First off this is the first step on the professional scuba courses and professionalism  is of paramount, so after paying my course fees!  it was a new drysuit neck seal,  new set of  regs, crew pack  so not an inconsiderable sum, but necessary to start on my journey.

Week one:  Friday the fifth, all day from 10.30am in the classroom with Chris my instructor and fellow Divemaster trainee Paul we went through every knowledge review that we had home studied the previous week into great detail, we were then thrown in at the deep end and asked to prepare a dive site map and present a dive briefing to four other instructors, a quick visit to the toilet and ten to 15 minutes later, calm had been restored and my legs had stopped shaking, but I had a sense of achievement and the de-brief was nothing but constructive and informative,

4:30pm  Student would be arriving soon for a pool session  so out of the classroom  and get everything prepared for the van to take the equipment to the pool  Phew !

Paul and I were briefed on what we would be doing and it was a skill circuit  of  every skill you have ever done and more  from Giant stride entry to controlled emergency swimming ascent, all done to demonstration quality and all marked on a scale of 1-5 with the onus put on improving all the time . One hour 16 minutes later were out of the water both my calves had cramped and were refusing to loosen , but no let up yet  de kit, put everything back onto the van  back to dive shop unload  and debrief .  I got home about 9:45pm exhausted   but let me tell you fully fulfilled in what we had all achieved in a long day.

So in summary  It was everything and more  I had hoped for  and I am looking forward to tomorrow 11/02/10  another long day  in the classroom this time Physics, Physiology and Equipment, Happy days,  next instalment soon.

Nick

Accreditation and Experience – Does your Course Director have the education and experience to train you proper. Just like in the Dive master course, a big part of the IDC is for the CD to share his/ her experience. If somebody does not have that, then it comes down to “teach you to pass the IE”. Also remember that if the CD has been around for a while and has trained a lot of Instructors in the area, you will get lot’s of valuable info outside of just the IDC. Such as local issues/ concerns and probably also advise on future work opportunities. Before signing up with “the cheapest deal” do a bit of research and find out what other people in the area has to say about your potential choice. Happy customers are usually a good indication that the CD cares about the candidates. If needed, ask for references of students from all skill levels that you can contact. Does he/ she offer programs on a regular basis or do they just have a few per year?

Compatibility – It is your responsibility to insure that there is a fit between you and your instructor on all levels, personality type, mutual goals, and your instructor’s ability to relate to your individual needs. Learning to dive is supposed to be fun, so learning to be an Instructor should also be fun then. Not a military training camp! If the CD is a “boring” speaker it can turn into pretty long days. Yes, you will spend a lot of time in the classroom, so having a person in front that can be entertaining as well as knowledgeable will be very important. Some have ego’s bigger than the dive store and that gets to be a bit boring after a few days.

Facility – Where will the program be conducted and does the CD know the facilities well? Are the classrooms air conditioned (in tropical climates)? How far from the classroom to the pool or confined water? How far to open water site? If things are slowed down by difficult logistics, such as long travel between class room to pool or open water site this will interfere with learning. Also your days will then be very long. Since you have to do preparations every night for the next days action, it makes sense to be able to get out of class at a reasonable time every afternoon. Relaxing and catching your breath before homework and dinner. Remember; never hold your breath! Check if all diving is done from the beach or if boat is an option if the beach “blows up”. It often saves time to go from the beach, but if conditions are bad, then that is an issue. If they would not teach an open water course at the site, then they should not teach an IDC there either. Can they help with fixing equipment as well as help with booking hotels, advice on restaurants etc. Having some surround support will help make the experience less stressful and way more fun too. Check what schedule the course will have. Is it a squeeze with cramped in study over the bear minimum of time or is it laid out perhaps with a “study/ relax” day in the middle. Is there any room between the IDC and IE for maybe some extra stuff or remedial training?

Follow-up Communication – Your CD should be willing to help out with answering questions after training has been completed. You are going to be a brand new Instructor, and sometimes may get a little stressed. Being able to call or email and get some good advice will make life less stressful.

Let’s face it; diving is not rocket science or brain surgery. By asking simple questions before taking instruction, you will insure that you will invest your time and money wisely, as well as maximize your learning curve.

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The following article was submitted by
Bent Posejpal – PADI Course Director
Siam Dive n’ Sail, Phuket, Thailand
Tel: +66(0)76-330 967; Fax: +66(0)76330 990
Cell: +66 (0) 81 892 0643
Email: bent@igotbent.com
Email: igotbent@gmail.com

http://igotbent.com

http://siamdivers.com

http://indodivers.com

Is PADI the best?
It is hard to argue with 70 percent of the trained divers yearly.
PADI History: Let take a look

In 1966 in Illinois, John Cronin, a scuba equipment salesman for U.S. Divers, and Ralph Ericson, an educator and swimming instructor, were concerned about the scuba diving industry. They felt that the current scuba certification agencies were unprofessional, didn’t use state of the art instruction and made it unnecessarily difficult for people to enter the sport. And the equipment was not suitable to the civilian population. John and Ralph knew there had to be a safer, easy way for people to learn to breathe underwater.

After several meeting in restaurants in Morton Grove and Niles, Illinois, they decided it was time to start a scuba training organization. John insisted that the word “professional” be in the name of the company. Ralph wanted an “association of diving instructors.” Soon, the acronym
PADI was born:

The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (A nonprofit corporation)

Purpose
PADI exists to develop programs that encourage and fulfill the public interest in recreational scuba diving and snorkeling worldwide.

Vision

PADI intends to be the world leader in the educational development of scuba diving professionals and enthusiasts.

Slogan
PADI – The Way the World Learns to Dive.

Mission
We want to teach the world to scuba dive.

Tasks, Goals and Purposes
PADI strives to be the world’s most respected and successful organization in recreational scuba diving and snorkeling. PADI is committed to product and service excellence, the professional growth and security of PADI Members and employees, healthy competition and partnership within the dive industry and to providing training and opportunity for all who seek to enjoy and safely explore and protect our planet’s oceans, lakes and waterways.

At the start PADI recruited other instructors, many of these who believed in PADI’s philosophy of diver training came from NAUI and YMCA. They submitted for review and PADI approved the curriculum of their submitted courses. Certifications were given throughout the 60s and early 70s. PADI was the first to introduce the positive identification card (PIC) with the diver’s photo. In 1975 PADI introduced their first Instructor Training Course (ITC) in the Philippines in Oct 75. This course turned out so well that PADI instituted it worldwide to train their instructors.

They hired Nick Icorn from the U.S. Divers’ engineering team, who worked with Erickson to develop a modular training program for the PADI Open Water Diver course, the first of its kind. PADI’s unique training methods started to catch on.

In the late 1970’s and early 80’s PADI began creating its own integrated, multi-media student and instructor educational materials for each course. They developed the specialty continued educational courses. This development spawned an incredible growth period for PADI and made it unique from other agencies.
PADI was the first to have its courses approved for college credit in the USA.
PADI was the first diver training agency to be allowed to teach the Medic First Aid course. And now the Emergency First Response course which was designed by PADI.

In 1984, to insure consistency in all the Instructor Training Courses, PADI revamped their instructor training to allow course director to develop the candidate and then PADI staff examiners was sent out to do the final evaluations. In 1984 PADI also became profit making and continues to give away several thousand dollars annually in grants.
Today PADI certifies over 70 percent of the divers in the World. They issue over 1 million certifications yearly.

PADI has worldwide offices and are recognized in over 183 countries.