PADI Advanced open water to instructer

hi all, sorry but im new on here,
just wondering if anyone could tell me what i have to do to become a padi instructor.

have currently got my advanced open water that ive held for bout 5 years now and now have the chance to live my dream if possible.

cheers
ian

You need to get your rescue diver certification, then your divemaster, then your instructor.

I could retype it all here, but all the information is clearly laid out on the PADI website:

Padi Instructor Information.

As previously stated, the route is Rescue Diver (with EFR), Divemaster, EFR Instructor, then Assistant Instructor before completing the Instructor Development Course and Instructor Exam to become an Open Water Scuba Instructor.

The minimum requirment for the Instructor Exam is 100 dives.

You could do all of these as a bare mimimum to become an instructor.... but without a wider breadth of experience, you will not be very competitatve for employment.

ah ok i see now so to be competive for employment how experianced u think some1 will have to be?

The best dive master I have seen did about 750 dives per year for 5 years before getting an instructor cert. Once he was an instructor he didn't even use it, instead he continued doing dive master stuff and diving 2-3 times per day 6-7 days a week.

I personally wouldn't take a class from someone who wasn't doing hundreds of dives a year in an environment to which I planned to use my skills. As example I see it as pointless to take your open water cert in Cozumel so you can come back to Minnesota to dive, they dont even compare and the instructor cant really tailor the training to what your going to need.

Go diving, you (or 90% of other instructors) are never going to make a living by only teaching scuba anyway.

You have to be very experienced any more, to get a good job.. Most of the time, new instructors are taking jobs as DM's and then waiting for an opening. The biggest part of being an instructor is working the shop, filing tanks, retail sales etc... The actual classes arn't really the biggest part... The best I can tell you without causing you to change your mind about becoming an instructor is that the IDC and IE are both really good experience, but do it because you love diving, not because your looking for a job...you'll never get rich teaching ie. $300-$500 per week plus a discount on your gear.....this is not much if your trying to support a family...However, if your doing it because you love it, then that's all that matters because those of us that teach out of the love of diving do the best job.

Like a run of the mil musician--We won't pay you what you may deserve because we know you love doing what you do.

iangiddings:

just wondering if anyone could tell me what i have to do to become a padi instructor.

have currently got my advanced open water that ive held for bout 5 years now and now have the chance to live my dream if possible.

Click to expand...

Ian, you do have that chance- all you have to do is reach for it.

PADI Sport Diver UK is about to do a feature article on ProDive, a PADI IDC in Fort Lauderdale. (Pro Dive - Scuba Diving, Snorkeling, Scuba Instructor Training). See pg 44, June 2009 edition

It sounds like you may well have sufficient dive experience to easily work your way through the prerequisites. The IDC doesn't teach you to dive, it teaches you to teach!

If you're young enough, why regret later that you had not done this? Go for it.

Pay scales vary widely and the nature of the job is dependent on local diving. A dive instructor in Minnesota will have a very different job descrpition than one based at a Caribbean resort.

There are dive jobs that can provide a sufficient income to live on and opportunity for advancement. Do not be convinced by anyone that every dive job is the same.

Remember that all applicants for a dive instructor job must have an instruction certification at a minimum. Other skills which you might have can help you secure better positions. Commonly requested skills include foreign language fluency, general mechanical skills, diesel engine repair skills, compressor maintenance, office management experience, hotel management experience, or anything else that is specifically beneficial in the location you want to teach.

I have been diving for 24 years, have thousands of dives, have dealt with students in the military, public safety, and recreational area, and STILL find it hard to find a good job in the field that is steady and regular. So to increase my marketability, I am doing my MSDT. You will find that in this industry, you will get back what you put into it.

Just remember, that the most important thing to put into any decision is your desire to be a part of something. If you love the sport, which it seems you do, then persue it. BUT... If you are looking for a solid paycheck, benefits, and the glory of being an instructor, then you are in it for the wrong reasons. As one poster said earlier, most of us merely work as DMs on board the boat, yet still have to carry instructor Liability, which can be three times that of a DM. Then there is the cost of the IDC you have to consider, the materials, the IE, and the cost of maintaining equipement for students if you dont work in a shop.

If you spend $2500 on an IDC, and then your roughly $550 on insurance, and do 5 students a month, you are chasing to make up that money you just spent.

So take some time and decide if you want to teach because you just love to teach, or if you do it just becasue you like being in the water. I can tell you one thing for sure... when you are in the water with students, it is not a pleasure dive. It is work, and usually only on the last dive when the student has the dive to themselves after the proficiency dives are you able to relax and enjoy.

My suggestion is to get to DM, and stay a DM for a minimum of 250 dives before you task yourself with being an instructor. Why the number of 250? Because that is normally about 2-3 years for a lot of DMs who are working in a non-resort location where you are not diving on a regular basis. Plus, it will give you a chance to figure out what course and path you want to take with your diving future. Do you want to teach students OW, or do you want to teach mainly specialties and advanced courses? And being a DM and holding liability insurance will allow you to be in the water with your OWSI or MSDT and "assist" them in certain areas underwater. This will give you a chance to see exactly what challenges you might face with students underwater.

We are more than happy to help you down your path in the diving community. All you have to do is ask, which you did. And that is more than a lot of people would have done. For that, we commend you, and open our world up to you for whatever help you might need


Phil