PADI IDC Prep

IDC Prep – HOW BEST TO PREPARE FOR YOUR PADI INSTRUCTOR DEVELOPMENT COURSE

Your preparation is the ultimate key to a successful, enjoyable PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC) with GoPro Asia, Koh tao, Thailand.

So, it’s best to arrive a little earlier, make the most of the free diving on offer and refresh your dive skills. It’s also an ideal chance to sharpen up your dive theory, as well as going over in the swimming pool, those demonstration quality skills you mastered in your divemaster course.

Arriving early gives you the chance to settle into the tropical lifestyle on Koh Tao, befriend some of your fellow Instructor candidates and feel relaxed and confident entering your IDC program.

You can even arrive early to take full advantage of GoPro Asia’s unique IDC Prep….a free day 2 day program designed to refresh your theory and polish your in-water skills in readiness for your IDC.

A few more things you can do to help prepare for your IDC –

1. Make sure you meet the prerequisites

To start your PADI PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC), you must be:

• 1. Dive Leader certification — PADI Divemaster or leadership-level certification with a recognized recreational diver training organization* who is either: an instructor member in good standing, or a diver with proof of certification in diver supervision and management including proof of rescue diving certification; 60 logged dives; documented experience in night diving, deep diving and underwater navigation.
• 2. 18 years old
• 3. Medical clearance attesting to dive fitness signed by a physician within the previous 12 months.
• 4. Certified diver for six months.
• 5. EFR Primary and Secondary Care course completion (or qualifying training) within the last 24 months.
• 6. If not a PADI Divemaster, complete the PADI Divemaster course diver rescue skills assessment.
• 7. Submit documentation of qualifying certifications for entry level, advanced, rescue and leadership level, as necessary.

Please contact PADI Course Director Jeff Glenn for more information about Prerequisites of your PADI Instructor Development course with GoPro Asia.

2. Administrative and Paperwork

Proper administrative and paperwork will ensure your PADI IDC applications goes through smoothly without any delay. Please make sure you have…

• At least 4 passport photos
• All your PADI certification cards – contact PADI Certification Department or do a Dive Check through your PADI Pro Site if you don’t have all of them.
• If you are crossing over from another training agency, please provide photocopies of all your diver and leadership level certification cards or certificates.
• Medical Statement signed and dated by a physician stating that you are physically fit for diving, valid within the last 12 months – please download the medical form if you need a copy.
• Logbook documenting more than 60 logged dives to attend your PADI Instructor Development Course( IDC) (link), and 100 logged dives to attend your PADI Instructor Exam (IE) (link).
• Also, make sure you have a valid credit card…PADI will not accept cash for the application fees.

*As a PADI Career Development Centre, candidates completing the PADI IDC with Bans Diving Resort are permitted to enter the IE with less than 100 logged dives. PADI will process teaching status once the 100th dive has been logged.

3. PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC) training materials

Get your PADI IDC training materials as early as possible. If you are not able to get from where you are, we are only to happy to arrange for the PADI IDC training materials to be shipped directly to you. On top of the required PADI IDC training materials, you must also have your own:

• RDP Table and Instruction booklet
• eRDPML and Instruction booklet
• PADI Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving (new version with blue cover)
• PADI Diving Knowledge Workbook
• Simple calculator
• Instructor Manual – either the paper version or digital version. The Digital Version can be downloaded from the PADI PRO SITE for FREE. It’s a lot easier and a cheaper…

4. Your Diving Equipment

Be sure that all your scuba equipment is in good working condition, you don’t want any malfunctions during your IDC presentations or on your IE. On top of your standard scuba diving equipment, you must also have:

• Dive knife
• Underwater compass
• Underwater timing device or Dive computer
• Delayed Surface Marker Buoy (SMB or Safety Sausage)
• Whistle or Dive alert
• Underwater signalling device
• Have adequate exposure protection for water temperature between 28 and 30 degree Celsius

If you don’t have these listed items, then you can purchase them here from out Retail outlet at a special PADI IDC candidate price!

5. Dive Theory

Prepare your diving knowledge. You will be evaluated in five topics: Physics, Physiology, Equipment, Skills and Environment and the Recreational Dive Planner (RDP), the Table and the eRDP-ML. These topics are not part of the IDC curriculum , as it has already been taught in your Divemaster programs, so it’s important to have a sound knowledge in these 5 areas……

You can review by –

• answering questions in your Diving Knowledge Workbook
• review details using the PADI Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving – if needed
• answer the dive theory questions again in the PADI Divemaster exam.
• be familiar with the use of the ERDPml and RDP.

If this doesn’t help cause it’s been a while since your Divemaster course, then I’d recommend to sign up for PADI Dive Theory On-line . A great tool for helping your dive theory knowledge base.

Keep in mind that arriving early will allow you time to sit in on some of our Dive Theory presentations.

Also try to be familiar with your Instructor Manual, as a lot of the questions in your General Standards and Procedures section will be based on information from there. This part will be covered in your IDC, so don’t try and learn all the standards there are. If your Instructor manual is a little dated, you can download the latest updated Instructor Manual from the PADI Pro Site.

To see the IDC Booklet click the graphic to download!

7. SKILLS

If you have a chance, practice your skill demonstrations. Skills from the Open Water course and Rescue diver course need to demonstrate at Instructor level for your presentations on your IDC.

To aid in this, re watch the skill demonstration section of the Open water Diver video and the Rescue Diver video. It may also help to practice some of the skills in the adventure dives, in particular, Search and Recovery (knot tying and Lift bag), Underwater navigation and Peak Performance Buoyancy. You’ll also have to show proficiency in Rescue exercise 7 – ‘Unresponsive diver at the Surface’, so a good idea would be to watch the video and practice again. Proficiency in exercise 7 is expected and evaluated in the IE.

7. Lots of sunscreen

… to begin your life in the tropics.!!