PADI Instructor requirements

[scubadiver888]

I did a quick search and couldn't find anything (here or on PADI) which outlines the requirements to complete the PADI OW Instructor training. Can someone post the requirements?

Do we have to do all the knowledge review? I've seen posts which hint we do. Is there pool work to do? Stamina? 20 Basic Skills? Rescue Assessment? Is there an intern option?

Right now I'm a DM with Wreck Specialty, Deep Specialty, Nitrox. I vaguely remember someone telling me I had to have the Specialty to become an instructor in that Specialty. So if I want to teach Peak Performance Buoyancy, I have to have Peak Performance Buoyancy. Is this correct?

Thanks,
Darrell

 

[knotical]

As a DM, you’d need to complete two courses and the Instructor Exam.
Lots of dive shops have descriptions. For example:
Assistant Instructor Course:
Assistant Instructor - Scuba Diving in Colorado - Underwater Connection - Colorado Springs #1 Scuba Diving Shop
Open Water Instructor Course:
Open Water Scuba Instructor - Scuba Diving in CO - Underwater Connection - Colorado Springs #1 Scuba Diving Shop
Instructor Exam:
http://scubaemporium.com/Common/PDFs/iestatement.pdf

You do not need to have taken the specialty course in order to teach it.
Requirements vary from course to course. For example, to teach Peak Performance Buoyancy, you only need to be an Assistant Instructor.
To teach most specialty courses, you need to either have taken a course in how to teach the specialty and have done ten (if memory serves) of that sort of dive, or you need to have done twenty of those dives and can apply directly to PADI, forgoing the course.
There are special additional considerations for some of the courses, such as cavern requiring you to be cave certified.

 

[scubadiver888]

Those sites are perfect. My current instructor isn't Course Director so I have to switch to someone else. I assume once I hook up with a Course Director, they'll be able to answer all my questions. Just wondering if I want to dive for a year or go for OWSI next summer.

Thanks.

 

[Peter Guy]

Just wondering if I want to dive for a year or go for OWSI next summer.

I can't help but throw in a thought here:

Why do you think you SHOULD become a scuba instructor? What makes you think you have the skills and experience to teach someone the art of diving?

These are two questions I hope everyone asks themselves and honestly answer before they decide to become a scuba instructor.

So, should you go diving for a year? Why wouldn't you want to have a strong and varied background in actually diving before you become an instructor?

 

[ScubabunnyCR]

Thats great that you are thinking about becoming a scuba instructor but as "Peter Guy" stated make sure you think definitely about why you should become a scuba instructor. The more experience you have before the better as you cna pass on more knowledge to you budding students. Requirements are to complete the Assistant instructor course followed by the OWSI course, which is normally but together as an IDC. This involves, academic presentations, pool presentations/ assessments, open water assessments, and classroom assessments. You have to repeat your skill circuits, resit your theory exams and also work on your rescue demonstrations. Also practice teaching DSDs, teaching adventure dives and wokr on different control techniques for future classes. The IDC pretty much shows you how to teach, The divemaster course is what teaches you the underlying knowledge and skills to be a professional diver, therefore the more experience during and after your DM before your instructor course the better. Do what makes you feel comfortable and confident and good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[RU4SKUBA]

Forgive me for saying this, but if you want to be taken seriously, then I suggest you take it seriously yourself. Do some legwork on your own and show the dive community you mean business. Suffice it to say that checking your profile does not inspire confidence that you'll be successful after reading your questions.

 

[mmerriman]

this isn't 100% correct - "You do not need to have taken the specialty course in order to teach it."

As an example - Nitrox. As another O2 administration.

 

[mmerriman]

And if you are a DM - you SHOULD have the PADI Instructor Manual which should answer a number of your questions. If you're a recent DM, you MUST have it.

 

[scubadiver888]

I went to the PADI site and followed exactly what you indicate but didn't see anything.

I then tried the Google search and it found a number of sites with information similar to what PADI had. It talked about the requirements to enroll in OWSI but it didn't outline what was required to complete OWSI. The site knotical gave me had exactly what I was looking for. I notice that Google seems to know were I'm googling from (via IP address) and customizes my search results to be more local. I had this before. A friend in Texas gave me a string to search and I got completely different search results then him.

Since you posted the information was available on the PADI site I went back and looked again. If you press PageDown once in my browser you see the section on "The Fun Part" and a LOT of whitespace. I then realized, this is not the bottom of the page.

I guess I had a blonde moment. :blinking:

 

[scubadiver888]

I can't help but throw in a thought here:

Why do you think you SHOULD become a scuba instructor? What makes you think you have the skills and experience to teach someone the art of diving?

These are two questions I hope everyone asks themselves and honestly answer before they decide to become a scuba instructor.

So, should you go diving for a year? Why wouldn't you want to have a strong and varied background in actually diving before you become an instructor?

Thats great that you are thinking about becoming a scuba instructor but as "Peter Guy" stated make sure you think definitely about why you should become a scuba instructor. The more experience you have before the better as you cna pass on more knowledge to you budding students. Requirements are to complete the Assistant instructor course followed by the OWSI course, which is normally but together as an IDC. This involves, academic presentations, pool presentations/ assessments, open water assessments, and classroom assessments. You have to repeat your skill circuits, resit your theory exams and also work on your rescue demonstrations. Also practice teaching DSDs, teaching adventure dives and wokr on different control techniques for future classes. The IDC pretty much shows you how to teach, The divemaster course is what teaches you the underlying knowledge and skills to be a professional diver, therefore the more experience during and after your DM before your instructor course the better. Do what makes you feel comfortable and confident and good luck with whatever you decide.

Thanks guys. I was actually trying to decide WHEN I get my OWSI based on the time commitment required. I know that some day I will be a scuba instructor. I have always been involved in mentoring and teaching, professionally. So the working with people and sharing what I know comes naturally to me. I am always watching how others teach and talking to people to learn their experiences. The shop I got my DM in is a shop of some great instructors. I have and will continue to have, a great amount of experience with them. Even with 9 years diving experience I still enjoy going on dives with new OW divers. Call me nuts but I have fun going on cattle boats in the Caribbean. I find it interesting to see the mistake they make and the things they don't know. I'll also go diving with the instructors when I get tired of silt outs and 5 foot viz

Based on the time commitment I kind of wonder if I'll have time to get my OWSI and get some more personal diving in. I promised myself I'd go diving in Tobermory this past summer and never did (spent all my time in the St. Lawrence or getting my DM). My gut is telling me I'll probably put off my OWSI for a year and spend this year just diving and helping the shop with DSD and OW classes.