Course overview

Make the leap from guiding to teaching with the PADI Instructor Development Course based out of Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. You rehearse classroom, confined-water and open-water teaching presentations in the same Galapagos waters where you'll later certify students, before sitting the independent PADI Instructor Examination. You finish ready to issue PADI certifications anywhere in the world.

What you’ll learn

• Deliver knowledge-development, confined-water and open-water teaching presentations
• Apply the PADI system of education and current dive standards
• Demonstrate, evaluate and correct the 24 core open-water skills
• Manage diver risk and run teaching sessions in current-prone Galapagos sites
• Brief and debrief students for challenging conditions like Gordon Rocks
• Prepare thoroughly for the independent PADI Instructor Examination

Prerequisites

• Minimum age 18
• PADI Divemaster or a qualifying leadership rating from another recognised agency
• Certified diver for at least 6 months
• 60 logged dives to begin and 100 logged dives to sit the Instructor Examination
• Emergency First Response Instructor rating (can be completed alongside)
• 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
   Teaching foundations

   Orientation to the PADI system of education and your first classroom knowledge-development presentations in Puerto Ayora.
2. Day2
   Confined-water workshops

   Practise demonstrating and teaching the core skills before taking them to open water.
3. Day3
   Open-water teaching

   Run open-water teaching circuits at calmer local sites such as North Seymour and Santa Fe under evaluation.
4. Day4
   Standards & risk management

   Work through dive standards, risk management and the business of diving, with emphasis on briefing students for Galapagos currents.
5. Day5
   Theory & rescue assessment

   Sit dive-theory exams and complete the rescue scenario assessment to IDC standard.
6. Day6
   IE preparation

   Mock exams, presentation polishing and a full briefing ahead of the independent Instructor Examination.

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 Galapagos.

Frequently asked questions