Your PADI Course Director

With over 20 years in the diving industry, Marcel Jansen is a PADI Course Director who’s trained instructors across nearly every major diving region in Asia. Born in the Netherlands, Marcel didn’t start out in diving at all. He studied engineering, then spent years working as a mechanical engineer and later as a trainer for engineering software, a background that still shows up in how methodically he breaks down skills for his candidates.

He got certified as an Open Water Diver back in 1999, and something about it stuck. By 2003 he was a PADI Instructor, and from there he just kept diving and working his way through the region: Europe, Egypt, the Maldives, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia. That’s not a resume line, that’s two decades of actually living in the water across some of the most different diving environments on the planet. It’s part of why his teaching carries the weight it does. He’s not repeating theory, he’s telling you what he’s seen work.

In 2018, after being invited onto the PADI Course Director Training Course, Marcel earned his Course Director status. Not long after, he founded Asia Scuba Instructors, and now runs IDCs across multiple locations in Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Ask anyone who’s trained under him and you’ll hear the same thing: Marcel keeps it relaxed. No stress, no ego, no unnecessary pressure. Just a steady, friendly approach that lets candidates actually absorb what they’re learning instead of just surviving the course. His whole focus is on building instructors who are genuinely ready, ready to teach, ready to handle real students, real conditions, and real dive centers looking to hire.

If you’re serious about becoming a PADI Scuba Diving Instructor and want a Course Director who’s actually done the work himself, in the water, across the region, for twenty years, get in touch with Marcel and start your IDC journey with Asia Scuba Instructors.