Standards and procedures
Finding, understanding and applying current PADI standards: student ratios, supervision, course sequencing, paperwork and risk management.
PADI IDC Instructor Course · Go Pro · Hurghada
The step from working in diving to teaching it. Twelve to fourteen days of standards, classroom workshops, confined water teaching, open water presentations and dive theory, all aimed squarely at passing the PADI Instructor Examination. €3,500 covers the training, the examination and the PADI fees.
The PADI IDC Instructor Course is the Instructor Development Course, the professional program that prepares a PADI Divemaster to become a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor. In Hurghada it costs €3,500 in total, covering the training, the PADI Instructor Examination and the PADI fees, and it normally takes twelve to fourteen days followed by a separate two-day examination run by an independent PADI Examiner. Candidates need sixty logged dives to begin and one hundred to sit the examination. Red Sea Diving runs the course in Hurghada under a PADI Course Director.
Moreover, the €3,500 is a complete figure rather than a starting point: the training component alone starts from €1,150, and the rest is the examination and the fees payable to PADI. Therefore your written quotation lists each line separately so nothing arrives as a surprise. The program follows the standards published for the PADI Instructor Development Course.
PADI IDC Instructor Course in Hurghada at a glance
| Course | PADI Instructor Development Course, the route to Open Water Scuba Instructor |
|---|---|
| Price | €3,500 in total: training, Instructor Examination and PADI fees |
| Training component | From €1,150 of the total |
| Duration | 12 to 14 days, plus a separate 2-day Instructor Examination |
| Minimum age | 18 years |
| Dives to begin | 60 logged dives |
| Dives for the IE | 100 logged dives |
| Prerequisites | PADI Divemaster or Assistant Instructor, certified diver for 6 months |
| Medical | CPR and first aid within 24 months, plus a physician’s statement within 12 months |
| Also required | EFR Instructor rating before the instructor rating is issued |
| Location | Hurghada, Red Sea Governorate, Egypt |
| Language | English, with other languages on request |
| Booking | Written quotation listing training, examination and PADI fees separately |
| Operator | Red Sea Diving, a PADI dive operator in Hurghada since 2000 |
The IDC is the preparation. By contrast, the Instructor Examination is the test, and passing the IDC does not by itself make you an instructor. Consequently you attend a PADI Instructor Examination afterward, run independently by a PADI Examiner over roughly two days.
The examination covers dive theory, PADI standards and procedures, a knowledge development presentation, a confined water presentation, an open water presentation and a demonstration of rescue skills. Furthermore, you must meet every current PADI requirement, including the EFR Instructor rating, before the teaching status is issued.
One point deserves emphasis: we prepare you for each specific section of that examination, which is exactly why the mock examinations matter more than they look on the schedule.
Finding, understanding and applying current PADI standards: student ratios, supervision, course sequencing, paperwork and risk management.
Preparing and delivering structured classroom presentations that connect course material to situations divers actually meet.
Organizing, demonstrating and supervising skills in a controlled environment while holding safety and student control throughout.
Running presentations in the sea, spotting student problems early and responding with the right corrective action rather than the loudest one.
The five areas examined: physics, physiology, equipment, the Recreational Dive Planner, and diving skills and environment.
Professional judgment, accident prevention and instructor responsibility, because the standard you hold yourself to becomes the one your students inherit.
Demonstration-quality rescue of an unresponsive diver at the surface, which the Instructor Examination assesses directly.
Positioning, group management and problem solving in the water, the skills that separate instructors who last from those who do not.
Dive center operations, course marketing and how to build a teaching career that lasts more than one season.
First, complete the required digital learning and review dive theory, PADI standards and demonstration-quality skills. Candidates who do this properly have a very different course from those who do not.
Next, meet the Course Director, review the schedule and complete the initial knowledge, watermanship and skills assessments.
Then teaching workshops covering knowledge development and confined water presentation technique.
Afterward, classroom and confined water presentations with individual feedback after each one.
Likewise, open water training, student control, problem solving, rescue skills and professional supervision.
Finally, standards review, dive theory preparation and final teaching presentations before the Instructor Examination.
However, the schedule shifts with group size, candidate performance, weather and the official PADI Instructor Examination dates, which are set by PADI rather than by us. Consequently we confirm your exact timetable once your IE date is fixed.
Not an EFR Instructor yet? That course normally runs alongside your instructor training. Moreover, if you have not reached leadership level, start with the PADI Divemaster course. Send us your certifications and diving history before booking, and the Course Director will confirm your eligibility honestly, including if the answer is that you need more dives first.
Therefore your written quotation shows the training, the examination and each PADI fee as separate lines, alongside anything optional you ask us to arrange.
Hurghada has the classroom, confined water and open water environments an IDC needs, plus enough daily diving that candidates teach real students rather than only each other. Moreover, the international diving community here is large, accommodation is plentiful at every budget, and the season runs all year.
It is also a realistic place to start looking for work afterward, which matters more than most candidates expect. Furthermore, our daily diving is where logged dives and teaching experience actually accumulate between the formal sessions.
Our procedures are set out on the diving safety page, and they are the same procedures you will be teaching from once you hold teaching status.
Gallery
The first half of the IDC on its own. You can assist with training and conduct selected programs under an instructor, although you cannot certify Open Water divers yourself.
By contrast, both halves together: Assistant Instructor plus the Open Water Scuba Instructor program. Most Divemasters take the full course and go straight to the examination.
The professional route runs: Advanced Open Water → Rescue Diver → Emergency First Response → Divemaster → EFR Instructor → IDC → Open Water Scuba Instructor. Afterward come the MSDT specialty instructor ratings and IDC Staff Instructor.
Why us
Above all, full emergency equipment, a documented action plan and briefings before every dive, which is the standard you will carry into your own teaching.
Indeed, more than two decades of diving and liveaboard operations out of Hurghada, on every Egyptian route.
Furthermore, your IDC is conducted by a PADI Course Director rather than delegated down the chain.
Moreover, mock examinations and individual feedback prepare you for each specific section of the Instructor Examination, not for a generic idea of it.
In addition, €3,500 covers the training, the examination and the PADI fees, with every line itemized in writing before you commit.
Likewise, candidates get individual coaching based on their own knowledge, teaching and in-water performance.
Questions
€3,500 in total, covering the training, the PADI Instructor Examination and the PADI fees. However, learning materials, EFR Instructor training, equipment and accommodation are quoted separately.
The IDC normally takes twelve to fourteen days. Afterward, the Instructor Examination usually needs two additional days.
Yes. Both the preparation and the examination fee are included in the €3,500, although the examination itself is conducted by an independent PADI Examiner.
Not in the course price. Nevertheless, we can help arrange both in Hurghada on request.
At least sixty logged dives to begin the IDC, and at least one hundred to attend the Instructor Examination.
Normally you need to be a PADI Divemaster or Assistant Instructor. However, leadership-level professionals from another recognized organization may be eligible once their qualifications are reviewed.
Yes, before receiving your PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor rating. Fortunately it can normally be completed during your instructor program.
Yes. PADI requires a medical statement signed by a physician within the previous twelve months.
You may be eligible if your leadership qualification meets PADI requirements. Therefore send your certification details to the Course Director for assessment before booking.
The PADI Examiner explains the available options. Depending on your results and current PADI procedures, you may be able to repeat the unsuccessful section at a future examination.
The rating is internationally recognized. Nevertheless, employment still depends on your teaching status, insurance, work permits, experience, languages and each employer’s requirements.
Early enough to finish the digital learning and prepare for the dive theory examinations, and early enough that your dates line up with an available PADI Instructor Examination.
Send us your current professional certification, your total logged dives, the date of your first certification, your CPR and first aid completion date, your preferred course dates and your equipment and accommodation requirements. We check your eligibility and send the full schedule with a written quotation. For liveaboard diving in Egypt see also redsealiveaboard.net, and read the current fitness guidance from Divers Alert Network.
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Red Sea Diving, Madares Street, Hurghada 1, Hurghada 84511, Red Sea Governorate, Egypt. Diving and PADI training here since 2000.
This page was last reviewed by the Red Sea Diving instructor team in September 2026.
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