How best to prepare for your PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC)

In order to participate in a PADI IDC you must meet all the prerequisite requirements:

• Be certified as a PADI Assistant Instructor, PADI Divemaster, or as dive leader with another recreational diver training organization.

• Be at least 18 years old.

• Be fit for diving and submit a medical form signed by a physician within the last 12 months.

• Has been a certified diver for at least six months and logged at least 60 open water dives with experience in night, deep and navigation prior to beginning the Instructor Development Course, and have been a certified diver for at least 6 months and logged at least 100 dives prior to entering the Instructor Examination.

• Submit proof of CPR and First Aid training within the last 24 months.

Once you are sure that the above requirements have been met you need to book your place on your Indepth PADI IDC program with me. When we have received your booking and IDC package deposit we will reconfirm your booking with you by e-mail, fax or telephone. A 30% deposit is required to reserve your place - deposits may be paid via PayPal (by far the simplest & easiest method) or by bank transfer - contact me for bank transfer details.
Purchase the latest editions of the following PADI materials: Instructor manual, IDC candidate Workbook, Open Water and Confined Water cue cards, Open Water Training Dive Lesson Preparation Slate, Confined Water Lesson Preparation Slates, The Best of the Undersea Journal, The Law & the Diving Professional, The Business of Diving and the RDP in table, wheel and eRDP-versions. Also very useful especially for preparing your presentations both during the IDC and at the IE are the various PADI Student manuals: "GO Dive" (Open Water Course), Adventures in Diving, Rescue Diver Wanted" manual and the Divemaster manual. Make sure you are familiar with all the new materials. Answer the quick quizzes, student concepts, quick reviews, course Quizzes and Exams etc and make sure that you are comfortable with the style of questions that PADI uses.

Make sure you update your instructor manual with all relevant Training Bulletins - if you are in any doubt - please contact me. If you are missing any you can download them from the Members section of padi.com

Buy your own copy of the Candidate Workbook and read through the pages "How to use this Workbook." Next go to Section 1 "Independent Learning" Here you will find the 16 IDC Knowledge Reviews which MUST BE COMPLETED PRIOR TO THE START OF THE IDC! At the beginning of each Knowledge Review you will find listed the necessary pre-study reading assignments you need to read before answering the knowledge review. These assignments can be found in: your Instructor manual, IDC Candidate Workbook, The Best of the Undersea Journal, The Law & the Diving Professional and The Business of Diving.

On which PADI course is Instructor Level Dive Theory taught? Answer: The PADI Divemaster Course. Make sure that you are confident with your level of dive theory knowledge before the IDC. The best way to do this to buy, beg or borrow a copy of The Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving and Diving Knowledge Workbook (The CD-Rom Encyclomedia includes both) and work your way through it along with the Divemaster exams. You know when you have mastered it when you can not only arrive at the correct answer - but also explain why each of the other answers is wrong.

Get wet. Go Dive as much as possible - nothing replaces real life experience. Assist your favorite PADI instructor as often as possible. Practice all your skills - especially the 20 skills of the PADI skill circuit.Concentrate especially on your buoyancy skills: hovering and fin pivot, out of air skills: Buddy Breathing and Alternate Air Source both stationary and swimming, the controlled emergency swimming ascent (CESA) and your removal skills: scuba unit and weight belt - both at the surface and underwater. Remember although an Open Water Diver can "do the skill", this is usually a long way off from the "demonstration quality" expected of an Instructor. If possible get a good PADI instructor to watch you perform Rescue Diver Exercise #7: "Unconscious Diver on the surface." You can review an excellent demonstration of this on The PADI Rescue Diver video. Check all your dive equipment and make sure everything is serviced, up to date and ready for action. Remember the more prepared you are the less of a workload you will have during the IDC, leading to a more relaxed and enjoyable IDC !!!