Becoming a PADI Course Director Part II: The Training

A few weeks after my acceptance in the Course Director Training Course in Malaysia, I boarded a plane from Bali to Kota Kinabalu with a full set of dive gear and high expectations. I was about to make my dream of becoming a PADI Course Director come true.

On the morning our training began, I met the other class participants, as well as several members of the PADI staff who would be there to train us. From the first minute, PADI staff divided us into teams of seven or eight people. We stuck together for the next 10 days. Working with the same group of people creates a team spirit during the training, with each individual contributing various strengths and skills. Watching various techniques employed on the same skill during the course was a great learning experience for all of us.

The CDTC Program

Instructors explained the program on our first day: the first week would comprise the training itself, wherein we would work on our presentation and evaluation skills in the water and in the classroom. On the last three days, the PADI staff would administer our final evaluation to determine whether we would pass or not. We also received a marketing assignment to do as a team.

The long days began at 8:30 am and ran until 6:00 or 7:00 pm, not including our homework for the next day. During the first week, we did a few pool sessions, spent one day in the ocean, and the rest of the time in the classroom. Part of the classroom time was devoted to lectures and discussions; part was reserved for student presentations to our teammates and the PADI staff. The assignments consist of presentations taken out of the professional curriculum, such as the Instructor Development Course, IDC Staff course or Specialty Instructor courses.

Almost every evening we left with assignments for the next day. Soon enough, our lives revolved around discussing diving, teaching diving, demonstrating diving skills and rescue, and talking about diving in a classroom. In order to work together, we ate dinner with our teammates most nights. Although intense, it was also a great way to learn — working with other dive pros who teach differently, working in different conditions and using different techniques were all very instructive. After the first week of training, everyone got a well-deserved day off to attend some optional programs and prepare for the upcoming three-day evaluation.

The Evaluation 

We had received our assignments for the evaluation the previous week: open- water skills, confined-water (pool) skills and classroom presentations. Instructors told us the passing scores on the first day, so everyone knew what to expect and what to shoot for. We had completed similar assignments during the training week, so everyone was confident yet a bit nervous.

Our marketing project comprised the second part of the final evaluation. Each team spent a lot of time putting together a website, social-media pages and email communications — basically a complete marketing toolbox for our “virtual” dive shop. Each team had 30 minutes to present their marketing strategy to everyone else. Instructors announced the winners during the graduation dinner.

For me, these last three days went by in a blink. There was much to do, and much to prepare. Before we knew it, we were celebrating our achievement as a team and as Course Directors, and looking forward to teaching people how to teach diving.

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