Questions on becoming a Dive Instructor (Plan sanity check)

[MacDuyver]

MODS: I searched for this but it didn't come up in my results, please move/delete if it's been beaten to death.

I've got my sights set on becoming a Dive Instructor by the end of 2024.

In my area, I have best access to PADI, so that's the route I'm going to take.

Currently:
AOW, taking Rescue Diver w EFR in OCT/NOV, and looking to start DM in January. I'll be able to resume with regular weekly diving then to get my total dives up, likely breaking 100 by February or March at the absolute latest. I'm looking at AI by the end of May.

I've got 49 logged because i misplaced my logbook for a few years when I was younger and did the lazy thing of just not documenting the dives during that time. Bad on me, those dives don't count. Stupid Tax.

My AOW instructor told me that at some point I'll need 5 dive specialties. I might have misunderstood what he was saying because I don't see it on PADI's site. What are the details on this?

Do they have to be recreational specialties?
Currently I have Wreck and Deep, and am about to do Drift and Night. I expect NITROX isn't counted as a specialty since it's a non-diving certification, but I am NAUI Nitrox certified. I am interested in Cavern and there's a TDI instructor in my area who is highly recommended and loves teaching it. Will Cavern count towards the recreational certs?

Do I need a Navigation cert, or is that just an experience thing? Navigation is my backup plan for if Cavern isn't going to work for recreational. I havent ever put it in my list of certs I want because I hav nearly 20 years experience with a compass on land and in the water so I never pursued the cert.

Should I do a Boat cert? I've been avoiding that one since I've done 40 something dives off of boats and am not exactly sold on the course's usefulness. That said, I've been looking at this through a Diver lens and not an instructor lens.

Is the end of 2024 a realistic timeline for all this? Currently I'm defining success as "AI Complete." If that's too ambitious, or if it would be realistic to adjust it higher let me know.

Future:
I will eventually move back to the PNW, where I'll need to know drysuits. Considering the Linnea Mills case, I want to take time on my own to get certified in Drysuit and really take my time learning the ins and outs of drysuit diving before I instruct in the area, whether I stick with my 7mm or not.

Thanks for your help all, please comment away, I'm trying to plan out my dive ahead of time

 

[stiebs]

PADI's minimum requirements for DM and Instructor are in my (and probably most of this forum member's) opinion way too low. I wouldn't even think about DMing or instructing until 150-200 dives of varying types, locations and conditions.

If you haven't experienced (and overcome in a somewhat controlled and calm manner) at least a handful of "oh ****!" moments, you aren't ready to be a DM.

 

[scubaozy]

I am not aware padi has any special requirement on specialties, pre-request for idc is dm afaik. Once you pass ie, you will become owsi. There is also ai certification in between but it is just a glorified dm certification so, most of the people including my self pass on it if you plan to work professionally.
There are people who do zero to hero within months, so, in theory your timelines do not look impossible. You have not mentioned your motivation to become an instructor, why are you in such hurry?

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Contact the people at the IDC you plan to attend. Talk to the Course Directors. They will tell you everything you need to know.

 

[VikingDives]

My AOW instructor told me that at some point I'll need 5 dive specialties. I might have misunderstood what he was saying because I don't see it on PADI's site. What are the details on this?

I think what you're referring to is you need to teach 5 specialties to become a MSDT.

As for the rest of your plan, I'd suggest not rushing to teach, but spend more time as a DM. You'll get to work with students one-on-one and see things that you like and don't like in instructors... I'd suggest skipping AI (since you need an IDC to become an AI) and go straight from your IDC to your IE. The IDC doesn't, in my experience, teach you how to teach very well, but it does teach you how to pass your IE.

Lastly, if the TDI instructor is decent, go take ITT and Cavern before you do DM. That way you can spend your pool sessions working on improving your skills and making your instructor look bad as (s)he kneels on the bottom.

 

[MacDuyver]

I am not aware padi has any special requirement on specialties, pre-request for idc is dm afaik. Once you pass ie, you will become owsi. There is also ai certification in between but it is just a glorified dm certification so, most of the people including my self pass on it if you plan to work professionally.
There are people who do zero to hero within months, so, in theory your timelines do not look impossible. You have not mentioned your motivation to become an instructor, why are you in such hurry?

I can stretch out to 2025 actually before I leave Okinawa. At that point, I'm ETSing from the Army, and I'd like to be able to be at least an AI with some experience by then.

I have LOTS of experience teaching extremely high stakes no-fail skills to people: I've been a Jumpmaster for 5 years, a senior Jumpmaster (not an actual cert, but a nominal position where you are the mentor for all things Airborne within a Battalion) for 2, and have been an instructor for Jumpmaster courses. JM entails teaching qualified but inexperienced Soldiers (and some "experienced" ones who don't actually know what they're doing and are scared shitless) the finer points of parachuting from airplanes. I'm also responsible for the technical safety of the plane itself, the competency of my Safeties and fellow Jumpmasters, and for the lives of all my Jumpers, which i take very seriously when it comes time for train up and pre-jump. It takes a very detail oriented, yet empathetic person to do this. As a JM Instructor, I'm teaching more experienced Paratroopers how to be Jumpmasters, which involves even more excruciating attention to detail and interpersonal communication. America's sons' and daughters' lives are at stake as death is a very realistic outcome every time you exit a plane in flight. Again it's "no fail" high stakes business. I see the skills I've learned as a JM and JM Instructor transferring very well to teaching diving.

With diving, it is one of my life's passions, and I want to instruct to share our incredible sport, but bring a sense of exacting standards to it. I'm tired of reading threads on reddit where people talk about their ****** dive instructors and I want to do better for the sport. I'm getting out of the army and want to keep up with high stakes activities in a meaningful manner.

I agree that 40 dives seems a bit light for DM. Like I hit 70 or so (50ish logged) and am just now figuring I've figured it out enough, and had enough "oh ****" events underwater that I'd be comfortable qualifying as a professional. For Drysuits though, I dont see that being realistic until i have 40 or 50 dives in drysuits alone. This is more comparing my diving progression to my airborne progression of skills and wisdom.

For the certs themselves, I'm looking at them in two ways. 1. The long game: I don't just want to be a Dive Instructor. I want to be a good dive instructor, so I don't want to stop at AI, I'd like to be a master instrctor or course director in the future. 2. I approach diving the same way I approach running jumps: NOTHING trumps rock solid base tehnical knowledge paired with experience. The caridnal sin to anything dangereous is approaching it with an aittitude that you "know it." You must be confident, but taking on that arrogant "I know this ****" attitude closes your mind off to learning, and leads to massively dangerous situations. We should be aspiring to get learn more and get better every jump every dive.

Looking at experience, i think the 60 dives minimum is also too low for an instructor. Ideally I'd like to hit 100 before I do the course, and Okinawa is a great place to do that. I see it like JM though where the minimum is 12 jumps which is FAR too low to be responsible for other jumpers. However JM also includes a progression where you cannot be an instructor until you've met certain other criteria, and even then you're going to be an assistant instructor your first go before you can be a primary instructor. So in that light I see the reasoning in the reasoning in starting off as an AI.

 

[tursiops]

That way you can spend your pool sessions working on improving your skills and making your instructor look bad as (s)he kneels on the bottom.

LOL

 

[tursiops]

Looking at experience, i think the 60 dives minimum is also too low for an instructor. Ideally I'd like to hit 100 before I do the course, and Okinawa is a great place to do that.

You need far more varied experience than Okinawa....you are in too much of a hurry.

I see the reasoning in the reasoning in starting off as an AI

I know of no good reason to get AI; it allows you to do almost nothing more than DM. Its main value is to give the training instructor an extra cert.

 

[MacDuyver]

You need far more varied experience than Okinawa....you are in too much of a hurry.

I know of no good reason to get AI; it allows you to do almost nothing more than DM. Its main value is to give the training instructor an extra cert.

I'd like to thank y'all for the steer on AI. I would rather take the time doing something like intro technical diving to hone my skills, or leading dives as a DM if it's not all that important.

don't take this as a dis please, it's not intended to be one by any means.
Okinawa is where I currently am. I've spent the bulk of my time diving in the Carolinas (salt water and quarries) and Pacific Northwest (America and Canada which are similar but surprisingly different), with other dives in Philippines (the murky sketchy parts of Luzon and not the nice parts around Cebu or Vasayas), Thailand (very deep with ripping currents), Hawai'i, and mainland Japan.

Okinawa is like comedically good conditions (better than Hawai'i). It's also the ocean I have available.

 

[MacDuyver]

Lastly, if the TDI instructor is decent, go take ITT and Cavern before you do DM. That way you can spend your pool sessions working on improving your skills and making your instructor look bad as (s)he kneels on the bottom.

LOL! But also, thanks. I REALLY want to take courses with him. He's a great dude and is very precise with diving in general. Regardless of the path I take, I want to spend as much time as I can learning form him.