How Long Would It Take To Become A Certified Scuba Instructor?
I’m going to become certified shortly and my eventual goal is to make a career out of scuba diving but I was wondering how long it takes to become an instructor? I think you need a certain number of dives or hours or something like that. I’m hoping that once I was certified I could work at a dive shop while I work on becoming an instructor. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions for me? Thanks.
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As little as 6 months for some of these “vacation/internship” programs to as long as it’s going to take you when starting from an OW. There’s a learning ladder you have to climb, gaining not just knowledge but actual experience. The more time you commit to learning and doing, the faster your climb will be. The following are the levels associated with most training agencies.
1/ Open Water diver
2/ Advanced Open water diver
3/ Start taking specialty courses, like peak buoyancy or wreck etc. You can do some of these right after your Open water cert.
4/ Rescue Diver. After this you may jump to Dive Master or take some time to be a Master Diver (highest rate non pro scuba). At Advanced ( but more likely Rescue) and above you may also tinker in the “black arts” of tech diving. It’s not required as a Scuba Instructor but many will give it a shot.
5/ Dive Master ( now you’re officially a professional diver and can make money helping Instructors or leading dive groups)
6/ Asst. Instructor
7/ Instructor
8/ Various levels of Instructors are what’s left. Everything from a Master Diver Trainer to ( in PADI) Course Director.
In answer to working at a dive shop while going for your Instructor cert. Yes. Some dive shops will take on an Advanced, Rescue or DM as an intern. Obviously if you’re Rescue or Advanced, you won’t be helping teach any class, but will work in the background supporting that class. You may be a “victim” in a class scenario etc. A DM on the other hand will be right in there assisting the instructor and being the gofor (aka boat b|+ch) whilst they learn the ropes. Part of your own class will be actually teaching under supervision of your Instructor. How you intern will depend on the relationship you have with the dive shop. Some will offer you a discounted Instructor training in exchange for your work, others may not and consider it part of your training period. One thing that will enhance your employment prospects after your training, no matter what, will be having a second language under your belt. Not everybody on the planet speaks english and if your goal is to work at a resort, having that second language will be a bonus to a potential employer. If you have any hospitality industry courses, that too will set you above other candidates in a resort type setting or even a liveaboard.
There are a couple of different ways you can reach Instructor level. As you mention, it’s less a matter of how much time it takes you (that depends on how fast you complete the courses!), but more a case of how many dives, you do. The courses average about US$300 each, but can easily reach US$600 (plus) when you reach Dive Master level. The minimum age to qualify as DM is 18, and you need a minimum of 60 dives to qualify. Once you reach the DM level, you become useful to dive centres and can probably trade off the costs of the diving for the use of your DM skills.
Good luck – it’s hard work, but rewarding!
look at the first answer for a start – great info. This will get you certified but not certify you as a teacher. That is just a basic certification. You will need to get your advanced certification as well as the master certification. you will need to be able to navigate underwater, rescue – night dive etc..
Michael Phelps
Most SCUBA diving shops offer certification courses. Make sure the shop has a certified SCUBA instructor from one of the many SCUBA diving organizations. PADI is by far the largest organization, certifying over 50% of divers. The shop will charge between $300-400 for the entire program. The fee includes a text book, classroom study, 3 to 4 pool dives, and 4 open water dives, and the rental of most of your gear.
Read the material and do the classroom work
The PADI instruction booklet is about 250 pages long, and your instructor will expect you to read the entire book, take the quiz’s and tests found in each section, and watch the accompanying video. After the book has been read, the instructor will go over what you read, emphasize the key points with his/her personal experience, and answer any questions you have. The text goes over the gear, principles of pressure and buoyancy, diving techniques and procedures, special situations, navigation, first aid for diving, and safety precautions, just to name a few. It takes about 10-15 hours to read the book and 4-5 hours of class time. The classroom portion normally takes two days to finish. Upon completion, you must take a final competency exam.
Do the basic swimming test and confined water (pool) dives
When the classroom portion is over, its time to hit the pool. Prior to letting you strap on your SCUBA gear, your instructor will have you take the swimming test. To pass the swimming test, you must be able to swim 200 meters and tread water for 10 minutes. After passing the swimming portion, the moment of truth arrives! Your instructor will go over, one last time, how to assemble your gear, how to properly store it, and how to do the pre dive checks. Then you strap on your gear, hop into the water, and submerge. You’re taking your first breathes underwater now! For these pool dives, the instructor will have you practice obtaining neutral buoyancy, navigating underwater, underwater communication (hand signals), and show you how to fix common problems, such as retrieving a lost regulator and clearing a mask filled with water. PADI requires 4 confined water dives. The instructor will likely have you dive on two different days, doing two dives a day.
The open water dives
Your first real diving experience is about to begin. Your instructor will have you do the same thing you did on the pool dives, only this time, you’re in the open water. Depending on where you live, you could be diving in a fresh water lake or the salt water ocean. Either way, you’ll basically repeat what you did in the pool dives. This time, however, you get to see the flora and fauna of a real body of water. You’ll spend a lot more time swimming than you did in the pools. Like the pool, 4 dives on two different days must be completed.