Become a Globally -Recognised PADI Instructor & Ready For Your First Dive Job
With Our Multi-Award Winning 5-Star IDC Dive Centre
Join the UK’s largest scuba diving school for our professional and fun Instructor Development Courses (IDC). Our PADI Instructor Courses transform passionate divers into certified pros, opening doors to adventure, travel, and a career underwater.
Teach diving anywhere in the world from the tropical reefs of Thailand and the Maldives, wrecks of the Red Sea, or even in good old Blighty.
Oyster Diving are a PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Centre based in London and the South East, we offer expert-led, hands-on training that prepares you for real-world teaching, so you can start your dive career with confidence.
2026 IDC Course Dates | Instructor Exam Dates |
| 25th May to 1st June (mid-week and weekends) | 6-7th June |
| Starts 30th May (weekends) | 11-12th July |
| Starts 4th July (weekends) | 15-16th August |
Become a Professional Scuba Diving Instructor with Oyster Diving
Becoming a professional dive instructor with Oyster Diving means joining the UK’s leading PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Centre.
We offer world-class training, small group mentorship, and hands-on experience that sets you apart from the start.
Whether you’re looking to launch a full-time diving career or earn extra income doing what you love, our supportive team and flexible course options make it easy to turn your passion into a profession. Plus, with access to top dive locations and exclusive travel opportunities, your journey with Oyster Diving is just the beginning of a life filled with adventure.
- 5 pools locations in London and South East
- Exclusive use of Mercers Lake
- Largest dive school in the UK
Welcome to the PADI Diving Instructor Course
All the instructor course training we provide is tailored to each individual to ensure everyone receives the lessons in a way that is most beneficial to them. The PADI Instructor Development Course lasts 8 days and gets you prepared for the Instructor Exam (IE).
Meet our Course Director
Scott Roberts
PADI Course Director, Scott Roberts decided back in 2004 rather than do another sit on your bum holiday that he would rather do something with a bit more adventure and along with his partner got himself certified as an Open Water Diver and then went on their first dive holiday to Sharm el Sheikh.
After getting bitten by the diving bug in Sharm, Scott started diving every weekend and started to help out with other divers, which ultimately ended up in him becoming a PADI Professional by the end of 2005.
After working as an Independent Instructor for a number of years and with other dive centres for a few years in the south of the UK, Scott ended up spend time in Sydney Australia for a few years working with some of the centres there and eventually become a PADI Course Director.
Scott enjoys all levels of diving, from muddy holes for the hell of it, up to Technical Diving in places such as Truk Lagoon and on the many wrecks that litter the New South Wales (Australia) Coast line and UK coast line.
For his sins he loves diving in colder waters but gets some of his biggest kicks in helping bring diving to those that want to learn and since becoming a Course Director has a real passion for training divers to become PADI Instructors as well as help other instructors grow.
Seriously though, when he is not at his day job, he will be out diving with friends, either normal or sidemount making the most of the dive time he can get.
Instructor Course Content
- Complete the full skill circuit of 24 basic scuba skills
- Deliver presentations on parts of dive theory from the courses you’ll be qualified to teach
- Give teaching presentations in confined water working with simulated students
- Give teaching presentations in open water combining multiple skills with simulated students
- Give a demonstration of a complete rescue scenario
- Complete various workshops in the following areas: DSDs and Scuba Reviews, Adventures in Diving, Rescue and Marketing
- Attend presentations on key areas of being a dive professional from the structure of individual courses to risk management and the business of diving
Pre-requisites
In order to enroll in the PADI Instructor Development Course, you must meet the following prerequisites:
- Be a PADI Divemaster or an instructor member in good standing (renewed or eligible to renew) with another recognised recreational diver training organisation, or have a leadership-level certification in good standing (renewed or eligible to renew) with another recognised recreational diver training organisation; 60 logged dives; documented experience in night diving, deep diving and underwater navigation.
- Be a minimum of 18 years old
- Medical clearance attesting to dive fitness signed by a physician within the previous 12 months, and have had no medical condition changes.
- Certified diver for at least six months.
- Completed the EFR Primary and Secondary Care course, or other qualifying training, within the last 24 months.
- Documentation of any non-PADI qualifying entry-level, advanced, rescue and leadership-level certifications as required.
- Have 100 logged dives
Prices
| Standard Package | Full AI and IDC Course EFR Instructor Training IDC Crewpack and online learning EFR Instructor Materials | £2,250 |
| Master Scuba Diver Trainer Luxury Package | Above plus MSDT Package comprises 5 instructor specialties – O2 Provider, Nitrox, Dry Suit, Wreck and SMB. Internship to gain 25 certifications team teaching with an experienced Instructor with Oyster Diving | £2,750 |
| PADI fees payable directly to PADI* | PADI IDC Application Fee PADI UK IE fee PADI EFR Instructor application fee PADI Spec Instructor fee CD Trained (per spec) | £238.20 £834.00 £148.80 £49.20 each |
*prices subject to change outside of our control.
As a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor you’ll be able to teach
- PADI Scuba Diver/Open Water Diver
- PADI Adventure Diver/Advanced Open Water Diver
- PADI Rescue Diver
- PADI Divemaster
- PADI Junior Divemaster
- PADI Advanced Snorkeller (Skin Diver)
- PADI Discover Scuba Diving
- PADI Seal Team and Bubblemaker
- PADI ReActivate and Discover Local Diving
- PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy
- PADI AWARE Specialty
- AWARE Coral Reef Conservation
EFR Instructor Training is Included
At Oyster Diving, we are passionate about ensuring every person we train through our instructor diving course is as prepared as possible for any diving eventuality. That’s why we provide free Emergency First Response (EFR) training as part of our instructor training course.
Emergency First Response training teaches first aid for both adults and children, emergency oxygen use, and how to use Automated External Defibrillators (AED). The techniques and principles our instructors teach on this cause are the same used by medical professionals, but in a way that is accessible to everyone.
Do You Want a Diving Job? Our Instructor Courses Can Help
Once qualified as a PADI Instructor, you will be able to teach Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Emergency First Response, Rescue Diver and Divemaster Courses.
Whether you wish to teach in the Maldives, the UK, the Great Barrier Reef, or Iceland, you can expect to get paid for the work that you do. As a PADI member, you will also have access to their dedicated website which includes dive centres for sale and dive centres looking to recruit instructors.
Once you’ve qualified as an instructor, the world really is your Oyster!