About the Course Director.....       Dive Friend Bonaire's course director, Thomas Kurtz, was born in Germany approximately four decades ago, and he has spent at least half that time under the water! After having worked in Greece, Egypt, Spain, Mexico, Germany, Turkey and the Maldives, Thommy came to Bonaire in 2005, and now he's conducting IDCs for Dive Friends Bonaire. For Thommy, diving is the most amazing sport, and his goal is to pass on the fun, excitement, and fascination this activity has to offer. In Thommy's IDC, he promises some hard work and lots of preparation time, but fun and laughter will also be plentiful! So, sign up for the IDC at Dive Friends Bonaire and enjoy exciting days during our next IDC--it's your way to becoming a dive instructor who will pass on the passion of diving in turn!

Our next Instructor Development Course will start on June 7th, 2010 and be conducted through June 15th. The Instructor Exam will immediately follow on June 16th and 17th.  During the course, you’ll apply your diving knowledge and skills while learning to use the PADI System of diver education in the classroom and in the water.  The IDC is divided into two sections, the Assistant Instructor (AI) course and the Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI) program.

Dive Friends will be offering the new E-Learning option for this IDC, which allows candidates to save time and travel expenses by taking advantage of home-study methods.  They then may report to the IDC on the third day (June 9th, 2010), for completion of the program with Dive Friend's course director.

E-Learning is easy; all candidates must do is login to PADI's web site at www.padi.com and click on E-Learning.  Enter the dive center's number, and follow instructions. PADI's cost for E-Learning is $320.00 per candidate.

Once all candidates are on Bonaire and in sessions together, the new IDC format will focus upon workshops and interaction, while utilizing the new PADI Guide to Teaching.

Concurrent with the IDC course, Dive Friends Bonaire will also offer Emergency First Response (EFR) Instructor, Staff Instructor, and an option for Staff Instructor with an internship at the dive facility.  Costs for these courses are:

Additionally, for those who would like to attain the professional rating of Instructor, but do not yet have a Divemaster rating, Dive Friends Bonaire offers a Divemaster Internship for $999.00, which can be done prior to the IDC.

All rates are in U.S. Dollars; books and PADI's fees are additional.

Assistant Instructor (AI) course
The PADI Assistant Instructor course is the first portion of the IDC – and can be completed in as little as three days.  During the course, you gain experience and continue to learn the PADI System of diver education.  PADI’s AI Course gives you the necessary tools to finish the IDC in the OWSI program. As a PADI AI, you’ll give classroom and confined water presentations and evaluate PADI Open Water Diver course surface skills (under direct supervision of a PADI Instructor).  You can teach some PADI Specialty Courses, conduct PADI Discover Scuba Diving experiences, and PADI Seal Team AquaMissions.

Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI) program
The rest of the IDC, the PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor program, is the final step in your quest to become a PADI Instructor.  During the IDC, you learn to manage and adapt the PADI System of diver education to individual student needs.  As a PADI OWSI, you can conduct the entire range of PADI diver courses from Discover Scuba Diving to Divemaster.  Emergency First Response Instructor training will also be included on the last day of the IDC, because it is a prerequisite for the Instructor Examination. We’ll also be refreshing your rescue skills (Rescue Skill #7 from the Rescue Diver course will be evaluated during the IE).

The instructor examination (IE)
The IE takes place over two days, June 16th and 17th.  There will be tests on your general watermanship and diving skills, your academic knowledge and on your teaching presentations in the classroom as well as in confined and open water environments.  For certification as a PADI Instructor you will need to pass all parts of the IE. In the unlikely event that you are unsuccessful in your initial IE you are permitted to attend a second IE to re-take only the portion that you did not pass, not less than 5 days or more than 1 year after the first IE.

What materials do I need?
In order to comply with PADI Standards, you are required to have Instructor training materials as well as the manuals and exams for all of the courses that you are required to teach.  The list of mandatory items (available by clicking here) shows all of the required PADI materials.  Don’t be put off!  If you’re a PADI Divemaster, you'll probably already have a lot of them and can purchase the materials directly from PADI for Member Pricing.

What shall I do to be prepared?
During the IDC, you’ll be learning how to teach, not how to dive.  The theory exams that you’ll be taking during the Instructor Examination are even trickier than those you passed in order to become a PADI Divemaster.  If you’re not sure how much you remember, please pull out your Encyclopedia of Diving Knowledge and start studying. The more prepared you are, the more time you can focus on teaching.

If you have any questions about the mandatory materials list, please let us know.

We can arrange for discounted accommodation for you during your stay in Bonaire.  Click here to learn additional details about the specials available for the next IDC.

Now it’s your time to become a professional diver, so sign up immediately! Email info@dive-friends-bonaire.com.

Future 2010 IDC dates are November 22nd through 30th with the IE on December 1st and 2nd.