Welcome to Reef Divers

What is an Assistant Instructor? - R3500 Buy

PADI Assistant Instructors are dive educators who assist with, organize and supervise knowledge development, confined water and open water activities. Assistant instructors work in partnership with PADI Instructors to provide student divers with quality knowledge and skill development during PADI programs. The teaching skills assistant instructors develop during their training allows them to independently conduct several PADI programs, and with further training they may also teach nondiving specialty courses, as well as the Emergency First Response program.

What are the pre-requisites?

To enroll in a PADI Assistant Instructor course, an individual must:

Be certified as a PADI DiveMaster or leadership level with another diver training organization.
Be at least 18 years old.
Submit a Medical Statement for a diving medical examination conducted within the past 12 months. A licensed physician must sign the form and state that the candidate is fit for diving. The physician signing the medical clearance cannot be the applicant.
Have been a certified diver for at least six months and have completed and
logged at least 60 dives showing experience in night diving, deep diving and underwater navigation (as documented in the individual’s log book.)
Submit proof of CPR and first aid training within the last 24 months.
Submit documentation of any qualifying certifications for entry-level, advanced, rescue and leadership-level issued by another recreational diver training organization. (PADI Members who have these records on file at their PADI Office do not need to resubmit.)
If not a PADI DiveMaster, successfully complete the PADI DiveMaster course dive rescue assessment.

How Do I become an Assistant Instructor?

The PADI Assistant Instructor course is actually the first three days of the Instructor Development Course (IDC). The course begins with independent learning and includes completing seven IDC Curriculum components. Assistant instructor candidates must satisfactorily complete all course performance requirements to be certified as PADI Assistant Instructors.

What will I need?

Purchase and have your own personal copies of the following PADI materials:

Instructor Manual (paper or digital) and Instructor Candidate Workbook.
Your own Wheel, RDP and E-RDP as well as
PADI OW, Adv, Rescue and DiveMaster manuals with
All the relevant exam booklets.
Aquatic cue cards for all the above courses and lesson preparation slates

Best is to buy the PADI IDC Crewpak which combines all the materials needed for the course as well as pre –study tools ( excludes course Manuals and tables)

How do I register for Assistant Instructor?

To apply for certification, the certifying Course Director or IDC Staff

Instructor submits a completed, signed Assistant Instructor Application to the appropriate PADI Office along with the required photo, application fee, and other qualifying certification documentation .Upon approval of the application, PADI will issue a PADI Assistant Instructor card.

What will I be able to do once I am qualified?

Beyond the responsibilities and duties they already have as PADI DiveMasters, PADI Assistant Instructors are also authorized to the following under indirect or direct Supervision of a PADI Instructor:

Present the academic elaboration for any PADI Diver course.
During confined water dives, present initial skills training.
Conduct open water surface skill evaluations during Open Water Diver course training dives.
Teach and certify PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty Divers.

Independently teach the Project AWARE (nondiving) Specialty course.
Independently teach the AWARE - Coral Reef Conservation (nondiving) Specialty course.
Independently conduct Discover Scuba Diving in a pool or confined water environment.
Independently conduct PADI Seal Team AquaMissions.
Teach and certify student divers in a nondiving specialty after successful completion of a Specialty Instructor Training course for that specialty.