Learning to scuba dive is a fun experience, but it can be challenging. That’s why you should look at the Instructors a dive centre employs and not just the courses that the dive centre offers. Landing a great Scuba Diving Instructor for your Open Water Diver Course could make the difference between an activity you did while on a trip, and a lifelong hobby.
So what makes a great Scuba Diving Instructor? Here are the top 6 things we look for when we’re hiring new Instructors.
Great Scuba Diving Instructors have excellent situational awareness.
Knowing what’s going on around the group at all times is key in maintaining safety. A great Scuba Diving Instructor is constantly aware of where each student is, where the group is on the dive site, how many other groups are around them, what hazards in the area, and how much air each student has left in their tank. Most of the time, Instructors have to do all this as they’re swimming and navigating backwards while pointing out whale sharks and making sure you’re having the best day of your life. It’s a tall order!
They talk. A lot.
A great Scuba Diving Instructor is one that talks a lot. They will talk you through academic sessions with passion and explain each concept in detail. They’ll encourage you to ask as many questions as you want. And when it comes to dive briefings, it’s super important that the Instructor is clear, understandable, and covers all the important topics. If you pick the right Instructor, they’ll talk you through every aspect of scuba diving and will leave you with a new passion for the sport and appreciation of the underwater world.
They’re passionate about what they do.
A great Scuba Diving Instructor does not just think of their profession simply as a way of earning money. The sport that they love so much is based on there still being a healthy underwater world to explore. So a great Instructor will also have a keen interest in conservation efforts. They’ll teach their students about marine life and how they’re affected by the actions of humans. They will take their students on beach clean-ups and will show them any trash found on a dive and they’ll remove it. Someone who has a history of joining initiatives to save marine animals and the environment is someone you can look up to.
They abide by proper dive etiquette.
The underwater world is teeming with incredible marine animals and many Scuba Diving Instructors and Divemasters take joy in seeing you come face to face with them for the first time. But be wary of any Instructor or Divemaster that is willing to break with proper dive etiquette just to show you something unique. A dive professional who harasses a pufferfish until it inflates, just to show their students the creature’s defence mechanism, is a lousy dive professional. No one should ever be standing on coral, or harassing marine life, or touching anything in any way. Stay clear of those who treat the underwater world as though it was their own home.
They’re as patient as your mom.
They say that patience is a virtue and that could not be more true when it comes to great Scuba Diving Instructors. Teaching the same scuba diving skills to different people day after day can become monotonous and tiring for some people. But a great Instructor doesn’t mind teaching the same thing over and over again because they love meeting new people and teaching people how to dive. They also find fulfilment knowing that they are able to share their knowledge and skills with people from all over the world.
Great Scuba Diving Instructors make it fun and enjoyable.
It’s also nice to have a Scuba Diving Instructor who is fun and easy to get along with. Scuba diving is more exciting when you are at ease with your Scuba Instructor. It’s a good thing that all of our Instructors (and Divemasters) have been thoroughly vetted for excellent senses of humour and impeccable comedic timing. Anyone of them will have you laughing so hard and having such a great time that you will forget you’re actually doing a course.
We pride ourselves here at Big Blue Diving with having an excellent team of Scuba Diving Professionals who exemplify these traits. It’s why we’ve been so successful since we opened in 1991, and it’s why we’ll continue to be one of the benchmark dive centres on Koh Tao.
Want to meet our excellent crew of dive professionals? Learn more about us and then pop over and book your dive experience!
