Course overview

Make the move from guiding divers to teaching them with the PADI Instructor Development Course on Koh Lanta, the Andaman-coast base for Thailand's most dramatic big-fish diving. The sheltered lagoon and caverns of Koh Haa give instructor candidates a calm, forgiving classroom to rehearse teaching presentations, while the deep pinnacles of Hin Daeng and Hin Muang sharpen the dive leadership you will model for students. You finish the IDC ready to sit the Instructor Examination and certify divers of your own.

What you’ll learn

• Deliver knowledge-development, confined-water and open-water teaching presentations
• Apply the PADI system of education, dive standards and the essentials of running a dive business
• Demonstrate, evaluate and correct student skills to professional standard
• Manage diver risk and run sessions to dive-centre operating standards
• Brief, supervise and debrief students confidently in open water
• Prepare thoroughly for the independent PADI Instructor Examination

Prerequisites

• Minimum age 18
• PADI Divemaster or a qualifying leadership rating from another recognised agency
• Certified diver for at least 6 months
• 60 logged dives to begin the IDC and 100 to sit the Instructor Examination
• Emergency First Response (EFR) Instructor rating (can be completed alongside)
• Diver medical clearance signed by a physician

What's included · What's not

Not included? Sort the rest of your trip

Flights and accommodation aren’t part of the course price, here’s how to book them around your dates.

Probability of sightings · month-by-month

What you're likely to see each month, based on historic operator logs.

Day-by-day itinerary

1. Day1
   Teaching foundations

   Orientation to the PADI system of education and dive standards, plus your first knowledge-development presentations.
2. Day2
   Confined-water workshops

   Practise demonstrating and teaching core skills in the sheltered shallows around the Koh Haa lagoon.
3. Day3
   Open-water teaching

   Deliver open-water teaching presentations and skill circuits under evaluation at the coral walls of Koh Bida.
4. Day4
   Standards & dive business

   Work through dive standards, risk management, marketing and the day-to-day business of running a dive operation.
5. Day5
   Theory & rescue assessment

   Sit the dive-theory exams and complete the rescue assessment to IDC standard.
6. Day6
   IE preparation

   Mock exams, presentation polishing and a full briefing ahead of the independent Instructor Examination.

Verified through iDive

Every partner school in the iDive network is vetted on safety, instructor credentials, equipment standards and student feedback. Talk to a iDive dive pro on WhatsApp for current availability and reviews specific to Koh Lanta.

Frequently asked questions