Underwater Entrepreneur: Diving with Giant Oceanic Manta Rays and Sharks

I just got back after a two weeks vacation down to the islands.  I spent the first week with my girlfriend and the second with my cousin who was visiting from the U.S. and my buddy Anton who came from Vietnam on a whim to come visit.

I spent a ton of money on flights, rebooking flights after deciding to forfeit them to stay longer, hotel rooms on the beach, renting scooters that we never used, private rock climbing guides, island excursions and scuba diving trips.  But then I realized something.  I somehow made more money during my vacation than I spent.

My four week island excursion

The Harsh Truth Behind: Location Independent Passive Income:

I worked almost everyday that I was on vacation.  It kind of sucked.  Somedays I would wake up at 5:30am to check emails before getting picked up for my day trip on the ocean at half past six.  Other days I would have to do work at night after dinner.  Living the 4-hour work week sometimes seems like more work than having a regular 9-5 job.  

When you have a regular job and go on vacation, for those two weeks you don't have to do anything. You never have to check your email, or even bring your laptop.

Then I realized, the big difference, vacations end.  Instead of waiting around all year, or in some cases, a few years to save up to go on a big vacation, it seems like I do it every other month.  Being based out of SE Asia makes it extremely cheap to fly around and being able to put my business in passive mode still allows me to make money while working from my laptop a few hours a day.  The truth is, I actually enjoy checking my email, seeing how many new sales I got for the day and working.  It's become a hobby of mine.  But what's an even cooler hobby is doing this:

Making Money Underwater:
I didn't have cell phone reception the entire day while on the dive site and obviously couldn't check my phone when I was underwater, but the coolest feeling in the world is while sitting on the boat on our way back to the island my 3G kicked in and the first thing I saw was a new sale notification on my Shopify App.  Excitedly I showed my phone to Anton and told him that while underwater I just made a sale worth more than the money I spent on the day of diving.  
Working as  Divemaster and Scuba Instructor:
I used to work on Koh Lanta as a Divemaster and loved it.  I got to dive everyday for free in exchange for taking tourists out on trips.  Honestly, if you are in your early twenties, go for it.  Take a year or two off of your life, live as cheap as possible and just enjoy not having any responsibilities and don't worry too much about the future.  I lived for around  $600 a month for 4 years diving, doing Muay Thai and enjoying the good life on the cheap.  If you haven't already, read my book 12 Weeks in Thailand and read the chapter about working as a Divemaster and getting paid to dive.  
But now that I'm 32 and have an online business, I would much rather just pay the 4,000 baht ($133US) and have someone else carry the tanks, wash the gear and guide me underwater while I get to just relax and enjoy the dive especially if I'm making passive income while doing it.   Listen to Anton and I talk about our trip, what it's like diving with sharks and giant manta rays and how Koh Lanta might be the best beach in the world, period.

Listen to Episode 28 here

Wrapping it up:
If you haven't been diving yet, I highly encourage everyone to do so as soon as possible. Unsustainable commercial fishing is making reefs and incredible sea life quickly disappear so there is a HUGE chance if you wait too long you won't be able to see Sharks and Manta Rays while diving in even a few years.   If you are curious on how I got started making the switch from working a regular job to having an online business, go to the start here page for more information.  If you liked the video, let me know in the comments section so I can make more like it.  Keep in touch and best of luck to everyone in your own journeys both above land and underwater.
Warm Regards,
Johnny FD www.facebook.com/JohnnyFDK www.twitter.com/JohnnyFDK