I am thinking of taking the PADI instructor course and since there are no PADI instuctors courses offered in West Virginia, I thought that Bonaire would be a great place to take it but I have searched most of the resorts on Info Bonaire and searched the Bonaire talk archives and can't find anyone on the Island that teaches anything beyond Divemaster. Can anyone tell me if there is an instructors course available on Bonaire?

Chris

Hi Chris. I believe that the following resorts are PADI IDC centers

Buddy Dive
Captain Don's
Tropical Divers

They should all be able to get you to the point where you can take your instructor exam. You can find their contact info on the PADI website under Teach Diving and then search for a PADI Dive Center on Bonaire. These all showed 5 Star Instructor Development Emblems by their names.

Good luck to you.

Chris - According to the PADI web site currently no Course Directors have scheduled an IDC in that region.
click here

Check with Tropical Divers I think they advertised one starting soon to the shops on Island.

I thought for PADI Instructor you went to Curacao? I remember talking to some guys at WannaDive about this a while back.

Thanks Walt and everyone. I just found the one being given in November by Tropical Divers.I have emailed Buddy Dive and Captain Dons but have not gotten a response yet.
So here is another related question ,(questions) for you guys. I am currently a SSI Master Diver and our Water Rescue teams Dive Master can take me as far as DiveCon. I have got conflicting answers as to weather I can go from DiveCon to PADI instructor or if I would have to take the Dive Master course and so far I've been unable to get PADI to return my emails.
Further more there is a SSI instructor course available here in West Virginia and I am wondering if I would be better off going the easier route and becoming an SSI instructor since I can do that localy or if I should take the harder road and go through PADI.
I currently don't have any plans to go to work any where as an Instructor but I can retire at a fairly early age so you never know and since it seems like most resorts are affiliated with PADI would It be better for me to take their course.
Any imput would be appreciated.

SSI does not certify individual instructors unless it is through an SSI dive shop. The rule is a bit vague as far as I can tell, but we do have an SSI rep living on the island and he may see this post and give a better explanation.

As an SSI instructor, I can tell you that you are allowed to do the instructor course, you only have to be affiliated with a dealer (dive shop) to be an active instructor. This is not a vague rule, just a matter of quality control.

If you want to do both the courses, it's easier to do the PADI first followed by the cross-over, since PADI is one of the only organisations not offering a cross-over from other agencies to PADI. For SSI there is a cross-over. It is possible to enter the PADI instructor course as a DiveCon, although in that case you may need to show your rescue skills.

Thanks for the input.

The next IDC that we will have is from the 12th till the 21st of November. For next year we already schedulded three more IDC´s. The Tropical Divers are the onliest facility that has IDC planned and also the IDC Center that already did an IDC this year. A Course Director is on duty there during the whole year!
If you like to have more informations, please contact me!

Thanks Thomas. I'll be getting in touch with you to get some information.

Thomas,
Welcome to BT!

Hey Chris

A few guys (divemasters) we have trained from our place are doing the IDC from Tropical divers in November, Our guys are from Virginia and Pennsylvania, So maybe we'll see you there!
Also, go with the PADI, the SSI is also a good program, but you can not teach unless it is through a dive shop. I own a dive shop and do not feel it is fair to tie one of our instructors up like that.

Good luck!

Assuming that one is considering retirement the assumption is made that one has significant assets. If these are held in an American environment it would behove one to truly understand what your attorneys and you are comfortable with in terms of liability exposure to the potential estates of those students that you certify. It is the opinion of some litigators that ones liability does not expire but the clock only starts running when the defects become apparent. ie the student expires.

This potential exposure has been interpreted by some as that once one certifies ONE student ones liability does not expire until the student does from demonstrably other causes. You might win your defence but are the potential legal expenses and attachment of your estate worth the massive income one might derive from this pursuit.

I realize this is controversial but one needs to be very aware of ones exposure.

What is your point, John? No one should teach scuba? Seems a little extreme...

ALL the instructor courses go on extensively about liability, risk management, insurance, etc. No one becomes a scuba instructor without being aware of these concerns. Not sure why you apparently think it is new info.

Chris, let me know if you cannot put something together. I go to Bon once or twice a year and maybe we could hook up.