Open Water Instructor

Take the next step in your professional diving career. You will develop your skills in teaching, guiding, and training divers according to SSI standards. After successfully completing the Instructor Evaluation, you will be authorized to independently conduct dive training as an active SSI Open Water Instructor.

What can you expect?

The Instructor Evaluation (IE) is the final step within SSI’s 2-step Instructor Training Approach. This program serves as the official evaluation for candidates who wish to complete their path to becoming an SSI Open Water Instructor.

Prior to the SSI Assistant Instructor and Instructor Evaluation, you must first successfully complete the Instructor Training Course (ITC). During the ITC, you will learn how to:

Deliver theoretical presentations
Supervise confined water training sessions
Teach the Open Water Diver program and various Specialty programs, such as Enriched Air Nitrox, Diver Stress & Rescue, Science of Diving, and Divemaster.
Develop student management and communication skills

The Instructor Evaluation by the SSI Service Center assesses whether you can apply these skills correctly and according to SSI standards.

23-26°C

heated water
10m

maximum depth
5.000

tropical fish
SSI

certified dive center

Practical info

Successful completion of the Instructor Training Course (ITC)
Active professional status
Fulfillment of applicable SSI requirements
Minimum age: 18 years

Already an experienced instructor with another organization?
You may be eligible for a shortened onboarding process where you only need to complete certain parts of the ITC, followed by successfully completing the IE.

Already an Assistant Instructor with another organization?
You can continue your professional journey within SSI through a customized transition program.

Contact an SSI Training Center for more information about the possibilities.

70 hours

: €899

Cost of the Instructor Evaluation by the SSI Service Center not included.
Administrative processing
Registration as an SSI Instructor after successful completion

What's included & what to bring

We provide the basics – you bring your personal gear or rent it on-site.

Included

Buoyancy Compensator / BCD
Dive tank
Weights

Rent or bring your own

Wetsuit
Regulator set
Computer
Mask
Snorkel

Always bring

Swimwear
Towel
Your certification (if available)
Proof of insurance (if available)

What's not allowed

Read our house rules and check what you should leave at home.

How your dive proceeds

Check-in

Check in at the counter 15 minutes beforehand. You’ll receive a colored wristband – always wear it visibly, it grants access to the Experience Zone. Your 2-hour dive session starts now.

Change clothes

Put on your swimwear
Store your belongings in a locker (opened with your wristband)
Go barefoot to the fourth floor (stairs or elevator)
Bring your own dive gear with you

Disinfect gear & shower

Go through the foot bath and take a shower
Pick up rented gear
Disinfect it in the sink and rinse.
Shower again before entering the water

After your dive

Disinfect your gear
Return the gear
Change clothes
Deposit your wristband in the box – within 2 hours.

Certification and follow-up opportunities

Upon successful completion of the Instructor Evaluation:

The candidate receives SSI Instructor certification
Professional status is officially registered
The instructor is authorized to independently conduct SSI dive training

After becoming an SSI Instructor, you can continue with:

Specialty Instructor
Assistant Instructor Trainer
Instructor Training Seminar
SSI Instructor Trainer
Other professional training within the SSI system

These next steps build upon didactics, professional responsibility, and career development within scuba diving

Authority with active status

Instructors with active status may teach, supervise, and issue certifications for the following programs after completing the Instructor Evaluation:

Try Scuba
basic-diver
Referral Diver
Indoor Diver
Scuba Diver
Open Water Diver
Experienced Diver Test
Scuba Skills Update
Advanced Open Water Diver

They will receive the following Specialty Instructor certifications:

Diver Stress & Rescue
Enriched Air Nitrox
Science of Diving
Dive Guide/Divemaster