Cnr Peter & Chestnut Road 2040 Johannesburg, South Africa
South Africa’s best IDC Mandy Zietsman at Scubaversity
Doing your Instructor Development where you can see the Big Five Above and Below! Africa will enthral you with its beauty and insane variety of diving! You can experience kelp diving with Seals, Great Whites and interact with “My Octopus Teacher’s” friends – explore the many wrecks stacked around the shore. Or visit the infamous Aliwal Shoal where you will be mesmerised with Raggies, Tigers, Black Tips etc as well as some more wrecks. Sodwana Bay is stacked with Coral wonders and the best is that just on our border you can experience Mozambique! You will not find a better variety than this anywhere else.
African Big 5
Marine Big 5
Our Beaches are pristine
Food is excellent and cheap
Subtropical location
Outdoor Activities
Fascinating and Unique culture
About Mandy
Mandy started diving in 1992. She is passionate about building safe and comfortable divers and has always been deeply involved in Instructor training and growing new instructors into competent and confident instructors.
Mandy is passionate about teaching. She has a wonderful way of transferring skills to students in a fun and safe manner. Her particular strength is assisting students who have encountered problems in diving as she is excellent at adaptive teaching techniques. She is able to relate to young and old and is passionate about growing diving in Southern Africa.
Mandy’s duties as owner of Scubaversity are varied. She runs a successful internship programme during which she teaches her interns how to run a business, do travel, basic accounting procedures, maintenance, cylinder procedures, sales, marketing, design etc. This is completed at the same time as becoming a PADI Instructor. She oversees the smooth running of Scubaversity itself and her responsibilities include accounting processes, supervising maintenance at the dive centre, sales of dive gear and PADI courses. Mandy is very environmentally conscious of the impact we all have on nature. Mandy has assisted me on numerous Project AWARE courses, including beach clean-ups, conservation of sharks, and conservation of Sodwana Bay and other marine protected areas.
Mandy also has a passion for the diving industry as a whole. She co-founded the dive centre owner’s breakfast club in Johannesburg and being instrumental in organising several national dive events for the industry. Mandy is highly respected as a dive owner and as a scuba instructor.
Platinum Course Director
Staff of 9 including 1 Course Director
6 IDCs per year
30 years diving experience
1000 + PADI certifications
10 + PADI Instructor Specialties
What is the philosophy of your company?
Our company focuses on displaying the highest standard of work ethic, enabling our instructors and divemaster’s to work and teach passionately and safely within a positive environment. We do not believe in short cuts, and our pure focus is to make you a safe, comfortable, and competent instructor and not just to pass the examination.
Our History
I did my NAUI open water 1 & 2 in February 1992. In 1995 I went backpacking through Europe and worked in London while travelling. On return I started diving with my diving club again and did my first course as a PADI Diver – Advanced Plus. I met my life partner then and as he was a PADI instructor the natural route was for me to start out on my professional career with PADI. I found my love for diving once I became a professional, teaching diving was truly mind blowing. The fact that I had to ability to change peoples lives and the reward I got from teaching made it a non-brainer to stay in the industry.
We built Scubaversity from scratch. Today Scubaversity is one of the busiest and most successful dive operations in South Africa! Through our love of diving and a lot of hard work, we have created an amazing business that provides all the great experiences diving offered us, to hundreds of others. And because diving has been so good to us, we decide to develop the Instructor program.
At the moment I have a management team running Scubaversity while I focus on the Instructor Development side. I am actively involved with the industry through the Breakfast Club initiative in Gauteng where we are always trying to find ways to grow the dive industry. Diving is my life, and I cannot imagine what else I can possibly do that would give me the lifestyle I am living.
Has anything funny happened during your IDC courses?
I firmly believe your IDC should be an experience you will never forget and the one way of doing it is making sure you have fun. There is always laughter on our IDC’s , the new dry skills workshops are really the times where we laugh until we cry with all the acting skills above the water.
Specifically, one candidate as a student was doing the alternate air source skill – but had an Air2 as an octo, once the skill was complete instead of replacing the Air2 he placed his snorkel in his mouth. It took a couple of seconds for him to realise this – luckily he had 4 instructors holding their octo’s in front of his face.
What is the reason people should take their IDC with you?
Your success is our success, we believe that every individual has their own pace at learning and start a different levels. So, if I have to be in the pool with you for more days, or study with you until midnight – that is what I will do. Other than that South Africa has such a diverse diving and cultural experience to offer, you can not make a mistake!
I only became a Course Director in 2020 however I have been training Instructors with my partner since 2010. Since then, I became a silver and then a Platinum course director. I believe that having done my CDTC training recently gives me the advantage of looking at training with a fresh eye and excitement.
I run my courses at your pace which is why it is mostly a 14-day course.
What are your personal diving obsessions?
Buoyancy, buoyancy, buoyancy. Having the patience to teach someone good buoyancy skills can truly make the difference in their diving future. I believe this is the most important skill Instructors can learn to teach their students. Personally, I love teaching students’ buoyancy skills.
What type of diving do you like the best?
I am all for colour, calm, drift dives where you can just float along with the ocean and experience the peace it can give, although I am also a big fan of a good deep blue dive, where there is really not much to see but the wide expanse of the ocean – closest to being in space most people can ever get.
What else do you like (non diving)?
I love socialising with friends, customers, and family, sitting around a bonfire on our beach, listening to music with good company is where life stands still. I do love to read, try my hand at art every now again, listening to music and fixing stuff or refurbishment projects. Or maybe just chill and Netflix binge.
Why do you love being a PADI Course Director?
I love the end result when you see your candidates all over the world, living the dream that being an instructor gives. Seeing their success is the biggest high you can get as a person.
Quote from a previous student
She is really invested in each candidate’s success, often spending many extra hours with candidates who need additional support. I feel she strikes the right balance between keeping the IDC professional and rigorous, but also a lot of fun. She keeps the programme flexible and adapts to each groups requirements as well as the dive centres schedule and commitments. Her insights shared with candidates of her long experience in the dive industry is also invaluable.
What does the future hold for you?
I am hoping to expand my program into running longer-term full-time internships at the various venues in South Africa – and placing SA on the map as one of the best places to do your Instructor Program
Want to see what goes on during our IDC classes?
Click on the photo to the right to view a photo gallery from a recent IDC class
Hwy 3 Km 51.2 Marina Puerto Del Rey Locker Building Suite #108 Fajardo, Puerto Rico
Angel Luis Rijos – Sea Ventures Pro Dive Center, Puerto Rico
If you’d like to take your Instructor Development Course in a very relax, personal and as real world environment it can be, then Sea Ventures Pro Dive Center in the beautiful island of Puerto Rico is just what you are looking for!
About Angel Luis
He has been diving for more than 30 years, 15 been a PADI Pro, so too many dives to have a logged number to it though all of them have been just awesome. Now, being the Operations Manager of Sea Ventures he often does go out with the crew and keeps doing several dives a day and loves doing it. Angel Luis has been a PADI Elite Instructor for more than 5 years being active as a PADI Course Director.
Angel Luis also has a variety of Specialty Instructor Trainer ratings, including several distinctive specialties to keep up the ladder and become a Master Scuba Diver Trainer. Still teaching every PADI course from PADI Seal Team and Discover Scuba Diving to MSDT to stay sharp with skills as well as using teaching techniques to share in future PADI IDCs.
Emergency first Response Instructor Trainer, Disabled Divers International Instructor, PADI Swim School Instructor Trainer, U.S. Coast Guard 100 tons Certified Boat Captain and BBA in Accounting makes some other certifications and degrees that helps make his IDC unique.
Having dived all around the Caribbean, from Cozumel, Bonaire, St. Thomas, Dominican Republic, Mona Island and some others as a PADI instructor and having the experience of owning a Dive Center and managed another one before being in Sea Ventures is some proof that Angel Luis will offer nothing but the best IDC there is, period.
Thanks to his commitment all his students have passed their IEs without any problems.
15 years as a PADI Professional
Disabled Divers International Instructor
U.S. Coast Guard 100 tons Certified Boat Captain
BBA in Accounting from U.P.R.
Teaches every PADI courses
Angel Luis’s History
Being born in Puerto Rico, his father taught him to swim at age 5, becoming a competitive swimmer and national champion at 6. He felt confident enough to go with his father and father’s friend out in their boat to do snorkeling while they went diving. It wasn’t long until he got a big interest and curiosity for the underwater world so at an early age he was already scuba diving as a Jr. Open Water. Before becoming a PADI Professional, Course Director Angel Luis used to work as a Senior Auditor in a CPA Firm, but after some years gaining experience in different kinds of industries, he realized that diving was his real passion.
So at 2004 he became a PADI Open Water Instructor and changed professions. Since 2004 he has been living the dream – giving the opportunity to others to discover the underwater world. He opened his dive center in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico for a short period of time before he discovered that Fajardo on the East coast of Puerto Rico is the place to get the dive center in. So he closed his center and started to work in a dive operation in a hotel as the Dive Center Manager.
Then, he was hired in Sea Ventures Pro Dive Center as the Operations Manager where he has been for 10 years. So, being Sea Ventures the oldest dive center in Puerto Rico with more than 30 years taking divers underwater, he kept growing professionally by getting his Captain’s License and later getting the opportunity to do the Course Director Training Course and becoming Sea Ventures Course Director since 2016.
What are you facilities like?
We are located in Puerto del Rey Marina which is the biggest marina in the Caribbean. We have 2 Newton 46’ Dive Boats with one of them used as the IDC and IE boat, AC multimedia classroom, confined Water Training is done in the pool of a hotel 5 minutes from the marina and Open water dives are just as close as a 20 minutes boat ride. In the marina we have our boats, dive shop, showers, supermarket, Deli, restaurant, bar, Laundromat and Car Rental among others. And 5 minutes from the marina there is Jose Aponte Airport and Culebra and Vieques Ferry terminals.
Has anything funny happened during your IDC courses?
Every IDC has its own funny situations and participants. But one of them, on a Knowledge Development Presentation trying to make a contact. When one asked the others if they ever had been Skydiving, on a roller coaster, surfing or hiking they agreed and answered no to all of them. So not knowing what else to say, just said :”then you guys are just boring!!!” and started laughing uncontrollably…
What is the reason Divemasters and Assistant Instructors should take their IDC with Sea Ventures Pro Dive Center?
We are able to offer new PADI Instructors the very best beginning to their new life / new career with the best PADI Instructor Development Course in Central America / Caribbean in Puerto Rico. Accommodation is provided on your full / extended 14 day PADI IDC which will include lots confined water practise opportunities and open water presentations as well as extra academic classes including extra PADI IDC Mock Dive Theory and Standards exams.
You will have the learning experience of what working in a dive boat is all about, including boat handling, tying a boat, and some more as a bonus!
And being Puerto Rico a U.S. territory, no passport is needed if you are a U.S. citizen and the same federal laws apply.
What else do you like non Diving?
Being an Ironman triathlete, like bicycling, swimming, going to the gym or just watching a good soccer game. Also enjoy time.hanging out with family and friends.
What are your personal diving obsessions?
As Sea Ventures is the only Dive Center in Puerto Rico doing Coral Restoration Projects with the support of NOAA, not only working in these projects, but getting involved with conserving and educating everyone either diver or non diver the importance of the coral reefs and showing the coral nurseries that they have and maintain in some of their dive sites are some of Angel Luis diving obsessions.
What type of diving do you like the best?
Diving over some of Puerto Rico’s beautiful reefs close to one of our beautiful little islands and cays watching all kinds of marine life there is to see in the Caribbean Sea.
Why do you love being a PADI Course Director?
Wow!! Going through an IDC is a unique and unforgettable experience and it is pretty rewarding to have an Instructor that did the IDC with Sea Ventures tell you some years later that they are working somewhere else in the world and after comparing newly certified instructors preparation with theirs, they feel pretty confident and better prepared. That is just a great feeling of accomplishment!
What does the future hold for you?
Only accomplishing the goal of letting the world know that Puerto Rico has great diving opportunities and that there is a great place to do your IDC.
What does IDC students think of Angel Luis?
“When I met Angel Luis I came from the states to vacation in Puerto Rico and did my Open Water Diver certification. I traveled a lot and dove in other places, but never the dive professional was as inspiring as Angel Luis. So I went back to Puerto Rico and started my Advanced Open Water with him where he showed such respect to the marine world and a kind of gets to you passion for diving that I just found my career. I moved to Puerto Rico and kept doing other courses with him. Not only he became my mentor during all my training as a PADI recreational and professional, but he became my friend and gave me the opportunity to work with Sea Ventures as a Divemaster and as an Instructor. He is a very humble yet knowledgeable Course Director. Now, I am pretty proud to not only met and get trained by Angel Luis, but I became one of Sea Ventures Staff!!”
Nelson Da Silva, PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor
Buddies Dive Cove, 24/2 Pioneer Road, Bugibba, SPB 2808, Malta
IDC’s at Buddies Dive Cove, Malta with Course Directors Martin Stanhope and Rachel E. Watts
Looking for an IDC that will realise your full potential while being fun & career focused? Then look no further! Buddies Dive Cove in Malta is a PADI Career Development Centre with 2 in-house Course Directors & a hugely experienced dive team, who will provide you with all the necessary training & support to successfully complete the IDC and IE.
About Martin and Rachel
PADI Course Director Martin Stanhope has been diving since 1993 and became an Instructor in 2004 in the less than tropical waters of the UK!
Following a move to Malta in 2007, Martin furthered his career by not only becoming the owner of Buddies Dive Cove, but also joining the ranks of PADI Course Director.
Martin is also an Instructor Trainer in 15 Specialties, an Emergency First Response Instructor Trainer, a PADI Tec Deep Instructor Trainer, a PADI Tec Trimix Instructor and a PADI Tec Trimix Gas Blender Instructor Trainer.
Martin’s is committed to professionalism whilst incorporating the ‘fun factor’ into the IDC’s giving each individual the opportunity to shine whilst enjoying their IDC.
PADI Course Director Rachel E. Watts wanted to try scuba diving since the age of 8 after watching an underwater documentary. In 2000 this finally happened, and Rachel began her diving journey. In 2005, Rachel took the plunge into Maltese waters becoming a PADI Instructor and embarking down a new career path.
Rachel made the move from the UK to Malta in 2013 and continued on her diving journey becoming a PADI Course Director in 2017.
Rachel is also an Instructor Trainer in 12 Specialties, an Emergency First Response Instructor Trainer, and a PADI Tec Rec Gas Blender Instructor Trainer.
Rachel is passionate about the underwater environment and is continually encouraging all divers and candidates to become involved in Buddies Dive Cove’s 100% AWARE commitment by promoting Dive Against Debris at their Adopted Dive Site.
2 English Course Directors
Staff of 5 including 2 Master Instructors & 3 IDC Staff Instructors
3 IDCs per year
45 years of combined diving experience
1000 + PADI certifications
10 + PADI Instructor Specialties
100% IE success rate
What is the philosophy of your company?
Buddies Dive Cove is a Career Development Centre with a focus on career development. Buddies is committed to offering the best IDC experience, whilst preparing the candidate for not only working in the diving industry, but also excelling in it.
Buddies Dive Cove have an exceptional team, who are there to advise and encourage all candidates, ensuring they reach their full potential and successfully complete the IE.
Buddies Dive Cove consistently strives to exceed customer expectations through role model behaviour and leading by example. The consistent repeat customers along with continuing education students are proof alone that Buddies Dive Cove is a customer focused centre offering highly sought-after services that are looked for in all areas of the diving industry.
Write something funny that happened during your IDCs
The funniest IDC related incident at Buddies Dive Cove to date was during the filming of Martin teaching a knowledge development presentation. The idea was to give a role model presentation in real time, showing the IDC candidates exactly what was expected.
This 5 minute presentation took an entire day to film due to the fact that Martin, the cameraman and Rachel couldn’t keep a straight face at all. Things only got worse after Elka and Dean also joined the filming. There is blooper reel on YouTube, showing the issues and obstacles experienced (mainly Martin’s giggling)
What is the reason people should take their IDC with you
Simply put, Buddies Dive Cove aims for their IDC candidates to be the best. Buddies Dive Cove don’t teach to get passing scores, Martin & Rachel push the IDC candidates hard to get maximum marks, so when they attend the IE they are excited to show the examiners just how good they really are.
Martin & Rachel teach in a different way to most Course Directors and work hard to ensure that they are teaching in the most up to date fashion. PADI evolves and both Martin & Rachel believe that as Instructor Trainers their IDC candidates should be taught in a way that allows for them to evolve too.
Facilities
Becoming a diving instructor is an exciting step in anyone’s diving career and the facilities provided should make that step a smooth and enjoyable one. At Buddies Dive Cove, candidates enjoy a dedicated classroom during the whole of the IDC, with a comfortable layout ensuring the presentations are easily seen on the large wall mounted tv. All the latest PADI products are available for use during the IDC and the very latest of methods for knowledge development presentations are incorporated into the training.
Buddies Dive Cove carries out all water training at the IE locations, so candidates are familiar with the sites and can be as relaxed as possible during their IE.
What type of diving do you like the best?
Martin: My favourite dives are ones with lots of fish, although having said that my favourite dive in Malta is the wreck of the Um el Faroud, it’s simply breath-taking.
Rachel: I don’t really have any particular favourite type of dives – for me every dive has something to offer and I love the fact that you just never know what you may see! I would like to look more into the realms of cave diving though, one day!
What else do you like (non diving)
Martin: My dogs! I have 2 rottweilers Cliff and Soska and they are known as the Buddies complaints Managers. My 2 other passions are PS4, I play Destiny 2 all the time and Luton Town Football Club.
Rachel: I love all things nature, and enjoy being part of the Wildlife Rescue Team here in Malta. It has led to some unusual animals staying with me from time to time though, including hedgehogs, chameleons and more recently some rather naughty tortoises!
Why do you love being a PADI Course Director?
Martin: I love the fact that at this level, I may well be asked something that I haven’t been before or shown a method of teaching that I haven’t seen before. You never stop learning, so I always gain something new from every IDC. I love being able to watch Divemasters develop into fully fledged instructors in the time they are with us.
Rachel: I’m as happy teaching instructor level students as I am teaching DSD’s. I love to be able to pass on knowledge to students at all levels and watch them progress though their diving adventures. The satisfaction you feel when you see a student overcome and progress is the reason I continued my career to become a Course Director, enabling me to share the candidates excitement at becoming an Instructor and having a helping hand in their new career.
What does the future hold for you?
Martin: As the owner of Buddies, my future will be to continue to develop the dive centre. I am also the training Director for a new product called Snorkel Plus, which will be launched at DEMA in 2019.
Rachel: Does anyone really know?! I’d like to think that I’ll still be actively diving and teaching all levels from DSD to Instructor alongside Martin at Buddies Dive Cove.
Previous Student – Elka Borucka
I came to Buddies as a qualified Divemaster in August 2011, I wanted to learn from the best and become a scuba instructor to share my passion for diving with other people. I spent over 3 months working as a Divemaster, assisting instructors during courses and getting ready for the IDC. Sometimes it was a hard work to get my skills perfect and sometimes it was very easy, the more time I spent practicing the easier the skills become.
After the summer i was ready to start the IDC. The 9 days of the course were a mix of serious studying, preparing presentations and fun in the classroom and in the water. By the time of the exams I wasn’t nervous, I couldn’t wait to show the examiners how good I was! I passed everything with high scores, and I was the happiest new instructor in the whole universe! After I became an open water scuba instructor I left Malta and Buddies and started to work in green and cold waters of Poland and Netherlands.
It was so different than the warm, clear, and blue waters I was used to. It gave me lots of opportunities to see working as an instructor from different angle. I then went to Greece, Thailand and finally I came back to Buddies in 2014 to work as an instructor.
At the end of that year I did my Staff Instructor course to deepen my instructor knowledge. I chose to come back to Buddies because with Martin being Course Director I knew I could improve my skills to the very highest level. In 2017 I got to Master Instructor level. I am still at Buddies as the deputy Director of Diving. I am Martin’s right hand person and run the centre when he is away. I not only teach diving courses, I supervise day to day activities and teach new instructors and divemasters by sharing little tips that helped me to be one of the best.
PADI IDC in Thailand, Koh Tao with Marcel Van Den Berg
Take your PADI IDC in Thailand on Koh Tao with Sairee Cottage Diving and experience one of the best Diving Instructor Courses (IDC) in Thailand focussing on real-life teaching, advanced risk management, marine conservation, advanced first aid, special diving teaching techniques, positive Dive Instructor attitude, increased standards training, customer service training, extra IDC lessons if needed and 100% personal IDC teaching.
We highly recommend PADI Platinum Course Director Marcel van den Berg who runs one of the best PADI IDC courses in Thailand. Marcel started scuba diving in 2003 and after only 20 minutes into his first dive he knew that he wanted to become a Diving Instructor and make a successful diving career out of it.
Marcel holds a great passion for marine life and throughout his scuba diving career he was constantly learning new techniques to observe marine life, something that he can now teach to new diving instructor candidates.
Beside his passion for marine life, Marcel also noticed that there were a lot of differences in the quality of Dive Instructors around the world and from the day that he passed his PADI IDC he started working on and improving a new positive way of teaching scuba diving.
Marcel’s amazing passion for scuba diving combined with his positive attitude made him a very successful diving instructor and within his first year of teaching he was certifying over 60 PADI diving students a month on Koh Tao in Thailand.
Marcel still holds one of the highest continuing education ratios in the world. After certifying over 4500 recreational students it was time for Marcel van den Berg to become a PADI Course Director.
Knowing and seeing the different levels of Dive Instructor quality and seeing that some diving instructors have a much better diving instructor job than others, he started teaching his PADI IDCs with the end goal of having his IDC Candidates get quality dive instructor work after they completed the IDC course.
He doesn’t just teach his IDC students to pass the PADI Instructor Examination. This is one if the main reasons we from IDC-Guide.com recommend him so much as the best choice of teaching you the PADI IDC in Thailand.
PADI Platinum Course Director Marcel van den Berg has received many PADI Recognition of Excellence awards and has been awarded many Project AWARE and other Marine Conservation Awards and is actively writing for Scuba Diver Magazine with his own monthly column as a dive instructor consultant. Besides achieving the prestigious PADI Platinum Course Director rating that he holds from his first year of being a PADI Course Director he also holds many PADI Specialty Instructor Trainer ratings that he actively uses to teach one of the best PADI MSDT courses available, increasing your chance of success with your future career as a PADI Diving Instructor.
Why Koh Tao in Thailand?
Koh Tao is one of the best places in Thailand to do your PADI Instructor Development Course. Koh Tao is one of the most beautiful Islands in Thailand, it is just the right size too so it doesn’t feel like a massive tourist hub, but at the same time is big enough that you don’t get bored there. Koh Tao has many fantastic restaurants, some of the most beautiful beaches in Thailand, fantastic nightlife, an amazing atmosphere and some of the friendliest people around. You will make friends on Koh Tao within days. Just be careful as Koh Tao is highly addictive and it might be hard leaving this amazing Island. Many people just came to Koh Tao to do some diving and are still living here today.
Besides the amazing lifestyle you can have on Koh Tao, it also attracts more people wanting to learn how to scuba dive than any other island in the world.
This makes Koh Tao the number one certifying Island in Thailand and most likely the world.
The dive sites on Koh Tao are practically made for diving courses and offer fantastic training conditions for all levels of scuba diving.
Besides the great teaching conditions, the dive sites of Koh Tao also offer incredible marine life with a lot of diversity.
The high volume of people wanting to learn to scuba dive creates amazing job opportunities for diving instructors and with many dive shops located on Koh Tao the quality of training is very high especially at IDC level.
Koh Tao also has many Divemaster and Dive Instructors that are very active in the many eco conservation projects on the island and PADI Platinum Course Director Marcel van den Berg is one of the leading conservationists in Thailand.
As the co-founder of Get Involved Koh Tao, Marcel organizes regular Eco Conservation Lectures, Beach and Reef Clean-ups, is part of the Coral Gardening artificial reef building organisation and is actively trying to reduces single plastic use on Koh Tao.
“Our successes on Koh Tao are very important, but they create more tourists and more stress on the environment. It is our job to both counter this stress with eco conservation projects, at the same time as making it more sustainable. My goal is to have all my diving instructor students teach environmentally friendly diving courses and improve the environmental conditions in our location, even with an increase of tourists, Marcel van den Berg”
What is the philosophy of your company?
On a recreational level it is all about Quality over Quantity. Sairee Cottage Diving on Koh Tao in Thailand offers some of the best facilities on the island with beautiful and fully equipped classrooms, incredible training swimming pools with crystal clear water, located right in the middle of Sairee Beach which is the most popular beach on Koh Tao. We have our own house reef which is walking distance from our Dive Centre, plus 2 very comfortable diving boats and a dedicated boat for Divemaster and IDC training. We keep the diving groups small (between 4 to 6 people) and have some of the best dive leaders on staff.
On the professional level we at Sairee Cottage Diving strongly believe that everyone can have a successful job as a Divemaster or Diving Instructor if people are trained the right way, upholding the highest standards.
We train people not to just get certified, at Sairee Cottage Diving we teach people how to become the best divers, give some of the best diving classroom presentations, embrace marine conservation, to give some of the best customer service and one of the best Risk Management training available while learning how to also get a great salary as a Diving Instructor or Divemaster.
Has anything funny happened during your IDC courses?
Many funny things happen all the time, but when I truly could not stop laughing for more then 5 minutes and many more giggles for many more days after one of my IDC candidates on his first PADI IDC Open Water Presentation used a normal whistle to get the attention of his “students”. I can still see him try to blow so hard on the whistle underwater not understanding why no sound came out… Funnily enough, this guy is now a very successful Diving Instructor. I think that everyone has a “moment” in their lives 🙂
What is the main reason why people should take their IDC with you?
In all my years of working in the Dive Industry I have seen some of the best Diving Instructors and some of the worst. I have always been very interested in not only improving my Diving Instructor skills but even more so, I’ve wanted to teach that to others. I have learned a lot from some of the best Diving Instructors in the world, but sometimes I learned even more from the bad Diving Instructors.
If you choose to take your IDC course with me at Sairee Cottage Diving I will focus on how you become one of the best Dive Instructors possible (not just how to pass the PADI Instructor Examination).
To help you become one of the best Diving Instructors I will teach you all about how to keep your future students safe with advanced risk management training, increase your Dive Instructor salary with real-life positive sales/marketing techniques, teach you how to integrate eco conservation in your scuba courses, focus on how easy it is to teach and follow all the PADI standards, give your customers the time of their lives, how to have the best diving techniques for teaching diving, learn about marine life and hone your navigation skills, but most importantly how to become a positive and modern-thinking Diving Instructor with a fantastic attitude.
From Day 1, I will be busy helping you to find your dream job in diving. Now I can proudly say that my IDC candidates are successfully working all over the world at Dive Centres, Liveaboards, Cruise Ships and Equipment retail shops. Many are now managers and some are PADI Course Directors themselves.
What are your personal diving obsessions?
Personally I like all kinds of diving, but I mostly enjoy dive sites with a lot of variety of marine life.
I love to just descend, find a beautiful area with coral and fish and then don’t move anymore for the rest of the dive.
I then love to check the tiniest details of specific marine life from a small distance.
I can sometimes spend more then 10 minutes with 1 or 2 fish or coral. It takes time for your eyes to focus, but once they do it’s amazing!
What type of diving do you like best?
To be able to see this amazing marine life I love to dive on tropical reefs between 10 and 30 meters of depth, but I also really like cave diving and wreck diving. Then, same as with the reef, I love to go super slow and check out all the details of the rock formations and really study a wreck. Right now we are creating a special Fish Identification Day together with 2 other Dive Centres on Koh Tao. Then we want to spend the whole morning teaching all our DMCs and IDC Candidates about the different fish and coral around Koh Tao, teaching them the best diving techniques to discover all those details and then in the afternoon we will mix dive centres together and go diving and give everyone a different task spotting details in marine life. This is the kind of diving I love the most and I love to teach others how to get the best out of their diving experience!
What else do you like (non diving)?
Besides diving I love to spend time relaxing with friends at one of our many beach establishments. There is nothing better than a chill-out day at a beach lounge, listening to relaxing music and enjoying a beer or a glass of wine.
I know it sounds clichéd, but I do love to spend time improving my courses and researching new diving trends, but what I love the most is to travel and discover new places.
Why do you love being a PADI Course Director?
There are so many different reasons why I love to be a PADI Course Director, but the biggest reason I became a PADI Course Director is to teach a new generation of diving instructors all the steps that made me successful and teach them how to avoid certain choices that might prevent them from getting work. I strongly believe that success is taught from the top down and I have seen and learned from some of the best and worst Course Directors and Diving Instructors. I have seen how successful people became when taught and mentored by a fantastic PADI Course Director or Diving Instructor and how other people who learnt from bad course directors and diving instructors usually also became bad. This was the main reason for me to become a Course Director, to be able to give my IDC candidates 110% in the hope they will do the same with their future diving students.
What does the future hold for you?
At the moment I am improving my PADI IDC courses every month and I’m looking forward to see what happens in the future. I love living on Koh Tao in Thailand and I would love to see Sairee Cottage Diving on Koh Tao as the best one-stop PADI IDC centre in Thailand offering some of the best opportunities at getting Dive Instructor work. I hope that within the next few years my new eco conservation projects like getting a single-use plastic-free Island have been realised on Koh Tao and I’m also working on a new project to make it even easier for new dive instructors to find work. For the rest… Enjoy Life and Diving!
What do his IDC students think of Marcel van den Berg?
Here is an interview of Toni Bryson who did her IDC course with Marcel at Sairee Cottage Diving in Thailand.
Please also check out the many reviews from IDC candidates from Sairee Cottage Diving on Google+, TripAdvisor and Facebook.
No. 7 Piazza tad-Dwejra, San Lawrenz, SLZ 1360, Gozo, Malta
About Padi Course Director Oliver Benndorff
Looking for somewhere to take your IDC, why not take it with us at DiveSMART Gozo in Dwejra, Gozo? We offer a fun and enjoyable experience with proven quality training.
Jalan Pantai, Gili Air, Nusa Tenggara Bar. 83000, Indonesia
About PADI Course Director Joeri Van Hal
As a little kid on holidays in Spain with his parents and sisters, Joeri spent every day snorkeling, – looking for fish and critters. He was like a fish in the water from the start. When he was old enough his dad signed him up for the PADI Discover Scuba Diving program, and he was hooked.
Thailand’s PADI CDC – PADI IDC with Scubacat and Christophe Pace
PADI Course Director Christophe Pace started diving in Europe over 25 years ago since then, Christophe has logged over 4000 dives, certified over 1200 divers from Open water to Divemaster and over 1600 professional at all levels.
PADI Platinum Course Director Grant Martin has been diving since 1994 with over 10,000 logged dives in Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Borneo, India, Honduras, Laos and Malaysia
There’s always lots of fun and laughter during the IDCs that Steve teaches here and his mentoring continues as you gain experience as a successful PADI Instructor.
He is now based in the Philippines on the beautiful island of Malapascua. Before coming to Malapascua, he was teaching IDCs in Utila, Honduras, and in the Galapagos Islands
Become a PADI instructor by taking your IDC in Playa del Carmen, Riviera Maya Mexico, with Pro Dive Mexico Scuba Academy PADI CDC center, and Platinum Course Director Anders Heegaard.
Take your IDC with the Caribbean Dive College and get to know the diversity of the Dominican Republic in diving, you will not only get certified but leave qualified.
Georgia King – Pacific IDC in Costa Rica with Go Pro Costa Rica
Take your PADI IDC in the Pacific with Go Pro Costa Rica and PADI Course Director Georgia King. She has been diving for over 12 years around the world with dives numbering more than 4000.
Caribbean Dive College Bobby's Marina J. Yrasquin Blvd Philipsburg St. Maarten, N.A.
Michel Wouterse – Caribbean Dive College, St.Maarten
If you’d like to take your Instructor Development Course in a laid back, but real world environment, Caribbean Dive College in St. Maarten may just be the place for you!
Gianluca Lamberti – Coral Point Diving, Dominican Republic
Take your IDC with Coral Point Diving in the Dominican Republic with a hugely experienced dive team. PADI Platinium Course Director Gianluca Lamberti has been diving since 1998 with over 5000+ logged dives all around the world.
