How to become a scuba instructor: steps, cost and pay in 2026

To become a scuba instructor, you take four courses, log 100 dives and pass a two-day exam. You must be at least 18. From your first dive, it takes at least six months. The courses cost about $6,000 to $7,000. With gear, extra dives and time off work, most people spend $10,000 or more.

The pay is low. An instructor who taught regular dive courses full time made about $22,900 in 2024.¹ Most people do it to live by the sea, not to get rich. If that still sounds good, here is the whole route.

The steps, in order

1. Open Water Diver. This is your first course. You learn to dive to 18 meters (60 feet) with a buddy. If you have not done it yet, start with what your first scuba course asks of you.
2. Advanced Open Water. Five more dives. Two are set: a deep dive and a navigation dive. You pick the other three.²
3. Rescue Diver and first aid. You learn to spot trouble and help a diver who is hurt. PADI’s first aid course is called Emergency First Response, or EFR.
4. Log 40 dives. This is the gate to the pro courses. Fun dives count. So do the dives from your courses.
5. Divemaster. This is the first pro level. A divemaster leads dives and helps instructors. You need 60 dives to finish.³
6. The instructor course. PADI calls it the IDC. SSI calls it the ITC. It teaches you how to teach.
7. Log 100 dives and pass the exam. The exam is called the IE. PADI’s takes two days.⁴

What PADI and SSI ask for

PADI and SSI are the two biggest dive training groups. Most dive shops teach one or the other. Their rules are close, but not the same. These are the 2026 rules from their own sites.

	PADI	SSI
Minimum age	183	185
To start Divemaster	Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, first aid in the last 24 months, 40 dives3	Stress & Rescue, plus deep, night and navigation training, 40 dives
Dives to start the instructor course	606	605
Dives before the exam	1006	1005
Time as a certified diver	6 months before the IDC6	6 months before the IE5
Extra card you need	First aid instructor (EFR Instructor)6	Enriched Air Nitrox5
Instructor course length	About 2 weeks	70 to 80 hours7

PADI also wants a medical form signed by a doctor in the last 12 months. That goes for both Divemaster and the IDC.⁶³ Most people pass it with no trouble. If you have a health issue, sort it out before you pay for anything. Our page on scuba diving with asthma shows how a doctor looks at one common case.

SSI asks for a card that PADI does not: nitrox. Nitrox is air with extra oxygen, and most shops sell it. Our guide to nitrox diving explains it.

The Divemaster course

Divemaster is where diving turns into work. You learn to lead a group, give a dive briefing and help an instructor in class. The job also means the boring work: filling tanks, fixing gear, counting heads.

You must pass four swim tests:⁸

• Swim 400 meters with no gear.
• Swim 800 meters with mask, snorkel and fins.
• Float or tread water for 15 minutes. For the last two, your hands stay out of the water.
• Tow a tired diver 100 meters at the surface.

PADI says the course can take two weeks or six months.⁸ It depends on how often you can dive. Many people do it as interns at a busy shop. They work for the shop and dive for free. That is also the fastest way to reach 100 dives.

The instructor course and the exam

The IDC teaches you to teach. You give short class talks. You run skills in the pool. You teach in open water. Your trainers grade each one and help you fix it. PADI splits the IDC in two parts: Assistant Instructor, then Open Water Scuba Instructor.⁶

You also have to become a first aid instructor. It is a one-day course. Rainbow Reef IDC in Key Largo runs it on the day between the IDC and the exam.

The exam is run by PADI, not by your shop. It lasts two days.⁴ First come written tests. There are five dive theory tests and one on PADI’s rules. You need 75% to pass. You can retake a theory test you fail. Then you teach a class talk, a pool skill and an open water skill. Last, you do a rescue at the surface.⁴

SSI works the same way. You take the ITC, then pass SSI’s own exam, also called the IE.⁷

How much it costs

Here is one real route, paying as you go and living at home in Florida. Prices were checked on 27 September 2026. The first four lines are from No Shenanigans Diving in Coral Springs. The pro courses are from Rainbow Reef IDC in Key Largo.

Step	Price
Open Water	$439
Advanced Open Water	$439
Rescue Diver	$449
First aid (EFR)	$90
Divemaster, with materials and PADI fee	$1,484
IDC, with materials, PADI fees and the $825 exam fee	$3,176
First aid instructor (EFR Instructor)	$700
Courses total	$6,777
About 60 extra dives: 30 two-dive boat trips at $80	About $2,400
Your own gear	$1,500 to $3,000
All in	About $10,700 to $12,200

Pros are expected to own their gear, and some shops want it sooner. No Shenanigans asks you to bring your own for every course after Open Water. The IDC Koh Tao budget puts a full kit at $1,500 to $3,000. Start with a mask, fins and a dive computer. Our page on choosing a dive computer can help.

There are two other ways to do it.

Go abroad on a package. IDC Koh Tao in Thailand sells a zero-to-instructor course for 194,000 baht. That is about $6,000, with PADI fees in. The shop’s own budget for six months there, with rent, food, visas and travel, is 400,000 to 550,000 baht. That comes to about $12,000 to $17,000. So it is not cheaper than training near home. It is warmer, and you dive most days.

Work for your training. Rainbow Reef’s internship in Key Largo trains you from Advanced Open Water to instructor for free. Housing is free too. You pay for PADI books, PADI fees and food. It takes about six months. Once you pass, you teach 25 of their customers. It is by invite only, and spots are few.

Being a pro costs money every year, too. PADI’s yearly fee for instructors was $592 in 2026, per the fee list quoted by Rich Coast Diving in Costa Rica. Pro insurance runs about $250 to $400 a year, per IDC Koh Tao. You want your own dive accident insurance as well. For what the first courses and fun dives cost around the world, see what scuba diving costs in 2026.

How long it takes

• The fastest: six months from your first dive card. PADI will not let you start the IDC any sooner.⁶
• Full time: about six months. Both the Koh Tao package and the Rainbow Reef internship take that long.
• Part time, from home: one to two years. The 100 dives are what take the time.

PADI says a full-time Divemaster course is two to three weeks of all day, every day. It adds that some shops take a person with no dive card to Divemaster in six to eight weeks.⁹ The IDC takes about two more weeks. Rainbow Reef runs it in as little as nine days. Then come the one-day first aid course and the two-day exam.

What instructors earn

The best numbers come from a 2025 survey of 817 instructors by the Business of Diving Institute.¹ It found:

• Full-time instructors of regular dive courses made about $22,900 from teaching in 2024. That counts tips and commission.
• That works out to about $185 for each student they taught.
• Only 38% think teaching can pay a living. In 2021, it was 53%.
• Of the four regions it could measure, instructors in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean made the most. They made about twice as much as instructors in the US.
• Tech instructors, who teach deep and cave diving, made about $45,400 full time.

Many shops pay per student or per course, not by the hour. So a slow month means a small check. Some jobs add a room or meals. Ask about both before you sign.

My advice: treat it as a way to live near the sea for a few years. Many good instructors teach on weekends and keep a day job. Others move up to teaching tech diving, where the pay is about twice as good.

Where the jobs are

On 27 September 2026, the PADI Job Board listed 268 jobs. The first page had jobs in the Maldives, Thailand, Honduras, Spain, Australia, the Dominican Republic and the US.

Most jobs are in three kinds of places:

• Resorts and dive towns in warm water. Most full-time jobs are here, and the work is steady in high season.
• Liveaboards. These are boats where guests sleep and dive for a week. You live on board too.
• Local dive shops. In the US, most of this work is part time, on weekends and in the pool.

How to get hired:

• Teach more courses. Earn five specialty ratings, like nitrox or deep. After 25 students you can become a Master Scuba Diver Trainer, or MSDT.¹⁰ Shops like instructors who can teach a lot.
• Train where you want to work. The shop that trains you often hires you. It already knows you.
• Speak a second language. Resorts get guests from all over the world.
• Show up in person. Go in high season, dive with the shops and meet the staff.

Try the job before you commit

You do not have to decide all at once. Divemaster is a real job on its own. Divemasters lead dives, help in classes and work on the boats. Get to Divemaster, then work a season. You will soon know if you like the long days, the early boats and the same briefing five times a week. If you still love it, the IDC is only two more weeks.

The first three steps pay off even if you stop there. Rescue Diver makes you a calmer diver and a better buddy.

PADI or SSI?

Pick the one the shops near you use. Both are known around the world, and both lead to the same kind of job.

You can switch later. PADI lets instructors from other groups skip ahead to the second part of its IDC.⁶ SSI has a crossover too. Since July 2024, some instructors who switch to SSI must also pass its exam.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to become a scuba instructor?+

At least six months from your first dive card. PADI will not let you start the instructor course until you have been a diver that long. Full time, most people take about six months. With a day job and diving on weekends, plan on one to two years. The 100 dives are the slow part.

How much do scuba instructors get paid?+

Not much. In a 2025 survey of 817 instructors, those who taught regular dive courses full time made about $22,900 a year, tips included. That is about $185 for each student they taught. Instructors in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean made the most. Teaching tech diving pays about twice as much.

Is it hard to become a scuba instructor?+

The skills are not hard for a fit diver who likes people. Time and money are the hard parts. You need 100 logged dives, and the courses cost about $6,000 to $7,000. The two-day exam needs 75% to pass, and the instructor course is built to get you there.

What do you need to become a scuba instructor?+

Five things for PADI. Be 18 or older. Hold a Divemaster card. Have first aid training from the last two years. Get a doctor to sign a medical form in the last year. Log 60 dives to start the instructor course, and 100 dives before the exam.

Can you become a scuba instructor with no experience?+

Yes. Many dive shops sell zero-to-instructor packages. You start with no dive card and finish as an instructor about six months later. IDC Koh Tao in Thailand sells one for 194,000 baht, about $6,000, with PADI fees in. Rent and food are extra.

---

Resources

Footnotes

1. Kieran, Darcy. “Survey Results: Scuba Diving Instructors Revenues & Pay Benchmarking (2nd edition).” Business of Diving Institute, 27 June 2025, businessofdiving.com. ↩ ↩²

2. “PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Course.” PADI, course page listing the two required dives, checked 27 September 2026, store.padi.com. ↩

3. “PADI Divemaster Requirements: Prerequisites and Skills.” PADI Blog, age, dive and first aid rules for Divemaster, 16 April 2025, blog.padi.com. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

4. “Conquering the PADI Instructor Examination: One Diver’s Trials and Triumphs.” PADI Blog, a candidate’s account of the two-day exam, 24 June 2023, blog.padi.com. ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. “Open Water Instructor (ISO 24802-2).” SSI Training Standards, instructor candidate prerequisites, checked 27 September 2026, training.divessi.com. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

6. “PADI Instructor Development Course - IDC.” PADI, course page with the IDC and exam prerequisites, checked 27 September 2026, store.padi.com. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

7. “SSI Instructor Training Course.” Scuba Schools International, course page with dive minimums and suggested hours, checked 27 September 2026, divessi.com. ↩ ↩²

8. “What’s Covered in the PADI Divemaster Course?” PADI Blog, course parts and the four swim tests, 14 January 2026, blog.padi.com. ↩ ↩²

9. “How Long Does it Take to Become a Professional Scuba Diver?” PADI Blog, 25 May 2023, blog.padi.com. ↩

10. “PADI Professional Levels and Instructor Rankings Explained.” PADI Blog, including Master Scuba Diver Trainer, 16 June 2023, blog.padi.com. ↩