PADI IDC Prep course - Day 1
Well, I have officially finished the first day of being a PADI Instructor Development Course candidate. Have to say it’s been pretty good too. I woke this morning feeling really nervous about things and what was to come. It wasn’t helped by an introduction to the course, stating what you need to pass and what should happen if you fail certain parts of the course. Am in no mood to be having retakes of tests, and will do everything to assure that I won’t be doing them.
Today is not actually the IDC proper, but a 2-day pre-IDC preparation course. It’s designed to get you ready for the IDC so you can get straight into things when the start (on Saturday). The morning was spent doing paperwork, introductions and then the physics exam. There are 7 people doing the IDC and everyone has a very different background, from professional videographers to a candidate pretty much straight out of uni, doing this before starting grad school. We all gave our personal introductions and then had an introduction to the PADI system and the IDC and IE. Our IDC will take place over 10 days (with a rest day in the middle of the course), and then if we are successful we’ll move to Koh Tao for 3 days, where we’ll do out Instructor Examination. With a lot of work, and a bit of luck, I should be a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor on August 17th. And then I start the speciality courses and the EFR instructor course.
The physics test went impressively well, and I got 95% in that one. Shame it wasn’t assessed, but it’s nice to start off like that. If I get the same score in all my other tests I’ll be over the moon. But this IDC-prep course is the place to make the silly mistakes. The IDC and IE are not places where I should be making silly mistakes. We were also told today what presentations we will have to make during the IDC. I left the paper at the classroom today, but will report back tomorrow and let you know what they all are.
This afternoon we did a full skill circuit, doing all 20 confined water skills. They went pretty well, except for a couple. I messed up on the weightbelt removal and replacement at the surface (one of the easier skills) but getting my gauge caught under the belt. Should have just run my hand around the belt after fastening it again and I wouldn’t have failed that skill. And I made a couple of mistakes on the simulated rescue. But we’ll be doing that every day, and every day I WILL get better and I’ll practise all night if needs be to get as good as I need to pass.
There’s not too much else to report for now, so I’ll go. It will be a relatively relaxing evening, with only a little study tonight I think. I’ll report back very soon though with another update on my progress. Dive safely, and take care.
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