Why PADI’s eLearning means that now is a great time to start your IDC

If you are reading this then you may be thinking about becoming a PADI instructor and are probably worried about whether this is the right time.  You have probably been planning your PADI progression for a long time and want to turn your dream of teaching scuba diving into reality.  But Covid-19 (aka the Coronavirus) has scuppered your plans and you don’t know what to do next.

Well don’t worry.  Keep on reading to find out why I think that now is actually a great time to start planning your next career move to become a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor. 

The dive industry will recover

Of course the global tourism industry has suffered a lot this year and we are not out of the woods yet.  However people are still diving.  Here in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, we have been open for business since the beginning of June and we are already seeing signs of recovery.  Flights are arriving from the USA, Canada and Europe as well as from within Mexico.

Find out how we are keeping our customers safe during these crazy times here.

People will want to travel again (let’s face it, we are all desperate to travel again!), dive again, and take dive courses.  And even if we can’t jump on a plane and fly to exotic locations just yet, we will still go diving.  Just closer to home.  So there is and will continue to be a market for dive instructors. 

So what can you do now?

If you are already a PADI Divemaster (or equivalent from another training organization) you can take your IDC with us!  We are running regular courses and you can find our dates for 2021 below.  During your IDC you will get familiar with the new safety protocols and changes that have been made to how we teach a few skills to avoid virus transmission.  Whether we like it or not, these changes and adjustments will be around for a while and, as PADI professionals, you will need to adapt.  Your IDC is a great time to start to do this.

But what if you can’t get here yet?

In that case there is still plenty you can do to prepare.  The great thing about PADI’s Instructor Development Course  is that when it was re-vamped last year they introduced an IDC eLearning component which means that a lot of your theoretical learning is covered pre-IDC.  That means that the time your spend in the classroom during the IDC can be more focused on practical workshops helping you to think like an instructor and prepare for the real world. 

When you sign up for your IDC with us, you will get access to your digital IDC Crewpack which contains your eLearning chapters.  The IDC eLearning is pretty comprehensive and in a pre-COVID world it was difficult for people to find the time in their busy lives to sit down with their laptop or tablet and work through the chapters.  Now you can make the most of your down time and move forwards towards your goal of being a PADI dive instructor.

How else can you prepare for your IDC?

Whenever people ask me how they should prepare for their IDC, I will always recommend they work on their dive theory.  From our many years’ experience of teaching IDCs, dive theory is many people’s biggest fear and the toughest hurdle in their IDC.  Physics, decompression theory et al can be overwhelming to many people and even though they try to revise before starting their IDC, they struggle to know where to start.

Your PADI Digital IDC Crewpack comes with one of the best study tools for dive theory – the Diving Knowledge Workbook.  It’s a great way to practice answering sample questions (the PADI style of exam questions) and it includes an explanation for each question so that you can figure out where you went wrong if you don’t get the answer right. 

But when it comes to those tricky topics then nothing beats someone explaining it verbally to you.  The first two days of our IDCs here in Mexico are devoted to dive theory to break down topics into easy-to-understand (and easy-to-teach) themes which you can conquer one by one.  But imagine being able to do all of that before the IDC!  That’s why when you sign up for your IDC we also offer virtual dive theory classes via Zoom.

Now is the time

So with PADI’s eLearning, our virtual classes and signs of industry recovery, there’s really nothing to lose and everything to gain by putting your plans in action and signing up for your PADI Instructor Development Course now.  We look forward to diving with you!

For more information on our IDCs in Playa del Carmen, Mexico please use the sign up button below or visit our IDC page