Your best bet may be to contact local shops in your area and see what is being offered. If you are going to go IDC soon, using a dive shop in your area may get you hired on so that you can get some much needed experience seeing classes go and maybe even running a few after the IE (Instructor's Exam). Since you are being trained by an "independent" instructor, it sounds like you will be light on practical teaching. Try and get some XP on that if at all possible.
Well, Florida might be a better place to do it anyway then since from everything I've looked at, I'm probably going to settle in Miami both to work and to open the dive shop.
Also as a dive shop owner you will find that you no longer have the time to dive. Long days,alot of frustration and little $..
With any business, long days and massive amounts of frustration is expected when you start up. I grew up watching my dad start a company and I saw first hand what it entails. Life does get better, a lot better, once the company has a degree of self sufficiency. To say that this would always be the case would be to suggest that fantasy is reality, since if companies were always a lot of work for little money, then we would have no economy because no one would run or open businesses.
First of all, you said your instructor is an independent and could only take you through AI. PADI has changed this in the past, from the IDCS section of the manual and he or she may not be familiar with the change:
However, I highly recommend the Eastern Academy of Scuba Education in Vero Beach, Fl. The tuition covers room and board in the same place as the training occurs.
IDC, Florida, IDC Florida, CDC in Florida. Our PADI IDC, CDC Facility include meals and accommodation. Located in Vero Beach Florida
They are very dedicated into proper prep for your IE and as you eat, sleep and study at the house, your classmates are there to assist you in your studies at night. Be prepared for long hours though, I was up at 6 a.m., studied until 8:30 class until midnight most nights except one and that was 1 a.m. All of the candidates from EASE passed the IE easily, there were some from other IDC's that did not fare as well.
I wasn't aware of the AI stipulation regarding it being taught at a dive shop, hrm. Well, then maybe I'll just do the full-fledged OWSI. Thanks for the link, those prices actually seem pretty reasonable if they include food and lodging...it actually looks like I can go all the way up to IDC Instructor with them so that'd be great! Now hopefully the job market in that area is good since I plan to get an MBA after my bachelor degree and work for a few years to wipe out my debt.
Look everyone I have a cart!!! Can you find me a horse?
emtim, I by no means wish to dissuade you from your goal of owning a dive shop and being a course director. I think it's fantastic, but your profile shows you with less than 24 dives. The road to the IDC shouldn't be a sprint, take some time to get there. Do your training through rescue then take a year off and dive. Do your divemaster and take another year working with instructors and students. The best way to get through the IDC is to have done it all already. I pretty much breezed through the IDC and IE because I'd been working in dive for a couple years before I went and I really didn't see anything new. There was one other person in the IDC with me that was the same way and we clearly had a much easier time than the people that raced through the progression. The time I took getting through made me a better instructor when it was all over.
It is likely to take you another several years before you can even apply to the Course Director training which is space limited and very costly.
I admire your enthusiasm and I wish you the best of luck, just don't forget that the reason you want to do this is because you love to dive, so go out there and do it!
Rachel
Well, I'm not your average student. I destroy exams in classes that most people flunk out of after half the semester such as general chemistry, calculus, etc. The academic side of it doesn't worry me at all. I'm aware of the sacrifice I'll be making by going straight from Rescue to DM, but honestly, I probably won't progress past DM for a very long time unless I get my MBA in or near Florida. I'm not aware of any top business school in Florida, so I probably won't get my MBA there. So I'll probably have a very good amount of dives by the time I start OWSI. Hell, I've only been certified for four months and I have 16 dives with another 6 on the way for AOW, however many Rescue entails, I plan to go on at least one dive trip over the summer, and that's to say nothing of the Monterey trips I'll sneak in here and there. Trust me, I plan on getting my diving fix!
I promise just to answer the question you asked. I wholeheartedly agree with Don Wray. EASE is absolutely awesome as long as Phillipe Yersin is still the CD there. It is so convenient living on site and so easy to dedicate all your effort to preparing for the IE with the way they are set up. It will be about $300 bucks cheaper already being an AI but I think it's nice getting started with all the folks you will be dong the IDC with. If you are going to have to travel anyway take a close look at EASE. Short drive from Orlando and the IE will be within about 30 minutes of the facility. Pace yourself and get out and dive. Be Safe.
Sounds like EASE is definitely the way to go then, Orlando is a pretty huge area so I'll probably have no trouble getting a job after college to pay off all my debt first. Plus since I plan to open the shop in Miami, I'll be close enough to scout out the area, get used to the dive sites, etc. Thanks guys.
