The PADI IDC and IE, then Homeward Bound

PADI is the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. I think it’s the largest of the certifying agencies for scuba diving. If you go through their courses, you become a member, a“PADI Pro” upon completing your divemaster certification. The next level is assistant instructor then instructor. Those who want to attain this level must go through a 10-day Instructor Development Course IDC) to learn how to do things the PADI way. Part of this to make sure you demonstrate underwater skills slowly, clearly and deliberately, as well as have a strong base of knowledge about diving, its physiology, physics, the equipment, the environment, and how to use and adhere to dive standards and principles. Then there are the myriad PADI courses to know about. The 2-day Instructor Evaluation (IE) consists of six written exams, an oral presentation, plus all kinds of in water skills to brief, demonstrate and debrief. Along with all this, are dive stories. I know a lot about diving in Texas from our consummate storyteller/course director Mike Rowe at Sail Caribbean Divers.

The IDC was time consuming, covering lots of material during the day, and some homework—mainly presentations. If we remember what we learned in school—tell people what you’re going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them you were fine. We had to condense the body of the presentations so the intro and summary seemed long in comparison, but at least we didn’t have to prepare a presentation of a whole chapter. I was more worried about the in water demonstrations, but I must have done those just fine based on my scores.

One never knows when to schedule the return flight home after being with others for a period of time. I left the day after the IE, and since all nights are a work night for a dive shop, the partying was a bit subdued. We had a birthday to celebrate, so it was a twofold celebration. Two people from the dive shop are in a band, and the third is the mate of another dive shop employee, so the lot of us got together to toasts, and maybe there were a few shots downed. All low key.

The next morning I awoke early to say goodbye before the boats left, then went back to pack for what was an uneventful trip back to the Twin Cities where the flowering trees confirmed it was still Spring in Minnesota.