Course overview

Cross the line from leading dives to teaching them with the PADI Instructor Development Course at Sipadan, where the calm house reefs off Mabul Island give candidates a forgiving classroom before the open ocean. Training on the macro-rich shallows around Mabul and Kapalai lets you rehearse teaching presentations to dive-centre standards, while the world-class walls of Sipadan keep your own diving sharp ahead of the Instructor Examination. You finish the IDC ready to certify divers of your own and join the global community of PADI professionals.

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 fundamental dive skills
• Manage diver risk and run training sessions safely in current
• Brief, supervise and debrief student divers confidently
• Prepare fully 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 the IDC 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 on Mabul.
2. Day2
   Confined-water workshops

   Practise demonstrating and teaching core skills in the calm, shallow water of the Mabul house reef.
3. Day3
   Open-water teaching

   Deliver open-water teaching presentations and skill circuits under evaluation on the reefs around Mabul and Kapalai.
4. Day4
   Standards and risk management

   Work through dive standards, risk management, marketing and the business of diving.
5. Day5
   Theory and rescue assessment

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

   Mock exams, presentation polishing and a full briefing for 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 Sipadan.

Frequently asked questions