Altitude Diver Instructor

Altitude adds a genuinely different set of variables to a dive, and the Altitude Diver Instructor course exists to make sure that knowledge gets passed on properly. Lakes, quarries and mountain dive sites above around 300 metres change the physics your students learned in their basic training - dive tables and computers calibrated for sea level no longer give a straight answer, and understanding why is the whole point of this specialty.

Over the course you'll work through the physiological effects that reduced atmospheric pressure has on the body and on decompression, how to adjust tables and dive computers correctly for a given elevation, and how to plan a dive at a high-altitude site so it stays well within safe limits. Just as importantly, you'll come away confident in how to teach these ideas to recreational divers who may only ever encounter altitude diving once or twice in their diving lives, but need to get it right when they do.

You'll be working from the PADI Specialty Instructor Manual, available in digital or paper form, which sets out the standardised specialty instructor guide for the course so your teaching stays consistent with PADI's global standards throughout.

To join, you'll need to already hold a PADI Instructor rating, or be currently enrolled on - or have completed - your IDC or OWSI within the last 12 months. Once qualified, Altitude Diver Instructor counts toward the five specialty certifications needed for Master Scuba Diver Trainer, a natural next goal for instructors building out their teaching portfolio.