PADI Specialty Instructor

PADI Specialty Instructors are PADI Instructors who meet the requirements to offer courses covering various specialized areas of diving activities.

These instructors possess the knowledge and skills necessary to offer this type of training by continuing their own education and/or gaining experience in a particular specialty area of diving. PADI Instructors must apply separately for each PADI Specialty Instructor level.

There are several PADI-standardized specialty courses that PADI Specialty Instructors can teach, supported by specialty course outlines for the instructor and various materials for the student diver. Instructors can also develop their own distinctive specialty courses, which they can offer as PADI courses after PADI approval.

PADI Instructors qualify as PADI Specialty Instructors either by attending a Specialty Instructor training course with a PADI Course Director or by applying directly to PADI.

Participation in a Specialty Instructor Training Course is strongly recommended but not required. This is the best path to qualifying as a Specialty Instructor. These courses offer valuable hands-on training, demonstrations of techniques, information on marketing the specific specialty, up-to-date information on PADI Standards, and, where appropriate, instructor-level open water training.

To participate in a Specialty Instructor training course, you must:

Be a PADI Assistant Instructor with a current renewal of your PADI membership (PADI Assistant Instructors can participate in any Specialty Instructor training, but they can only apply for PADI Specialty Instructor certification in specialty areas (i.e., only in those specialties that do not involve diving skills)

Or be a PADI Underwater Instructor (or a higher-level PADI Instructor) with a current renewal of your PADI membership

Or have completed a complete IDC/IOC within the last 12 months (PADI Instructor candidates can only apply for Specialty Instructor certifications after they have been certified by PADI as a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor).

PADI Course Directors in teaching status who are also PADI Specialty Instructor Trainers can conduct Specialty Instructor training courses. Upon completion of a PADI Specialty Instructor At the end of the training course, the instructor submits a completed application form signed by the Course Director who led the training to their PADI Office, along with the required passport-sized photograph, the application fee, and proof of 10 dives in the relevant specialty (for rebreather specialty courses, proof of 20 dives in that specialty is required). These 10 dives can be completed before or after attending a Specialty Instructor training course, but must be completed before submitting the Specialty Instructor application to PADI.