SSI Scuba Instructor Course

SSI Scuba Instructor CourseSSI Scuba Instructor Course

The SSI Scuba Instructor Course is your gateway into diving full time for a living.  While a Divemaster course is the entry level, it is true in most places in the world that dive shops are looking to hire scuba instructors.  Instructors that can teach specialty courses are even more desirable.

Part time scuba instructors that are available only on weekends are also useful.  That is true here at Island Divers.  Sharing your diving passion with new divers can be very personally rewarding.  Getting paid to go diving is also pretty nice!

Three ways to schedule your SSI Scuba Instructor course at Island Divers Hawaii

Group Course

The next course on the schedule is going to be AI portion first and OWSI portion second week and Instructor Exam on 3rd weekend

Upcoming Courses

Assistant Instructor Course $1500 all inclusive (anytime courses available)

includes Assistant Instructor and Open Water Instructor Training Kits with slates and wetnotes

April 29/30 and May 6/7 (Sat and Suns) 2025

Sept 2/3 and Sept 9/10 (Sat and Suns) 2025

Open Water Instructor Course (prereq is AI) $1650 

May 13/14 and May  20/21 (Sat and Suns) 2025

Sept 16/17 and Sept 23/24 (Sat and Suns) 2025

Instructor Exam $1000

May 27/28 (Sat and Sun) 2025

Sept 30th Oct 1st (Sat and Sun) 2025

 

AI, OWSI and IE package $4000 (no refund on unused portion, but you can push down the road)

Four weekends prior to the Instructor Exam weekend for a total of 5 weekends

Calling Weekend Warriors!  We want to hire you.  We have extra work on weekends for dive professionals that cater to our local diver base.  If you take your scuba instructor course with us we’d love to put you to work training and diving with local divers.

The total weekend commitment would be five weekends with this schedule.  The last weekend would be the instructor exam.  This is of course starting at Divemaster, it is only 3 weeks if you are already an AI.

Consecutive Days Instructor Course

Instructor Trainer can probably finish in 5 days total, starting with AI, then Instructor Course (plan a week – Sat to Friday).  The advantage of course being that since is private this can be any combination of partial days, full days, after hours, etc.

Cost $4000 with Instructor Examination (IE) – course would run prior to scheduled exams

Prerequisites and Preparation for an SSI Scuba Instructor CourseSSI Scuba Instructor course candidate

  • be an active SSI Divemaster
    • if you are a divemaster from another organization we can do a one day crossover for a reasonable fee.
  • have a physician signed current medical on the SSI form
  • pay for the course, get the digital learning assigned, and complete it prior to course start date
  • review the total diving system requirements and have appropriate scuba equipment (tanks and weights will be provided)

Stand alone Instructor Examinations

$1000 plus tax

Anyone is welcome to join our scheduled instructor examinations for a fee.

Working with Island Divers after your instructor course

At Island Divers Hawaii we have a wide range of involvement at the professional level.  At the core are the full time instructors.  These are the day in and day out instructors and captains that island visitors generally see.  These are the full time professionals that as a business we are primarily responsible to insofar as they fill the schedule first.  The next group are the weekend warriors.  This is a group of divemaster and instructors, most commonly trained by us.  The pick up weekend charters and night dives, and will teach courses to local and on the military bases where we have dive shops.  They are part time, but highly valued for the flexibility they bring to the business.  The final group is a little more uncommon, but they are people that generally like to do their own thing, schedule their own courses, and sometimes use boats, but often just head to the beach.  This group purchases digital learning from the dive shop and rent equipment they need and set their own prices.  Since they fall under our insurance and quality management umbrella, we have to trust them, but this is generally not a problem.

All of these kinds of professionals are welcome.  Basically, the only ones that are not, are ones that don’t treat people nicely.  We can’t afford to have those associated with our business.  Island Divers welcomes all kinds – religion, race, orientation – whatever.  So if you’ve got a bigotry that you want to hold onto – you are going to have to find someplace else that will tolerate that – we won’t.

A few reasons you should go SSI for pro level training

  • Dues are less than half of PADI dues.  Currently $180 a year
  • Active instructors reduce their dues even further with the SSI pro reward system
    • Basically, you get a credit toward dues for every cert you issue
  • The digital materials are better with SSI
    • you can change the language with a click
    • you can download the digital learning and do it offline
    • lower costs (less than half) to dive centers and therefore to students
  • Students get free lifetime access
    • your student gets a free lifetime digital card
      • they never come looking for a replacement card, it is in their app!
    • your student gets a free lifetime digital logbook, and log their training dives online
    • their training materials are theirs for life
  • Processing certifications is easier
    • student manage their own pictures and their own mailing addresses
    • one click certification after you have verified paperwork is complete
    • if you want, you can upload all their training documents to their profile and get rid paper altogether – no filing
  • High profile dive shops around the world are making the switch
    • with better training materials, lower cost, and a fully digital platform –  SSI is doing now to PADI was PADI did to NAUI in the 80s – crossing over dive centers around the world.  PADI still has a market lead and a lot of brand awareness, but this is changing.