PADI Instructor Development Course
Teach Something you Love!
Then the Instructor Development Courses(IDC) typically run over 10-15 days. You will learn what you need to become an instructor and prepare you for your Instructor Examination(IE)
Requirements to start the PADI Instructor Development course are;
Certified as an open water diver for six months
Done Advanced Open Water and Rescue diver courses
First aid Within two years
PADI Divemaster
100 logged dives
Materials you will receive
On your IDC, you will get a Digital IDC Crew pack, which you can access online or through the PADI Training app. The Digital IDC Crew Pack includes 16 E-Learning sections, PADI’S Guide to Teaching, PADI Diving Knowledge workbook, exams for Open water, Rescue and Divemaster Courses, Specialty instructor manuals and Open water Lesson guides and many other IDC Resources. Your Physical materials will be your EFR instructor manual, Wet slates for courses from Open water up to Divemaster, and will receive a PADI Backpack.
During the IDC, you will develop your teaching in the classroom, confined and open water environments for courses from Open water up to Divemaster. You will also learn more in-depth dive theory covering physics, physiology, RDP, Skills in the Environment and Equipment. Several presentations conducted by your course director will also cover teaching the different PADI courses and their Standards to the business of diving and marketing.
Since the beginning of 2020, PADI has introduced a revised IDC. One of the main changes to the IDC is E-Learning. There are 16 E-learning sections for you to complete online or using the PADI Training app, which you complete outside the classroom. Each section has a corresponding workshop conducted by your course director and covers more realistic diving scenarios allowing you to focus on making you think as an instructor and preparing you for teaching instead of sitting through hours of PowerPoint presentations.
During the IDC, you will do the EFR Instructor course, which allows you to teach Primary & secondary care, care for children and AED. The EFR Instructor course is a requirement from PADI for you to be able to become an instructor.
After you have finished the Instructor development course, you will go through the two-day Instructor Examination or IE.
The IE is split into four parts over two days and is examined externally by PADI Examiners. On the first day, you will do your theory and PADI standards exams, and in the afternoon, you will conduct your confined presentation, and a mini-skills circuit made up of 5 skills with the examiner. The second day starts with you giving the academic presentation, and in the afternoon, you are out on the boat doing your rescue assessment and open water presentation. After all this, you will be a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor.
Q&A
Can I teach straight away?
Unfortunately you will need to wait you PADI to process the instructor examination paperwork and they will send you an email confirming “teaching status” then you can teach.
What if i feel i’m not ready for the IE?
Obviously it is up to you if you dont think you are ready to sit the IE.Your course director should only put you in to the exam if they feel that you will pass.
What courses can I teach as an Open Water Scuba Instructor?
As an Open Water Scuba Instructor you are certified to teach Padi courses From DSD up to Divemaster.You can also teach Peak Performance Buoyancy specialty, Project Aware and AWARE Coral Reef Conservation Sp Instructor
Some of my diving courses are with other agencies is this a problem?
NO. This is not a problem at all as PADI recognize the majority of scuba diving agencies.This means not all your courses need to have been done with PADI.
What If I Fail the IE?
Hopefully you won’t but sometimes exams stress gets to us.The IE is split into 4 sections theory and standards exams,academic presentation,confined presentation and open water presentation.If you fail a section you can carry on with the rest if you pass them you only need to resit the section you failed.Some dive centers offer a pass guarantee so if you fail your IE they will cover the resit fees.
What’s Next
You have passed the IE and you have become a dive instructor.Your instructor journey has only just begun there is plenty of way and opportunities to expand your diving knowledge.Whether it is expanding your earning opportunities by becoming a specialty instructor or work your way up to become a Course Director and one day teach your own IDC Students.