Course overview

Earn your first professional rating with the PADI Divemaster course in Key Largo, gateway to the Florida Keys and John Pennekamp's protected reefs. Working alongside instructors on busy charter boats that run reefs, wrecks and drifts year-round, you build the leadership, dive-management and supervision skills to guide certified divers and assist on courses. You finish ready to work as a PADI professional anywhere in the world.

What you’ll learn

• Plan, organise and lead certified divers on Key Largo's reefs and wrecks
• Conduct dive briefings, site assessments and surface-supervision
• Demonstrate all 24 skills to professional-level mastery
• Assist a PADI Instructor with students in confined and open water
• Map a dive site and manage emergencies and risk
• Apply dive theory across physics, physiology, equipment and the RDP

Prerequisites

• Minimum age 18
• PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification)
• PADI Rescue Diver certification
• Emergency First Response primary and secondary care within the past 24 months
• At least 40 logged dives to begin and 60 to certify
• Diver medical clearance signed by a physician

What's included · What's not

Probability of sightings · month-by-month

What you're likely to see each month, based on historic operator logs.

Day-by-day itinerary

1. Day1
   Orientation and theory

   Programme briefing, dive-theory study and the Divemaster knowledge modules with online learning.
2. Day2
   Water-skills assessment

   Complete the swim, float and stamina tests and begin the 24-skill demonstration circuit.
3. Day3
   Practical workshops

   Deep dive simulation, search-and-recovery exercise and dive-site mapping on Key Largo's reefs.
4. Day4
   Internship begins

   Shadow instructors and assist with students in confined water and on Pennekamp reef sites.
5. Day5
   Leading divers

   Brief, guide and debrief certified divers on Molasses and Elbow reefs under evaluation.
6. Day6
   Boat and emergency management

   Run surface supervision, dive logistics and emergency scenarios from the charter boat.
7. Day7
   Assessment and certification

   Final exams, portfolio review and processing of your PADI Divemaster certification.

Verified through iDive

Every partner school in the iDive network is vetted on safety, instructor credentials, equipment standards and student feedback. Talk to a iDive dive pro on WhatsApp for current availability and reviews specific to Key Largo.

Frequently asked questions