Scuba Instructor Prerequisites: What Qualifications Do I Need To Be a Dive Instructor?

You will need to verify with your chosen dive training agency what are their specific requirements, but they probably look like this:

• Dive leader certification (e.g., divemaster)
• 18 years old (which you need to become a divemaster, anyway)
• Certified as a scuba diver for at least six months
• First-aid & CPR course completion within the previous 24 months
• Medical clearance attesting to dive fitness by a physician

That is pretty straightforward. Everybody becoming a dive instructor meets these criteria or similar ones.

PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC) Requirements

If you’ve picked PADI as the training agency to become a scuba diving instructor, these are their official qualification requirements:

• Be a PADI divemaster or equivalent (which means you are at least 18 years old)
• At least 60 logged dives to start the IDC (which you needed to become a divemaster, anyway) and 100 dives for your final instructor examination (IE)
• CPR and First Aid training within the past 24 months
• A medical statement signed by a physician within the last 12 months
• Be an Emergency First Response (CPR & First Aid) Instructor

You also need to have been certified as an entry-level scuba diver (e.g., PADI Open Water Diver) for at least six months. During these six months, there are numerous underwater skills and non-diving skills you should work on that go much beyond meeting the minimum requirements. That is if you want to have a successful career as a scuba diving instructor!

What will help you make a good living out of your passion for scuba diving is what I qualify as personal or personality prerequisites.

Personal Prerequisites & Qualifications To Be a Successful Scuba Diving Instructor

Technically, you don’t “need” the following personal prerequisites to become a dive instructor, but I think you will be hard-pressed to truly succeed without them.

Take the time to think it through before diving headfirst into a career as a scuba diving instructor.

A People Person

The underwater world is often referred to as the silent world. When I started scuba diving, I had a job in a big corporation with too many employees to manage. And going scuba diving was my way to “disconnect,” to meditate, to relax.

That is one beauty of scuba diving.

However, as a dive instructor, you will be in charge of the other divers meditating underwater. You cannot just “disconnect.” And you have to take care of them before and after the dive.

If you work in a resort, you will find that your client-divers want to see you at lunch and at the pool bar at the end of the day. For them, you are not working. You are scuba diving in paradise! From their point of view, you are doing the same thing they do, and they call that a vacation. Of course, they do not see everything that goes on behind the scenes.

So, you will be around people most of the time – on land and underwater. If you do not truly enjoy being around people and interacting with people, you will find the days to be extremely long!

I am an introvert which is not the best for a dive instructor. But I still enjoy it. I simply need time away from scuba diving and from a crowd once in a while. I have seen excellent dive instructors become burned out from taking care of people, day after day, even though they were people persons. You must schedule time to disconnect and recharge your batteries, whether you are an introvert or extrovert.

A Leader & A Role Model

Not only do you have to be a people person, but you must be predisposed to leading them and being a role model.

Student divers and dive tourists will depend on you to lead them before, during, and after the dive. On top of that, you have assistants to manage and coach.

Considering the overall lack of professionalism in the dive industry, in many cases, you will have to find subtle (or not-so-subtle) ways to lead your colleagues and even your boss.

A Good Communicator & Entertainer

You will be teaching people. You need to communicate in a way that people understand! If this does not come naturally to you, I suggest you take a public speaking course and consult books or websites on the basic principles of pedagogy, like the fact that repetition is key to learning. If you lose patience because you have to repeat, then you are in the wrong profession.

An essential communication principle is… Listening! Even if you know what they will ask or what they are trying to say, let them speak. Listen. Read between the lines. And find a way to talk in a way that makes them feel good. They do not have to listen to you. You are not a police officer who arrested them for speeding. They voluntarily decide to spend time with you, and it is because they want to have fun.

Think of the worst professor you had in school. Think of the best one you had. That will give you an initial list of dos and don’ts.

Attention to Details

In this job as a scuba diving instructor, neglecting details can kill you! And others. What else is there to say?

Being a person who naturally gives attention to details is a winning start. Otherwise, you will have to find a way to become one, perhaps by extensively using checklists.

Ability to Always Being Calm & Patient

No matter how much you prepare, and even with extreme attention to detail, you will face times when everything goes wrong. The boat can’t go out. A regulator’s first stage is busted. The compressor is broken. In tough times, people will look to you for leadership. There is never a time, ever, when panicking, stressing out, or raising your voice will help.

Otherwise, no matter how great you are as a dive instructor, you must deal with customers who are not great divers — nor even great people! You will have a group where Mister VIP is always on time and expects the boat to leave on the dot while, in the same group, Mister Manana doesn’t even understand the concept of time. They are both your clients. They are both right! Really. I fully understand the guy who likes things to run on time. And I fully understand the guy on vacation who doesn’t want to stress out. You have to deal with both of them calmly and find a way for both of them to enjoy their vacation.

You need diplomatic skills.

Time Management

The duck swimming in the pond looks calm. Yet, underneath, its legs are going full speed. That is what you should look like in your client’s eyes. Otherwise, you may stress them out, and that will just bring more problems to your shoulders.

The way to look as calm as the duck is to actively plan and manage your time.

There are many pieces to the scuba diving puzzle. You need the boat, the captain, the rental gear, the divers, the student files, your own dive gear, and everything else to be ready… Simultaneously!

The rule of thumb I have always used is as follows.

If you are not 30 minutes early, you are late.

It means that you should plan for everything to be ready at least 30 minutes before it is due, whether it is a presentation in a classroom or an open water dive. And this is for two main reasons. One, if something goes wrong, you have a 30-minute buffer. But most of the time, it will give you time to welcome and interact with the divers as they arrive, providing them with a better experience and giving you more time to evaluate them informally.

Flexibility

Even with everything adequately planned and prepared, you will have to adapt to unforeseen events. There is a time to be rigid (like never compromising on safety rules) and a time for flexibility (like using a different dive site if the first one is not accessible).

Perseverance

Anybody can teach a dolphin to swim. The student-diver with difficulties is the one who needs a good instructor. Do not delegate the complex cases to a divemaster. It’s your role! And often, this diver simply requires you to present the skill or the theory from a different angle. Being perseverant is part of being an instructor — in scuba diving or any other field.