Course overview

Step up from guiding to teaching with the SSI Open Water Instructor program on Grand Cayman, which qualifies you to certify your own students through the SSI training system. The island's calm Caribbean water, the shallow flats off Seven Mile Beach and quick access to the clear West Wall give candidates a practical place to polish teaching presentations and meet standards before the SSI Instructor Evaluation. You complete the program ready to work as a professional SSI instructor anywhere in the world.

What you’ll learn

• Teach SSI academic, pool and open-water training sessions
• Apply the SSI total-teaching system and digital training tools
• Demonstrate and evaluate student skills to professional standard
• Manage student risk and safety in open-water conditions
• Brief, supervise and debrief students on Grand Cayman's reefs
• Prepare for the SSI Instructor Evaluation

Prerequisites

• Minimum age 18
• SSI Dive Guide and Divemaster (or equivalent leadership rating from another agency)
• Certified diver for at least 6 months
• Logged-dive requirement met for professional training (typically 75+ for the evaluation)
• Current CPR, first aid and oxygen-provider training
• 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 SSI teaching system and your first academic presentations.
2. Day2
   Pool and confined-water workshops

   Demonstrate and teach core skills in the calm shallows off Seven Mile Beach.
3. Day3
   Open-water teaching

   Run open-water teaching circuits on the clear West Wall reefs under trainer evaluation.
4. Day4
   Standards and safety

   Cover SSI standards, risk management and the business of diving.
5. Day5
   Theory and assessment

   Complete science-of-diving and dive-theory exams and rescue evaluation.
6. Day6
   Evaluation preparation

   Mock presentations and a full briefing for the SSI Instructor Evaluation.

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 Grand Cayman.

Frequently asked questions