Teaching scuba diving allows you to share your love of the aquatic world with others while doing what you enjoy – being in, around, and underwater. PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors and PADI Assistant Instructors are the most sought-after dive professionals around the world because they’ve completed the program that sets the standard for training dive professionals. You earn a PADI Instructor rating through hard work and commitment, but you’re rewarded with a job that lets you share incredible underwater adventures with others – transforming their lives for the better and enriching yours.

​Dive professionals who hold an instructor rating with another diver training organization may be eligible to enroll directly in the OWSI program. This recognizes prior instructor training and provides a path to become a PADI Instructor.

Over a minimum of five days, but usually, more like seven, the IDC teaches you to conduct all PADI core courses. You’ll be able to organize and present information, conduct skill development sessions, and control open water dives. Basically, you become a better public speaker and get really good at demonstrating skills while watching out for student diver safety. Key topics include:

• PADI Standards and Procedures for courses you can teach with in water workshops
• Learning, Instruction and the PADI System
• Risk Management and Diver Safety
• The Business of Diving and your role as an instructor
• Marketing Diving and Sales Counseling

Register for IDC Online – PADI’s eLearning option that lets you study independently at your own pace before class. There are nine interactive knowledge development sections. Prestudy online saves classroom time, which allows more time for practicing the skills that distinguish you as a PADI Instructor.

​Also, sign up for Dive Theory Online, if you haven’t already completed it or it’s been more than a year since you went through it. The program is a straightforward review of dive physics, physiology, skills, equipment, and environment, plus using the Recreational Dive Planner (RDP). By successfully
completing Dive Theory Online, you can get credit for the dive theory exam requirement during your IDC.