Course overview

Step up from guiding to teaching with the SSI Open Water Instructor programme in Krabi, based at the Ao Nang dive base on Thailand's Andaman coast. Warm 27-30°C water and the reefs and pinnacles around Phi Phi give candidates a real-world setting to build and assess teaching presentations before the SSI Instructor Evaluation. You qualify ready to certify your own students through SSI's digital training system.

What you’ll learn

• Plan and deliver academic, pool and open-water teaching sessions
• Teach and assess skills using SSI's modular, performance-based system
• Demonstrate the core open-water skills to evaluation standard
• Identify and manage student-diver problems and dive risk
• Use the SSI digital platform to track student progress and certify divers
• Prepare thoroughly for the SSI Instructor Evaluation

Prerequisites

• Minimum age 18
• SSI Dive Guide or Divemaster, or an equivalent leadership rating from another agency
• Certified diver for at least 6 months
• Logged dives meeting SSI professional standards (typically 75+ to certify)
• Current first aid and CPR / SSI React Right provider rating
• Diver medical clearance signed by a physician

What's included · What's not

Not included? Sort the rest of your trip

Flights and accommodation aren’t part of the course price, here’s how to book them around your dates.

Probability of sightings · month-by-month

What you're likely to see each month, based on historic operator logs.

Day-by-day itinerary

1. Day1
   Teaching system orientation

   Get to know the SSI training system and give your first academic teaching presentations.
2. Day2
   Pool teaching workshops

   Practise demonstrating and teaching confined-water skills in the calm shallows near Ao Nang.
3. Day3
   Open-water teaching

   Run open-water skill circuits on the local Andaman reefs under trainer evaluation.
4. Day4
   Standards & theory

   Cover SSI standards, dive theory and risk-management content.
5. Day5
   Assessment practice

   Complete rescue and skills assessments to evaluation standard.
6. Day6
   Evaluation preparation

   Mock evaluations and a final briefing for the SSI Instructor Evaluation.

Verified through iDive

Every partner school in the iDive network is vetted on safety, instructor credentials, equipment standards and student feedback. Talk to a iDive dive pro on WhatsApp for current availability and reviews specific to Krabi.

Frequently asked questions