Free of charge license for instructors
- Thread starter DivinLover
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
I cannot recommend this organization as a way to certify students. I have had a series of long emails with the founder (Oliver Dauxiais) and he really does not care that his organization has no recognition by any other organization, including ISO and WRSTC. Even Wikipedia will not list him at its list of diver certification organizations: List of diver certification organizations - Wikipedia. He argues that he is compliant with ISO standards, and that is sufficient. He argues that IFDO does not certify anyone...the instructor does. He argues that he needs no way to control instructor quality, it is not his job. If you get sued due to a student accident, you are on your own.
To the OP, @DivinLover, who I am guessing is actually Oliver Dauxiais, this is a really dumb way to save money.
To the OP, @DivinLover, who I am guessing is actually Oliver Dauxiais, this is a really dumb way to save money.
What's worrisome to me is how many of these folks are out there...
IFDI - somebody somewhere is running around with that c-card. A little googling shows there's at least a couple of instructors and a dive shop that may issue certs.
Then there's a dive shop in TN that appears to have made up their own agency (MDEA - Multinational Diving Educators Association (MDEA) - Nashville, Tennessee).
Finally there's this clown: Divemaster Charles B. Braddock, PADI Member Number: 421128 who was expelled for posting a picture of himself to facebook(?) in a swastika mask (as best I can tell) and not for offering to teach Open Water classes.
Someone should register scubafraud.com...
IFDI - somebody somewhere is running around with that c-card. A little googling shows there's at least a couple of instructors and a dive shop that may issue certs.
Then there's a dive shop in TN that appears to have made up their own agency (MDEA - Multinational Diving Educators Association (MDEA) - Nashville, Tennessee).
Finally there's this clown: Divemaster Charles B. Braddock, PADI Member Number: 421128 who was expelled for posting a picture of himself to facebook(?) in a swastika mask (as best I can tell) and not for offering to teach Open Water classes.
Someone should register scubafraud.com...
Shasta_man
Contributor
Seems to me that an agency that relies on another agency to certify its members breaks the whole point of having the agency. Doesn't seem like you are doing anything beyond being part of a group of people. You'll just be getting what u paid for. This is not to say that Padi or whoever does not have its own problems.
It all depends on your way of thinking. If you think that it's impossible, then it will be for sure impossible. On the other hand, if you believe that it could be possible, you're simply on the right path to make it possible.
On my small scale, I remember being told that it was impossible to live on a 13 feet boat.
My wife and I did it for more than 2 years and we have even enjoyed very much this life: OlivierDauxais.free.fr
We could also believe that a low cost structure such as IFDI is impossible.
On my side, I have simply believed that it could be possible.
I have worked on it and I have created it: IFDI - Info for instructors
IFDI offers to the instructors the opportunity to claim for their independence and to reduce their expenses. If some of you don't like the idea, there's not much I can do about it, except maybe by asking you this few questions:
Who is physically present in the water for the training or the helping of the divers?
Is it the organization or the instructor?
So, who should be the one who certify the divers and freely evaluate the divers coming from other organizations? Who should be in the spotlight?
Should it be the organization or the instructor?
At IFDI, we believe that it should be the instructor. At IFDI, we value the instructors and their competencies. But of course, the IFDI instructors still have to respect the international ISO standards to ensure a correct teaching and a fair certification.
IFDI innovates with this new mindset and a fully automated platform that offers low cost services.
IFDI is to the traditional diving organizations what emails are to the postal mails.
As with all innovations, there are the sceptic who don't understand and there are the enthusiastic who have understood.
H Olivier Dauxais.
Founder of IFDI.
PS: About Wikipedia, if you like long readings, here is a link that explains why IFDI is not listed at Wikipedia:
Talk:List of diver certification organizations - Wikipedia
On my small scale, I remember being told that it was impossible to live on a 13 feet boat.
My wife and I did it for more than 2 years and we have even enjoyed very much this life: OlivierDauxais.free.fr
We could also believe that a low cost structure such as IFDI is impossible.
On my side, I have simply believed that it could be possible.
I have worked on it and I have created it: IFDI - Info for instructors
IFDI offers to the instructors the opportunity to claim for their independence and to reduce their expenses. If some of you don't like the idea, there's not much I can do about it, except maybe by asking you this few questions:
Who is physically present in the water for the training or the helping of the divers?
Is it the organization or the instructor?
So, who should be the one who certify the divers and freely evaluate the divers coming from other organizations? Who should be in the spotlight?
Should it be the organization or the instructor?
At IFDI, we believe that it should be the instructor. At IFDI, we value the instructors and their competencies. But of course, the IFDI instructors still have to respect the international ISO standards to ensure a correct teaching and a fair certification.
IFDI innovates with this new mindset and a fully automated platform that offers low cost services.
IFDI is to the traditional diving organizations what emails are to the postal mails.
As with all innovations, there are the sceptic who don't understand and there are the enthusiastic who have understood.
H Olivier Dauxais.
Founder of IFDI.
PS: About Wikipedia, if you like long readings, here is a link that explains why IFDI is not listed at Wikipedia:
Talk:List of diver certification organizations - Wikipedia
Thanks for checking in Olivier. I have a couple of questions.
Does IFDI have any mechanism for responding to student complaints about an instructor?
How about removing an instructor who had been found unsuitable by their certifying organization? I'm not talking about those whose credentials have lapsed due to non-payment of fees, but those few who have been expelled for violating standards.
Could you please add a directory of IFDI instructors? Of course inclusion would be voluntary.
For example, I would actually be interested in taking your 40m course IFDI - 40m Diver e-learning. at some point if I could find someone offering it.
Does IFDI have any mechanism for responding to student complaints about an instructor?
How about removing an instructor who had been found unsuitable by their certifying organization? I'm not talking about those whose credentials have lapsed due to non-payment of fees, but those few who have been expelled for violating standards.
Could you please add a directory of IFDI instructors? Of course inclusion would be voluntary.
For example, I would actually be interested in taking your 40m course IFDI - 40m Diver e-learning. at some point if I could find someone offering it.
Hello Lowwall,
I have been informed of this thread on December, 17th 2020, but I was short of time to eventually participate to this thread.
I wish I could participate more, but I simply don't have enough free time to come again and again to this forum.
For any questions about IFDI, please contact me at: IFDI contact.
Yes, the students may report by email to IFDI an eventual misbehavior of their IFDI instructor. See above link.
But so far, the case did not happen. There is a different mindset at IFDI. IFDI is not in a "parental mode" toward its instructors.
The IFDI instructors are treated as responsible adults. This difference makes the all difference. Responsibility generates quality.
The IFDI instructors are then spontaneously careful in teaching the best way they can.
The IFDI students are even so happy with their IFDI instructors that many of them are faithfull to their instructor and keep on going to the next courses.
Pressure has even been made on me by some IFDI instructors to publish as soon as possible the "diving guide" course which I finally did on January, 1st 2021.
For example, when I was running a diving center in the Maldives, I remember my staff who was so surprised that I was not imposing some working hours, this was left at their discretion... I never had any problem with them.
My staff was simply happy to be considered with respect as an adult and not as a child and we had a wonderful time working together.
A happy staff always works much better than an unhappy staff, and therefore, the clients were all very happy.
Once again, I have and I will never behave with authority toward others. I far prefer the flat structure to the pyramidal structure:
IFDI - Info for instructors
Yes, IFDI is careful in the acceptance of new instructors.
Yes, IFDI accepts instructors in expired status.
Yes, IFDI will refuse instructors in expelled status.
(Note that this information is not always available in some organizations.)
Here is a link that states the terms of use for the IFDI instructors: My IFDI account
For the directory of IFDI instructors, you may read this page: IFDI - Dive centers
For further questions you may have, here is the link to different categories of frequently answered question:
IFDI contact.
Once again, please excuse me for my poor participation in this forum due to my lack of free time.
Thanks in advance for not expecting other posts from me. Except if I found the time. Which I doubt.
I have been informed of this thread on December, 17th 2020, but I was short of time to eventually participate to this thread.
I wish I could participate more, but I simply don't have enough free time to come again and again to this forum.
For any questions about IFDI, please contact me at: IFDI contact.
Yes, the students may report by email to IFDI an eventual misbehavior of their IFDI instructor. See above link.
But so far, the case did not happen. There is a different mindset at IFDI. IFDI is not in a "parental mode" toward its instructors.
The IFDI instructors are treated as responsible adults. This difference makes the all difference. Responsibility generates quality.
The IFDI instructors are then spontaneously careful in teaching the best way they can.
The IFDI students are even so happy with their IFDI instructors that many of them are faithfull to their instructor and keep on going to the next courses.
Pressure has even been made on me by some IFDI instructors to publish as soon as possible the "diving guide" course which I finally did on January, 1st 2021.
For example, when I was running a diving center in the Maldives, I remember my staff who was so surprised that I was not imposing some working hours, this was left at their discretion... I never had any problem with them.
My staff was simply happy to be considered with respect as an adult and not as a child and we had a wonderful time working together.
A happy staff always works much better than an unhappy staff, and therefore, the clients were all very happy.
Once again, I have and I will never behave with authority toward others. I far prefer the flat structure to the pyramidal structure:
IFDI - Info for instructors
Yes, IFDI is careful in the acceptance of new instructors.
Yes, IFDI accepts instructors in expired status.
Yes, IFDI will refuse instructors in expelled status.
(Note that this information is not always available in some organizations.)
Here is a link that states the terms of use for the IFDI instructors: My IFDI account
For the directory of IFDI instructors, you may read this page: IFDI - Dive centers
For further questions you may have, here is the link to different categories of frequently answered question:
IFDI contact.
Once again, please excuse me for my poor participation in this forum due to my lack of free time.
Thanks in advance for not expecting other posts from me. Except if I found the time. Which I doubt.
I wouldn't call it Free of Charge exactly but in NAUI if you do the Life Time Membership and if you do it early on it all comes out in the wash. I paid around $1000 in 1990 with the annual fee being about $60 at the time. Well, the fee now is something like $185. Sorry about being a little vague but I haven't really looked in years. I became an Instructor in 1986 and have been one ever since. I can tell you it has long since paid for itself.
I my area SSI has completely disappeared. All the shops that were SSI have switched to PADI. One thing about PADI is that an instructor can be Independent. I believe that SSI and SDI requires instructors to teach though a shop.
Similar threads
