PADI Instructor Certification

[clem]

In perusing the PADI website, I noticed that the requirement for Open Water instructor is only 60 logged dives. Can anyone tell me how this standard compares to the standards of any of the many other scuba certification agencies?

 

[El Orans]

Strange.

AFAIK, you need 60 to be a DM and 100 for OWSI.

 

[del_mo]

60 to get started, 100 by the time you finish.

 

[stevewirl]

im an instructor with CMAS . over 300 dives to start and by the time they are finished 350 dives . it takes 5 months of study and really hard exams and then in water exams . them we start our method of instruction course , lecture program and practical teachin exam .and then a final exam and a non modular lecture that must be 40 mins long ,

hair pulling stuff but well worthit in the end . any wonder im bald

 

[clem]

as I read the standards...(quote below)

PADI Assistant Instructors:

Teach knowledge development (classroom) presentations (under the indirect supervision of a PADI Instructor)
Evaluate Open Water Diver surface skills (under the indirect supervision of a PADI Instructor)
Teach the Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty course
Teach the Project AWARE Specialty course
Conduct PADI Discover Scuba experiences
Teach Emergency First Response courses after successfully completing the Emergency First Response Instructor Course
Prerequisites:

PADI Divemaster rating or qualifying certification from another organization
Be at least 18 years old
60 logged dives (with experience in night, deep and navigation)
Proof of CPR and first aid training within the last 24 months

you are allowed to teach new students with 60 Logged dives. Is this standard common across all agencies?

 

[TwoBitTxn]

From GS&P page A-42

Instuctor Candidate Prerequisites and Enrollment

Bullet Point 2

Have documentation of at least 100 logged dives including experience in deep, night, and navigation diving.

AI's really don't teach. They can lecture in the classroom, but all in water teaching is performed by the instructor.

 

[rawls]

You have to have 100 logged to get the cert...

 

[Hoyden]

PADI requires 60 dives to start an IDC and 100 to be certified as an instructor. YMCA and SDI require 100 dives like PADI. NAui requires 70 dives to start an ITC and lists no number that I can find for certification. SSI requires 75 dives to start an ITC, 100 dives to finish AI and 24 dives in the last 12 months to qualify as an instructor - so it looks like all of the major agencies in the US are pretty similar.

Jackie

 

[drbill]

This certainly helps explain why we had a PADI instructor on a guided dive yesterday who ran out of air, and the one who came down to Belize to replace me at the end of a contract... she couldn't even put her mask strap on or her BCD on her tank properly.

I don't want to sound like I'm totally bashing PADI since I have run into many great instructors who were certified through PADI. One of them was my rescue instructor. However, such watered down standards do not IMHO help the industry. I believe the LAC (Los Angeles County) instructor course is 6 months long.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

This certainly helps explain why we had a PADI instructor on a guided dive yesterday who ran out of air, and the one who came down to Belize to replace me at the end of a contract... she couldn't even put her mask strap on or her BCD on her tank properly.

I don't want to sound like I'm totally bashing PADI since I have run into many great instructors who were certified through PADI. One of them was my rescue instructor. However, such watered down standards do not IMHO help the industry. I believe the LAC (Los Angeles County) instructor course is 6 months long.

Drbill,

You two examples doesn't indicate a hundred dives as being insufficent. Both individuals could easily have a thousand dives. One is a failure of air monitoring, the other is probably an indication of being out of the water for a few years. I don't understand how you can blame anyone but the individual on both occurrances.

TwoBit