Instructor Training Course

In the SSI Instructor Training Course, you will learn how to teach and plan dive courses according to the SSI system using the latest materials.

You will gain a thorough understanding of SSI’s Standards and Procedures, how to conduct engaging academic teaching presentations, how to teach divers in confined and open water training, and greatly improve your leadership skills.

You will start the first day with Instructor Training Course Prep. Upon arrival, you will meet our Instructor Trainers, who will guide you through your Instructor Training Course and Instructor Evaluation.

We will check your paperwork to ensure everything is properly completed, discuss your detailed training schedule, conduct a skills workshop, and an ITC Pre-Exam to detect any potential areas you need to practice, because we care about your success.

The following days are long yet rewarding. Generally, the day starts at 8:00 and usually finish around 18:00 . There are many breaks built into the schedule throughout the day, and you will have time to study and prepare your academic, confined water, and/or open water assignments for the next day in the afternoons or evenings.

We purposefully keep our Instructor Training groups small to make the most of your time, optimizing your workload to ensure plenty of practice so you can pass every course requirement.

After the Instructor Training Course, you must successfully complete the SSI Instructor Examination (IE) to finalize your certification. The IE evaluates your teaching ability, dive knowledge, skill level, understanding of the SSI System, attitude, and professionalism. An official SSI Instructor Certifier will evaluate all instructor candidates over a two-day period. Upon successfully completing the Instructor Evaluation, you will be awarded the rating of SSI Open Water Instructor (OWI) and be able to teach all SSI courses from Entry-level to Dive Guide.

If you’re looking to become a dive instructor, there’s no better team to guide you than Celine Monfort and Niels Prinssen, the owners and Instructor Trainers at Rich Coast Diving.

With over 15 years of experience in the dive industry, they bring a wealth of knowledge gained from managing SSI and PADI dive centers and liveaboards all over the world. Their training goes beyond just earning a certification—they are dedicated to shaping you into a top dive professional and helping you take the next step in your diving career. With their expertise, global connections, and hands-on approach, you’ll be learning from the best in the business.

We offer a great deal on our Instructor Training Course and includes the following,

· ITC Preparation

· Assistant Instructor Course (AI)

· Instructor Training Course (ITC)

· Instructor Evaluation Fee (IE)

· Academic Sessions / Workshops

· Pool / Open Water Training Dives

· All Digital Academic Materials

· Instructor Crewpak with Goodies

· SSI Professional Wetnotes Set

· FREE Rich Coast Diving ITC t-shirt

· FREE Diving for Life membership !

· 20% Discount on shop retail (discount on cash payments only)

The ITC is a challenging course but the outcome is being able tofollow your dreams and trade in that office for the ocean. Once you sign up, you automatically receive the “DIVE FOR LIFE” membership. This means you get to dive with Rich Coast Diving if space is available for the rest of your life!

​

1. Independent Study - SSI Digital Learning

The ITC includes digital learning materials so you can study before you arrive and come well prepared.

​

• eLearning time commitment: 30 hours

​

2. With Your Instructor Trainer

​

We offer the full range of Professional Training Programs 4 times per year, from Divemaster up to Assistant Instructor Trainer.

The ITC is a very intensive training course to prepare you for the Instructor Examination (IE).

Ask us when our next Instructor Training Course begins, or visit our website.

Prerequisites To enroll in our Instructor Training Courses candidates must:

• Be over 18 years old

• Be a certified diver for six months

• Have a Dive Leader certification — SSI Divemaster or equivalent leadership-level certification with a recognized training agency

• Have medical clearance attesting to dive fitness signed by a physician within the previous 12 months

• Provide proof of React Right or any First Aid, CPR and Oxygen Provider training within the last 24 months

• Submit documentation of qualifying certifications for entry, advanced, rescue, and leadership levels.

Let us know your current certification level and we will train you up to the required level. Not a diver yet? No problem! We can train you from zero to hero in no time.

As an active SSI Instructor, we strongly recommend becoming a React Right Instructor as well. We usually offer a React Right Instructor course at the end of our Instructor Training Course.

The React Right Instructor qualification includes completion of the digital training materials at home and the practical application, which is conducted after the Instructor Training Course in a single day. The course requires no diving and will only consist of classroom training scenarios.

During the practical application, we will refresh all of your skills. Then, you will learn how to perform all skills at demonstration level. We will teach you how to organize and market the React Right course, discuss which materials and teaching tools you need, where to get them, and how use them best.

The React Right program is a powerful course offering, as you can teach it to divers and non-divers of all ages. It is also a prerequisite for all your future Diver Stress & Rescue students.

Please note that to keep your React Right Instructor Teaching Status current, you will need to teach React Right courses frequently. If your teaching status expires, you will have to update your skills with an active React Right Instructor to regain Active Teaching Status.

Once you finish all skills and pass the exam, you are able to teach and certify the following courses:

• React Right Primary Care (CPR),

• React Right Secondary Care (First Aid)

• React Right Automated External Defibrillation (AED)

• React Right Oxygen Provider (O2)
  

We include the React Right Instructor course in your Instructor Training Course Bundle at a reduced price or you can book it separately at any time for USD 150.

Equipment

As a future Dive Professional it is mandatory to own your own set of personal equipment and you cannot start the ITC without them ! You need: Mask, fins, snorkel, BCD, regulator, long/short wetsuit 3 or 5 mm, dive computer, DSMB, compass, knife / divers’ tool, sound device (whistle). ​ We do sell all items with a discount for our PRO participants, if you cannot bring them from your home country. Contact us in advance for prices and details.

SSI Materials

The fully-digital Instructor Training Course Bundle includes:

1. Instructor Training Course Candidate Manual

2. Instructor Training Course Pre-Exam 3. Access to all materials for all programs you will be qualified to teach online and within the MySSI App in all languages, including:

• Open Water Diver / Scuba Diver

• Enriched Air Nitrox

• Perfect Buoyancy

• Diver Stress & Rescue

• Dive Guide

Access to the MySSI Download Area where you can download everything you need to prepare for the Instructor Training Course:

• Student Manuals

• Instructor Manuals

• Final Exams – A & B Versions

• Presentations Enhancement Guides (PEGs)

• Cue Cards

• Training Records

• Training Standards

• Marketing Materials

During the ITC you will spend most of your time in the classroom attending seminars, workshops and presentations. Then there are several pool sessions and a few training dives in the ocean.

Our location offers excellent year-round diving opportunities. Visibility changes from day to day so there is no better or worse season for visibility. Water temperature ranges from 23 – 28 Celsius throughout the year so a 3 - 5mm wetsuit is sufficient to keep you comfortably warm under water.

Most dive sites are only 10 minutes away and accessible all year.

In Costa Rica the seasons are divided between the rainy season (which runs from May to October) and the dry season (which runs November to April). But these seasons do not affect our diving conditions so any time of the year is great to do your PRO course !