your own terms – without sacrificing professionalism, safety, or income.
Bob dives into the core pillars of success:
- Developing the right mindset to stand out in a competitive industry
- Building a powerful personal brand that drives referrals and repeat students
- Creating multiple income streams beyond entry-level certifications
- Forming strategic partnerships with dive centers instead of competing against them
- Delivering unforgettable student experiences that turn into lifelong loyalty
This session also tackles the honest realities – income fluctuations, workload, and the responsibilities of running your own business – while showing how those challenges can become your greatest advantages.
Whether you’re newly certified, considering independence, or already teaching on your own, this seminar will give you a clear roadmap to grow your influence, your income, and your impact in the dive industry.
What Does Success Really Look Like?
Success isn’t just ‘making money as an instructor’. Have control over your schedule – teach when you want, not when you’re told. Choose your students, create experiences, take them from nervous to calm and confident underwater because of you. Build a tribe of divers who trust you, come back to you, and bring others with them.
Wake up excited to teach – not burned out from pushing people through a system. Know what you do matters. That you’re changing lives… one diver at a time. Yes – It’s also creating a sustainable income doing something you love. If there’s one thing Bob wants you to take away, it’s this:
You don’t need permission to build the career you want in diving. You do need a plan. You do need consistency. And you do need to care more about your students than anyone else does. Do that, and you won’t just be another instructor… You’ll be the one they remember.
Atlantic City Scuba Show
At this new East Coast event, Rork Media plan to retain everything that made the Scuba Show such a staple on the West Coast diving circuit, and enhance it with new and improved elements, including a Main Stage with a huge video wall right in the exhibition hall itself, a new layout designed to stimulate exploration around the hundreds of booths, and additional interactive attractions including a VR dive on a deep-water shipwreck in the Baltic Sea, the Marine Careers Experience, where you can pilot an actual ROV through an obstacle course, get a selfie with a difference in our Shark Cage, and much more.
As well as the Main Stage in the exhibition hall, there is also an Inspiration Stage host to some truly exceptional speakers.
Whether you’re an experienced diver, a new enthusiast, or just curious about the underwater world, the Scuba Show brings together everything you love about diving under one roof.
Greg Holt from Scuba Radio will be entertaining the crowds on mornings before and as the show opens, offering plenty of fun and games, and the chance to win some amazing prizes.
Explore hundreds of exhibitors showcasing the latest scuba gear, dive destinations, underwater photography equipment, training programs, and ocean conservation initiatives, and connect with dive professionals, travel operators, and fellow divers from across the country.
You can even sell your old scuba kit at the Scuba Show to free up some of your hard-earned cash to go and buy shiny new gear, book that next vacation, or sign up for your next training course. Eastern Sports will be on-hand at the show to give you a cash offer on your used scuba gear so you can then go spend that cash at other vendors. You don’t even need to haul all your kit with you – they also offer a free shipping program for customers to send their gear, so chat to the team on the show floor.
There is also the opportunity to expand your skillset. The PSI-PCI Visual Cylinder Inspection course is open to everyone who wishes to inspect high-pressure breathing gas cylinders, or just know about the process. These specialty courses support the inspection process with formal function specific training on valve maintenance and repair, and Oxygen Cylinder Cleaning. Inspectors who are at the three-year renewal mark and want to attend the PSI-PCI Update course will be able to take care of it at the Scuba Show as well.
PSI-PCI offers the only training that is formally endorsed, utilized, and referred to by the cylinder manufacturers. The training has been created with the input of industry professionals and experts in each field to provide you with the best training available to meet the Federal requirements for the associated processes. You can join the team of PSI-PCI Professionals at the Scuba Show. Don’t wait, seats will fill up quickly! Click here for more information and to book a slot.
The Scuba Show offers two full days of ocean adventure, hand’s-on experiences, and exclusive show specials, and is where the US dive community comes together to celebrate the underwater world.
Get your tickets now!
Tickets are on sale now for the Scuba Show, and new for 2026, there is a change to the cost of entry – there is now one ticket price, which gets every attendee full access to the Exhibition Hall, and all of the presentations.
With many of the speakers on the dedicated Inspiration stage either only presenting on one of the days, or giving two different talks, plus with the headline acts on the Main Stage, and the plethora of booths, interactive elements and much more, there is plenty to keep you occupied on both days, so why not make a weekend of it?
Tickets are available now – click here – priced at $33 for a day ticket, and $60 for a weekend pass. There is also the option of a VIP Pass, which includes a weekend pass plus 6 issues of Scuba Diver magazine and 6 issues of California Diving News (Magazine delivery US & Canada residents only), and a Scuba Show Dive Team T-shirt, for $100.
Under 16s go free – bring the family and let the kids dive into the fun as well.
Join us for two incredible days, 6-7 June 2026, celebrating the world of diving at the Atlantic City Convention Center!
