Becoming a Scuba Instructor

Have you ever watched your Scuba Instructor give a boat briefing and thought, "She has the life! Getting paid to dive!" Have you ever thought that this might be the life for you, too? Recently we had two Divemasters make the wonderful transformation to PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors, and I thought I would let you in on some details of the process.

"But wait", you are asking, "Isn't DIVEMASTER the absolute height of Diving coolness?" Well, maybe. They get the coolest-sounding name. But a Divemaster is trained to lead certified divers on underwater tours, handle any problems that occur, and teach refresher courses.






To become an Open Water Scuba Instructor, Divemasters must attend a gruelling 9 day program called an Instructor Development Course with a PADI Course Director. During the class, they learn the PADI curriculum and develop their own teaching style. They are tested on dive theory and skills, and they are taught to develop classroom presentations, pool training, and open water teaching and evaluating techniques. The Course solidifies an Instructor-Candidate's excellent dive skills, and often inspires an enthusiasm and love for teaching that can be carried over into a successful career.

After this course, an Instructor-Candidate is then eligible to attend a PADI Instructor Examination, where-in a PADI Examiner comes out from Southern California and evaluates and tests the Candidates. By passing this 2-day exam, a Divemaster becomes a newly-minted Instructor. Our Examiner this past September was Gordon Apons, a 20 year veteran of Instructor Examinations. He was thrilled with our whole batch of candidates, which included our amazing new Instructors Oliver and Elizabeth! Examiner Apons was enthusiastic and supportive, and said of our group, "These were some of the best-prepared candidates I have seen in my whole time as Examiner." Right on, guys! So what is next for our new Instructors? At Kohala Divers, the training continues, as we intern the new Instructors with our more seasoned crew. Watching Divemasters make the jump to Instructors is almost as joyful and proud as watching new divers becoming Open Water Certified. We all know that Scuba Diving is life-changing. Please congratulate Oliver and Elizabeth when you next dive with them, as they have joined the ranks of people who make divers. And that is amazing.