Course overview

Step up from dive guide to dive educator with the SSI Open Water Instructor course in Cairns, on the doorstep of the Great Barrier Reef. You build and rehearse teaching presentations in heated pools and on outer-reef liveaboard trips around Flynn, Milln and Thetford Reefs, working through SSI's digital training system before your Instructor Evaluation. You qualify ready to certify your own students as a recognised SSI professional.

What you’ll learn

• Deliver academic, pool and open-water teaching presentations the SSI way
• Apply the SSI training system, standards and dive theory
• Demonstrate, evaluate and correct student diver skills to professional standard
• Manage diver risk and run training to dive-centre and reef-operator standards
• Brief, supervise and debrief students confidently in an outer-reef environment
• Prepare fully for the SSI Instructor Evaluation

Prerequisites

• Minimum age 18
• SSI Dive Guide or Divemaster, or a qualifying leadership rating from another recognised agency
• Certified diver for at least 6 months
• Minimum logged-dive count met before the Instructor Training Course and Evaluation (commonly around 60 to 75)
• Current first-aid and CPR provider training (React Right)
• 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 SSI training system and your first academic teaching presentations using the digital platform.
2. Day2
   Confined-water workshops

   Practise demonstrating and teaching core skills in the heated training pool.
3. Day3
   Outer-reef teaching

   Join a liveaboard trip to deliver open-water teaching presentations and skill circuits at outer reef sites under evaluation.
4. Day4
   Standards and risk management

   Work through SSI standards, risk management and the business of running reef training.
5. Day5
   Theory and assessment

   Sit dive-theory exams and complete rescue and skill assessments to instructor standard.
6. Day6
   Evaluation preparation

   Mock presentations, polishing and a full briefing for the SSI Instructor Evaluation.

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 Cairns.

Frequently asked questions