There are more than 128,000 PADI professional members around the globe. There are 6,600 PADI Dive Centers and Resorts worldwide. PADI operates in 186 countries and territories.
PADI Course Directors are PADI Master Instructors who have taken the next step and joined an elite group of instructor trainers. Course Directors teach PADI Instructor Development Courses (IDCs) and other instructor-level training, and thus are the scuba diving industry's most influential leaders and role models.
Ownership History In 2017, Providence Equity Partners LLC sold PADI to Canadian investment firm Altas Partners and French private equity firm Florac for 700 million USD, through an entity called Mandarinfish Holding.
Course Director shall be defined as an individual assigned sole principal responsibility for the design and/or presentation of a course (except where the course is a 1000-level College Course) or an individual assigned these responsibilities in a team-taught course.
PADI Sold For $700 million USD.
The world's largest scuba diving organization, PADI® was dreamed up in 1966 by two friends in Illinois over a bottle of Johnnie Walker. It's true. John Cronin, a scuba equipment salesman for U.S. Divers, and Ralph Erickson, an educator and swimming instructor, were concerned about the scuba diving industry.
PADI Divers carry the most respected and sought after scuba diving credentials in the world. No matter where you choose to dive, your PADI certification card will be recognized and accepted.
The June 2014 PADI Course Director Training Course was successfully conducted in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, at the newly completed Westin at the Punta Cana Resort. PADI Course Director Mark Goldsmith of Blue Vision Adventures provided exceptional logistical support and the staff at the Westin made the group feel welcome.
PADI Course Directors are PADI Master Instructors who have taken the next step and joined an elite group of instructor trainers. Course Directors teach PADI Instructor Development Courses (IDCs) and other instructor-level training, and thus are the scuba diving industry’s most influential leaders and role models. This rating is the highest and most respected professional rating in recreational scuba diving. To become a Course Director you must earn a spot in a Course Director Training Course (CDTC) through a competitive application process that examines your experience and training goals.
An enlightening insight of what it means to be a PADI Instructor, Trainer and mentor in the diving industry, through the eyes of Darius Moazzami, Platinum Course Director, Crystal Dive Resort, Koh Tao.
Having a Platinum Course Director means that you can learn from someone who has extensive knowledge and experience with the PADI IDC Program and other dive professional courses. Generally, that is a good thing because you can draw upon their wide range of understanding of the nuances in terms, PADI Standards, the IE Process, assignments, and life as an instructor in general.
PADI recognizes dive centres, resorts and individual instructors who are the most active in the industry, the ones who are very impactful in shaping the next generations of divers though frequent trainer awards. For Instructors there are Elite Awards and other awards of excellence in customer service and professionalism. For PADI Instructor Development Centres, there are various types including the PADI CDC or Career Development Centre, and for PADI Course Directors, they have annual certificates of excellence from Silver, Gold and Platinum.
I have been evaluating some local dive shops around me for taking continuing education classes, and came across one shop that advertised its "platinum" course director.
PADI is a lot about awards that mean little to anyone but PADI. They give awards for the most students taught, which is dubious at best, there is no award for the BEST students taught, because that would be a hard metric to count, and PADI is all about making it easy.
Platinum Course Directors issued a minimum of 100 professional-level certifications in 2014, at least 30 of which were at the Open Water or IDC Staff Instructor level, and an overall 70 percent or higher professional-level continuing education ratio.
Platinum Course Directors issued a minimum of 100 professional-level certifications in 2014, at least 30 of which were at the Open Water or IDC Staff Instructor level, and an overall 70 percent or higher professional-level continuing education ratio.
I wonder if the quantity indicator of being a platinum course director is almost an inverse indicator of quality. Sure, at some point you want a CD who trains more than two people a year... but do you want someone who pumps out two new instructors a week on average? And at a 70% professional con-ed ratio?
If their instructor students are passing the IE at a high rate than it would seem that whatever they are milling out knows and can do what PADI wants them to know and do.
A few years ago (2010 I think) there were 63 worldwide. I know (knew?--not sure if once you get it you keep it or if it's a yearly thing) one of them. She has certified 4 or 5,000 divers I think, and a whole whack of Instructors. She co-owns an LDS that also got the "best PADI" shop in NA or all of PADI Americas (?).
The rating of PADI Platinum Course Director is the highest award that PADI issues to its Course Directors. It’s not important to me how many candidates have come through the instructor development program I offer.
Your course director will become your mentor, should remember you and be able to assist you long after the PADI IDC is finished.
It all started in 2003 when I took the PADI Open Water Diver Course in Gilli Trawangan in Indonesia. I always loved watching marine life documentaries and adventure movies, and taking a scuba diving course on my holiday was very attractive to me.
I initially thought about becoming a diving instructor, travel the world, and making a living with something I love to do. However, throughout my diving courses, I noticed some of the best dive instructors and some of the worst.
To become a PADI Course Director you need to tick checkboxes before you can apply. As mentioned before, I started my PADI Open Water Course in 2003. I kept thinking about becoming a Diving Instructor almost every day and finally after 4 years, I booked the PADI Advanced Open Water Course to PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer.
Personally, the biggest obstacles to becoming a Course Director was time, money, and reputation.
The most rewarding was also one of my most challenging situations. Dealing with a student diver having a panic attack quite deep, in bad visibility, while having a strong current and just pretty much some of the worst conditions. The diver hit my mask and regulator second stage off my face on the way up to the surface.
There are 3 milestones for me. The first was becoming a PADI Course Director, the second was receiving the PADI Outstanding Contribution to Instructor Development Award and the third was being able to teach monthly IDC Courses, this resulted in receiving the PADI Platinum status since the start of my Course Director Career.
I love teaching with storytelling. Relating the topic with actual real-life stories can make a power memory imprint. I learned that by just mentioning information or reading will not create a long-lasting memory for most people. Storytelling in my opinion does.