PADI Assistant Instructor? Really?

We wanted to clarify one of the the biggest areas of confusion (white elephants) in professional diving – that you go from PADI Divemaster level directly to PADI Instructor. Is this true or not?

If you are a bit confused, you are not alone! Below you will find out more about becoming a PADI Pro, the options available to you, and the PADI Assistant Instructor certification which ALL Instructors HAVE to have but don’t necessarily realize how they got there.

THE PADI Assistant Instructor Course is the first half of your Instructor Development Course is your first step toward becoming a PADI Professional

PADI Professional Dive qualifications

Let’s boil this down to the very basics. This is the list of Professional Dive qualifications, up to PADI Instructor offered by PADI:

PADI Divemaster (PADI DM)

This course is typically run over 20-30 days, and after the course, a Divemaster can assist Instructors on courses and guide certified divers.

PADI Assistant Instructor (PADI AI)

This course is typically run over 4-5 days, and after the course, an Assistant Instructor can assist Instructors more thoroughly on courses and can teach the PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy specialty course and Project AWARE Speciality course independently.

PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor (PADI OWSI / Instructor)

A PADI OWSI can teach all PADI Recreational Courses up to PADI Divemaster level. The pre-requisite for becoming a PADI OWSI is to be a PADI Assistant Instructor!!!

The PADI OWSI course is run on the PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC), a 14-day course that teaches you to be a PADI Instructor. The IDC includes both the PADI Assistant Instructor (PADI AI) and PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor (PADI OWSI) components, and candidates must pass the 2-day PADI Instructor Exam (IE) exam after the IDC to be certified as PADI Instructor.

Already a PADI AI?If you are already a PADI AI (ie you did the PADI AI course over 4-5days sometime before the IDC) then you will have to re-do it the PADI AI over the IDC, but often the price of the IDC is reduced by the price of the AI course so that you don’t lose out financially.

PADI Professional and Recreational level flow chart. Where do you want to go next?

Why take the PADI Assistant Instructor course?

From above you can see that you need to be certified as an Assistant Instructor BEFORE becoming a PADI Instructor, and that it’s included when you do the PADI IDC. Not many people realize that you can actually do the PADI AI course on its own, and you may have some very good reasons for this such as not having enough time, wanting to get more teaching practice, need a refresh as your Divemaster course was done years ago, want to find out if it’s really the right career choice for you etc.

Taking your PADI Assistant Instructor course as a stand-alone course is a great way of finding out if being an Instructor is really what you want to do. Taking the full IDC Assistant Instructor+OWSI combined requires taking a longer period of work and a larger investment.

Becoming an Assistant Instructor is an amazing accomplishment!

But don’t just believe us – believe Claire – she took her Assistant Instructor course with us in March and took the OWSI component later in the year in October. Here’s what she has to say:

Realising I could break up the IDC was like a dream come true. I couldn’t take 2 weeks or more off from work and I was struggling to find the money to fund the full IDC. I had dived with Two Fish Divers in Bunaken many times and when I explained my situation to Nigel, he came up with an ideal solution – to take them as 2 separate components.

My Assistant Instructor course was conducted by Tina and it was incredible. I had real life “students” to work with under Tina’s guidance and at this time I also took my EFR Instructor Course. It was one of the best holidays I have had. I received the full PADI Instructor Crew pack during the Assistant Course so there were no worries about me going rusty on the theory while I waited to save up to pay for it.

From March to October I studied the crew pack and Instructor Manual weekly. I think I must have been one of the best prepared OWSI candidates ever! It also made me mentally feel like I was continuing my diving career development even when I was at home. The financial side was much easier too. Every month I paid an instalment to Two Fish to pay for the course and so when I arrived in Bunaken it was paid for and I had a brain packed with Instructor knowledge – I was ready for action.

Another factor that came in to play was that during my fun diving trips to Bunaken and during my AI program I saw a lot of how the Dive Operation ran and I met the Course Director so there were no surprises when I arrived – it was like coming home and it was easy for me to feel like part of the team from the get-go. That was some years ago and if I had to do it again now I’d do it in exactly the same way – plus I got two diving trips out of it, not just one.

Do you want to Dive, Stay and Save?

Check out our latest Special Offers Here!

 

If you are struggling for time, have financial constraints or concerns or just not sure if you want to jump in with both feet, break it up – it’s the best decision I have ever made and Two Fish are experts at making this method work! I can’t thank Tina and Nigel enough for making what seemed impossible possible and for making my dreams of becoming an Instructor come true!!!!

If you’d like more information about the PADI Instructor Development Course or the individual components and how we can make them work for you, fill in the form below and we’ll get right back to you!

We are looking forward to meeting you and diving with you soon in tropical Indonesia!