Even worse... those who are impatient and want to take shortcuts.
Becoming an Instructor
- Thread starter Michael Guerrero
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Depending on where you are located, club-based education may be the cheapest (i.e. almost free) option - but not the fastest. Try talking to BSAC/CMAS folks. I can not comment on the comparative value of the card and crossover options.
The BSAC instructor route is here the IFC (£153), OWIC (£69), TIE (£39) and PIE (£61) are required to become an OWI (EN 14413-2/ISO 24802-2), in addition the person must be a BSAC Full Diving member. Only qualified instructors can become 'technical' instructors, see here (Course costs vary on location and number of candidates).
You are asking two related questions, as I understand your posts: a) you want to get to the point of being a technical diving instructor, and b) you are looking for the most time- and cost-efficient way to do that. If that is not an accurate interpretation, feel free to disregard my remaining comments. 
I cannot do a direct comparison across agencies, as I am pretty much PADI ‘born and bred’, for better or worse. In my area / region, the two agencies I see most commonly represented in technical diving instruction are TDI and PADI. This is in no way a negative statement about any other agency or option, or a positive statement about one or both of these agencies, just a reflection on my particular environment. Since I am particularly familiar with one of those - PADI - I will share what I know. I cannot say that this is a better / more efficient / less expensive option than going through another agency, only that this is what it would take going through one particular agency.
I will ‘begin with the end in mind’. To be a PADI Technical Diving Instructor – specifically, a Tec Deep Instructor – you need to be: PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer (or higher), PADI Enriched Air Instructor, PADI Deep Diver Specialty Instructor , and you need to be certified at the DSAT Tec 50 (Tec Deep) Diver level, or have a qualifying certification from another agency. In additional you need to have logged at least 270 dives, including 25 staged decompression dives. That just gets you to the point of applying to take a Tec Deep Instructor Training Course, or going through what amounts to an apprenticeship – staffing several full Tec Deep courses, undergoing a Waterskills Assessment by a Tec Deep Instructor, and taking the Tec Deep Instructor Exam. (NOTE: PADI also has a credential – Tec Instructor – but that only allows you to Teach the first PADI course – Tec 40 – and probably isn’t what you really want).
So, working backward, the next question is what is the most time-efficient way to get to be a PADI MSDT / Nitrox Instructor / Deep Diver Instructor, so you can go through the above-outlined procedure? Personally, I think that would be one of the monthly IDC offerings in the Key Largo area, coupled with a follow-on MSDT Prep course (which would take care of the MSDT credential requirement, as well as the Enriched Air and Deep Diver specialty instructor credential requirements). Check Rainbow Reef’s website (PADI IDC Professional Scuba Instructor Development Center, Key Largo, Florida Keys), as they generally offer an IDC and MSDT Prep sequence on a monthly basis. Another Florida option to look at would be Florida Keys Dive Center (Instructor Development Course (IDC)).
There are also regular IDC / MSDT Prep course offerings in several Caribbean locations, e.g. Utila (PADI IDC Honduras | PADI Scuba Instructor Course & Internships | Utila Bay Islands | Caribbean and Central America). I haven’t had that experience so I can’t comment on cost. But, it is an approach you might explore, to compare costs and time commitment.
As for the issue of cross-over, I am also not the best resource, only because I haven’t done that. But, from talking with colleagues who have, I get the very definite impression that cross-over between agencies such as PADI and TDI, as one example, it is generally straightforward. It is NOT without cost, but does not represent an insurmountable hurdle.
Hope this helps a bit. It is an admittedly coarse overview, and I can't give you a total cost estimate. But, it may help you get started toward a broader comparison exercise.
I cannot do a direct comparison across agencies, as I am pretty much PADI ‘born and bred’, for better or worse. In my area / region, the two agencies I see most commonly represented in technical diving instruction are TDI and PADI. This is in no way a negative statement about any other agency or option, or a positive statement about one or both of these agencies, just a reflection on my particular environment. Since I am particularly familiar with one of those - PADI - I will share what I know. I cannot say that this is a better / more efficient / less expensive option than going through another agency, only that this is what it would take going through one particular agency.I will ‘begin with the end in mind’. To be a PADI Technical Diving Instructor – specifically, a Tec Deep Instructor – you need to be: PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer (or higher), PADI Enriched Air Instructor, PADI Deep Diver Specialty Instructor , and you need to be certified at the DSAT Tec 50 (Tec Deep) Diver level, or have a qualifying certification from another agency. In additional you need to have logged at least 270 dives, including 25 staged decompression dives. That just gets you to the point of applying to take a Tec Deep Instructor Training Course, or going through what amounts to an apprenticeship – staffing several full Tec Deep courses, undergoing a Waterskills Assessment by a Tec Deep Instructor, and taking the Tec Deep Instructor Exam. (NOTE: PADI also has a credential – Tec Instructor – but that only allows you to Teach the first PADI course – Tec 40 – and probably isn’t what you really want).
So, working backward, the next question is what is the most time-efficient way to get to be a PADI MSDT / Nitrox Instructor / Deep Diver Instructor, so you can go through the above-outlined procedure? Personally, I think that would be one of the monthly IDC offerings in the Key Largo area, coupled with a follow-on MSDT Prep course (which would take care of the MSDT credential requirement, as well as the Enriched Air and Deep Diver specialty instructor credential requirements). Check Rainbow Reef’s website (PADI IDC Professional Scuba Instructor Development Center, Key Largo, Florida Keys), as they generally offer an IDC and MSDT Prep sequence on a monthly basis. Another Florida option to look at would be Florida Keys Dive Center (Instructor Development Course (IDC)).
There are also regular IDC / MSDT Prep course offerings in several Caribbean locations, e.g. Utila (PADI IDC Honduras | PADI Scuba Instructor Course & Internships | Utila Bay Islands | Caribbean and Central America). I haven’t had that experience so I can’t comment on cost. But, it is an approach you might explore, to compare costs and time commitment.
As for the issue of cross-over, I am also not the best resource, only because I haven’t done that. But, from talking with colleagues who have, I get the very definite impression that cross-over between agencies such as PADI and TDI, as one example, it is generally straightforward. It is NOT without cost, but does not represent an insurmountable hurdle.
Hope this helps a bit. It is an admittedly coarse overview, and I can't give you a total cost estimate. But, it may help you get started toward a broader comparison exercise.
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I was wrong. TDI DM is NOT a prereq for TDI Instructor. TDI DM does specifically require SDI DM, which is really all I meant to say, but what I actually did say was wrong.
The prereq for TDI Instructor is SDI Instructor or equivalent.
My apologies.
OP
Michael Guerrero
Contributor
I'm kind of baffled by this one. Are you saying that because someone doesn't know the process and speeds at which agencies or centers certify instructors that that somehow disqualifies them from being an instructor for the recreational hobby of scuba diving? I don't see how the two are related.
Not following you on this one NetDoc. If someone goes to the Carribean and gets certified as an instructor in a few weeks, and the goes to somewhere in Florida, California, or the Northeast and instructs students there, are you saying that they will only find students that want a quick certification? Or are you saying that an instructor who got certified in scuba instruction quickly, regardless of how long they've been a diver, will only advertise their services in a way that will attract people wanting quick and (as I interpret you are implying) inferior instruction? That doesn't follow to me.
What is the minimum time you need to spend in an instructor development course to become a superior instructor?
Frankly, since you started talking about me and the kind of student I am, if I were to become an instructor, I would hope to attract students like myself. That would mean they have spent literally hundreds of hours of their own time researching and learning about all the facets of scuba diving. They will have practiced and honed their skills in recreational and technical diving on their own time, outside of the training environment. They would take it upon themselves to learn about human physiology, gas mechanics, and decompression theory. They would make every effort to stay abreast of the latest research on diving medicine and science. They would learn about and get certified in equipment maintenance, gas blending, and mixed gas diving. If only most instructors would do what these hypothetical students of mine would do.
OP
Michael Guerrero
Contributor
The B in BSAC stands for British. Google is your friend.
This entire thread just has me shaking my head.
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