Open Water Scuba Instructor

If you have a passion for scuba diving and you want an extraordinary life, become a PADI Instructor!

Teaching scuba diving allows you to share your love of the aquatic world with others while doing what you love – being in, around and under water. PADI Instructors are the most sought-after dive professionals around the world.

Open Water Scuba Instructor are allowed to teach all PADI courses up to Divemaster. To become a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI) you need to complete a PADI Instructor Developent Course or IDC.

Learn more

How to become a PADI Instructor

To become a PADI Instructor you need to :

Be a PADI Divemaster or leadership level from an other organization.
Be at least 18 years old.
Be a certified diver for at least six months.
At least 60 logged dives to start the IDC and 100 dives to attend an IE.
Have Emergency First Response training within the past 24 months.
Show a medical statement signed by a physician within the last 12 months.

The IDC

The Instructor Development Course (IDC) is made up of two parts – the Assistant Instructor (AI) course and the Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI) program. Most dive professionals complete the entire IDC and go on to attend an Instructor Examination (IE), which is the final step to earn a PADI Instructor certification.

With PADI’s eLearning you can independently study the IDC knowledge development sections at home, before starting the IDC. You can use Asia Scuba Instructors eLearning to refresh your Dive Theory Knowledge.

Not there yet?

The most important prerequisite for the IDC is PADI Divemaster with 100 dives. If you are not there yet, you can have a look at our PADI Divemaster course.

Do you currently have an Open Water Diver or Advanced Open Water Diver certification and are you already thinking about becoming a PADI Instructor? Have a look at the road to becoming a PADI Instructor.

PADI IDC Schedule

We run IDC’s every month!

Bali, Indonesia

Enjoy the Balinese culture, food and diving during your instructor course!

More about IDC in Bali…

Moalboal, Philippines

Beautiful views, exceptional diving. A great place to do your IDC!

More about IDC in Moalboal…

Phuket, Thailand

Great diving, beautiful beaches and good party scene.

More about IDC in Phuket…

What will you learn?

PADI Instructor Theory

You will see presentations about Marketing, Risk Management, PADI Standards and more.
You will learn how to organize and conduct PADI Programs including Discover Scuba Diving, Open Water Course, Advanced Course, Rescue Diver Course and Divemaster Course.
You will learn how to do a classroom presentation “PADI style”

Pool sessions

You will practice all skills from the PADI Open Water Course, Advanced Course and Rescue Course. “Demonstration quality”.
You’ll learn how to teach PADI courses in the ‘pool or confined water’ in practical workshops. How to do briefing and debriefing, correct your students mistakes, how to position your students and much more.

Open water sessions

You will learn how to teach PADI courses in the ‘open water’. How to do a briefing , controlling your students in open water, taking care of the environment, using your Divemaster etc.
You will do a workshop on how to conduct Discover Scuba Diving in open water.
You will do a workshop on teaching skills from the Advanced Open Water course.
You will take part in a Rescue Scenario to practice your rescue skills.

MSDT prep course

The MSDT prep course is a very popular add-on after the IDC. On this course you will learn to teach PADI Specialty courses of your choice.

The most popular choice – Nitrox Specialty – is already included in our IDC for free! Being able to teach PADI Specialty courses is great fun and it makes finding a job as a PADI Instructor much easier.

PADI Instructors who can teach 5 Specialty courses can apply for the MSDT rating. The MSDT prep course is the most popular add-on to our IDC.