Career Courses

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Become a Dive Instructor

Learn new skills, have fun and differentiate yourself in a busy job market. Study Scuba diving full time for one year and broaden your horizons. 

Enrol in the most comprehensive Instructor development course in New Zealand. The Diploma in Professional Scuba Instruction will teach you how to be a PADI Open Water and Specialty Instructor and also teach you the skills required to gain employment in the dive industry or your area of interest, worldwide.

All courses have flexible start dates.

Program Overview

Over the 45 week Diploma program, you will complete 100 dives including but not limited to Boat, Night, Search & Recovery, Deep and Wreck. This is the initial step in pursuing a professional SCUBA diving career and an excellent qualification to complement many vocations. You can read more about these here. You will continue through the PADI professional system, and at the end of the course after passing your PADI instructor examination, you will become a PADI Open Water SCUBA Instructor with five Specialty Instructor ratings or areas which you can choose to focus upon.

Now imagine yourself swimming alongside one of the largest fish in the sea, finding a sunken ship wreck or just seeing the joy on people’s faces when you introduce them to the underwater world. This could be you!

Make friends for life

What's Involved

• Study Scuba diving Monday to Thursday
• We enroll two intakes each year, February to December and August to June
• Weekends and Fridays are off
• Student Loans and Student Allowances are available for eligible students
• Over 100 plus dives across the South Island
• Train in some of the toughest dive conditions and gain confidence to dive and instruct anywhere in the world
• Make friends for life

Entry Requirements

• RSTC Medical Certificate signed by a doctor
• 18 years old prior to the start of Divemaster
• International students welcome

Exit Dive Qualification

• PADI Specialty Instructor (5 PADI Specialty Instructor Ratings)
• Diploma in Professional SCUBA Instruction
• EFR First Aid Instructor
• Graduates of the 45 week programme will be awarded the New Zealand Certificate in Diving (Level 3) and New Zealand Diploma in Diving (Level 5)

Student Loans and Allowances

Student Loans and Allowances are available to eligible domestic students. Please access www.studylink.govt.nz for eligibility criteria.

“Go for it, it’s the best thing I’ve ever done!”

Ben Brodie Diploma graduate (currently in Fiji)

“Academy of Diving Trust is registered as a Private Training Establishment by NZQA and has approval to sub-contract to Dive HQ Christchurch”

Free Info Pack  View Brochure Online

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Careers in Diving | Frequently Asked Questions | PADI Certs Gained | Graduate Profiles