Koh Tao Diving News

Lee and Andre both from the UK have been diving with us here on Koh Tao for a couple of months now. Having already completed their PADI Divemaster internship here at Simple Life Divers and becoming valued members of the Simple Life crew, the guys have decided to take their professional level training one step further, making the step up to PADI Instructor.

The guys are now stuck into their 18 day PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC) under the close guidance of Simple Life’s PADI course Director Jeff.

Image: Lee & Andre during a classroom session with Jeff

Over the next two weeks Lee and Andre will be busy learning how to teach scuba diving, working within PADI’s exacting standards. This will include giving classroom presentations on scuba diving theory, teaching diving skills in shallow water, and conducting open water classes out in the ocean. They’ll be covering components from all PADI courses, from entry level discovery dives and open water courses, right through to Divemaster internship training.

The PADI IDC schedule is intensive and it’s a steep learning curve (but also a lot of laughs along the way). At the end of the IDC, PADI’s external examiners make their way to Koh Tao to conduct a 2 day Instructor Examination (IE), where Lee and Andre will be examined to make sure they’re up to scratch, before being released into the world as new PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors.

We wish them the best of luck with their instructor training – Jeff says it’s all going well so far, so fingers crossed they’ll fly through the PADI IE in a couple of weeks time (which we might celebrate with a small party!). More updates to follow!

Image: PADI course director Jeff briefs the guys on the correct way to teach the giant stride entry