Becoming an Assistant Diving Instructor

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Becoming an Assistant Diving Instructor

If you wouldn’t mind having a Maldives Liveaboard as your office, or living on the shores of the Red Sea for a few seasons, then why not consider training to be an Assistant Diving Instructor?

A natural progression from Divemaster status, Assistant Instructor is the first stage in the PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC), which could open up an underwater career that could have you sharing your love of diving with scuba students throughout the world.

During your training, you’ll build on your existing scuba experience, whilst learning and developing core teaching techniques. As with all PADI courses, training involves theoretical and practical elements, but the Assistant Instructor Training will be your most testing and thorough training yet. The course is divided into three discreet modules:

1. Academic training

– PADI Discover Scuba Diving and Snorkelling Programs
– Developing knowledge presentations
– Teaching Project AWARE and Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialities
– Teaching in confined water
– Conducting open water training presentations

2. Independent Study
– Knowledge development

3. Practical Application
– Confined water and open water teaching presentations
– Standards exam
– Dive rescue skills assessment

Prerequisites
In order to enrol on the course, you will need to meet these requirements:
– Hold a PADI Divemaster, or similar qualification
– Be at least 18 years old
– Have 60 logged dives, including night, deep and navigation dives
– Have been a certified diver for 6 months or more
– Hold valid and current CPR and First Aid training
– Be able to produce a current Medical Statement signed by a physician

Gear
As an assistant instructor, you’ll usually be expected to own your own scuba equipment, which should include full scuba gear, plus other important accessories, such as a dive slate, dive knife, compass and dive watch. Owning and maintaining your own kit shows a mark of professionalism, and will help to further improve your understanding of scuba equipment, as well as eliminating the expense of hire costs. If you don’t already have your own gear, then chat with your training provider, who should be willing to lend or sell you the necessary kit.

Your Role as a qualified Assistant Instructor
In addition to the responsibilities practiced during your time as a Divemaster, an Assistant Instructor is able to take on a certain degree of teaching responsibilities, when under the supervision of a PADI Instructor. These could include:

– Conducting educational presentations
– Demonstrating and delivering skills during confined water dives
– Evaluating surface skills
– Teaching a range of speciality courses, such as Peak Performace Buoyancy and Underwater Photography
– Delivering PADI Discover Scuba Diving experiences
– Conducting PADI Seal Team Aquamissions

Where can you train?
PADI Assistant Instructor training can be carried out at any Five Star dive shop or Instructor Development Centre, throughout the world. As with Divemaster, it’s a good idea to undertake training in a destination that you’d ideally like to work in: If you hold dreams of working in the Great Barrier Reef, or on a Maldives liveaboard or Red Sea Liveaboard, for example, then apply for courses in the relevant countries to help you make contacts and maximise your chances of employment once you’ve qualified.

Tags: Red Sea Liveaboards, Red Sea Live Aboards, Maldives Liveaboards, Maldives Live Aboards, Red Sea Diving, Maldives Diving, Egypt Diving, Egypt Dive