PADI MSDT & Specialty Instructor

PADI Specialty Instructors are Open Water Scuba Instructors who are also certified to teach a variety of specialized PADI diver training programs such as Deep Diver, Self Reliant Diver, Sidemount Diver, Dry Suit, Sidemount Diver, and many more. PADI Specialties allow divers to choose what areas of diving inspire them, and get more training and education on those topics, at the same time these specialties also allow the instructor to teach topics they are passionate about. Master Scuba Diver Trainers (MSDT’s), are more experienced instructors that can teach five or more PADI specialties, below you will find information on the Specialty Instructor training available from Go Pro Philippines.

PADI Specialty Instructor courses 

The following PADI Specialty instructor courses are suitable for PADI Divemasters, PADI Assistant Instructors and PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors.

PADI Digital Underwater Photography Instructor

The PADI Digital Underwater Photography course is firm favourite among divers, everybody wants to share their passion with their family and friends, and show off some amazing pictures from their favourite dives, with a little help from you, your students will quickly be filling up their Instagram accounts with some breathtaking images. This course is available to any PADI Divemaster, Assistant Instructor or Open Water Scuba Instructor that has 10 or more dives experience using an underwater camera.

PADI Emergency 02 provider Instructor

This course provides essential skills for any diver, despite scuba divings excellent safety record accidents can happen, and when they do first responders capable of bridging the gap between incident and professional medical care are invaluable. This course makes an excellent add on to any EFR, Rescue or Divemaster course, or it can be taught as a standalone program. This instructor level course is available to any PADI Divemaster, Assistant Instructor or Open Water Scuba Instructor with an interest.

PADI Equipment Specialist Instructor

The Equipment Specialist course provides valuable knowledge and skills for our equipment-intensive sport, starting with proper handling and care, the course can also be used as a platform to cover repair and maintenance, it is a real eye-opener for common gear-related issues, and taught effectively it can raise awareness and safety levels. This instructor level course is available to any PADI Divemaster, Assistant Instructor or Open Water Scuba Instructor with an interest.

The following PADI Specialty Instructor Courses are suitable for PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors, or Instructors with higher certifications

PADI Enriched Air Instructor

The PADI Enriched Air (Nitrox) course is easily PADI’s best selling specialty, the gains from taking this course are beneficial to all divers. More bottom time available, and less exposure to nitrogen. Your students will be trained to use enriched air with an oxygen content between 22% and 40% to recreational depth and time limits. This course is available to open water scuba instructors (or those with a higher certification) who have at least 10 dives experience using enriched air, and are certified to use the gas themselves.

Tec Gas Blender Instructor

With the PADI Enriched Air (Nitrox) course as ones of PADI’s best selling specialties, we need some gas blenders to provide the fills, dive centers cannot function with Gas Blenders. The Tec Gas Blender course not only provides the knowledge and skills to provide nitrox mixes, but it also guides students through the process of safely setting up a filling station, and maintaining an oxygen friendly environment. This course is available to open water scuba instructors (or those with a higher certification) who are also Enriched Air Instructors, and certified as Gas Blenders.

PADI Self-Reliant Instructor

Self-reliant diving does not mean solo diving, although some will use these skills to dive alone and do so with an added margin of safety. Self-reliant embraces the philosophy that each diver is 100% responsible for their own safety, and that they should be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and gear to finish the dive alone should they become separated from their team. Self-reliant divers are problem solvers, who do not immediately look outward to resolve issues that occur during a dive. This course is available to open water scuba instructors (or those with a higher certification) who have at least 10 self-reliant dives experience and hold the self-reliant diver certification.

PADI Sidemount Instructor

Sidemount diving was once used exclusively by cave divers trying to navigate tight underwater passages, impassable with a conventional gear configuration, over the years it has found its way into mainstream open water diving, and brings with it many benefits such as increased gear flexibility, reduced lower back strain, ease of streamlining and portability, not to forget it’s just plain fun! Your divers will learn to use single and twin tank sidemount configurations, and a variety of motor skills, and gas management techniques required for sidemount diving. This course is available to open water scuba instructors (or those with a higher certification) who have at least 10 dives experience using sidemount, we do however recommend taking the student level course first.

PADI Deep Diver Instructor

Almost every diver feels the deep water calling them, it appeals to the explorer in all of us, but as you know, with increased depth, comes increased risk which a diver needs to be taught to handle effectively, from proper gas management to an appropriate level of awareness. Your divers will be trained to dive to depths of up to 40 meters, within recreational time limits. This course is available to open water scuba instructors (or those with a higher certification) who have at least 10 deep dive experience.

PADI Dry Suit Instructor

Protecting yourself from the elements is an essential part of diving, in some parts of the world a dry suit is an added layer of comfort, in others, you cannot get near the water without one. Using a drysuit gives a diver a number of additional failure points, some new motor skills to learn, and they need to learn how to care for what is likely their most expensive item of clothing. This course is available to open water scuba instructors (or those with a higher certification) who have at least 10 dry suit dives experience and hold the self-reliant diver certification.

PADI Night Dive Instructor

Diving at night is amazing, everyone remembers their first dive in the dark, dive sites that are familiar to us during daylight take on an entirely different ambience, and the marine life changes, a completely new bunch of animals and critters to meet, your divers will benefit from your experience and learn how to conduct a dive safely in reduced visibility, and get the most enjoyment from it. This course is available to open water scuba instructors (or those with a higher certification) who have at least 10 dives experience diving at night.

PADI Search & Recovery Instructor

We’ve all lost something at some point in our lives, and most know the satisfaction of finding a valuable item we thought we might never see again, that feeling multiplies when this happens underwater. Train your divers to use proper search patterns, effective team communication, and lifting devices for surfacing heavy items, the course is an excellent addition to any Divemaster course, and valuable to any diver who uses busy dive sites. This instructor course is available to open water scuba instructors (or those with a higher certification) who have at least 10 dives experience using search techniques underwater.

PADI Underwater Navigator Instructor

Underwater navigation, both with and without a compass, is a skill set that is often undervalued. Know how to find your way around a dive site, and more importantly back from it, not only increases a divers enjoyment but also reduces risk and stress. The compass skills we touch on briefly during the open water course, then develop a bit more during the advanced course, often get put to one side and deteriorate as divers start to follow dive guides around. This course provides an excellent platform to get your students back on track, and help them get more satisfaction from each dive they do. This course is available to open water scuba instructors (or those with a higher certification) who have at least 10 navigation dive experience.

PADI Cavern Instructor

Caverns are a fascinating dive environment, unseen by most, the opportunity to venture inside one is a real privilege, inside we can often find new marine life and a totally different ambiance. Cavern diving is often the first step on the ladder for overhead diving, which can lead to both wreck diving and cave, the opportunity to explore living museums underwater. Diving in overhead environments does come with some added risk, and as an instructor you need to be very much in control of yourself and your students, for this reason, you must be a certified cave diver before you can become a cavern instructor. If you would like more information on cave diving please refer to our affiliate site Dive Moalboal.

PADI Dive Against Debris Instructor

Divers have always taken an active role in protecting the environment, it’s common to see divers removing debris from dive sites, coastal and underwater cleanups are a familiar part of any dive season. The PADI Dive Against Debris course empowers divers to not only keep their dive site debris free, but to collate data that is passed on directly to project aware, data that can then be used to provide insights that can be used to tackle the issues on a larger scale. This course is available to open water scuba instructors (or those with a higher certification) who have at least 10 cleanup dives experience.

PADI Drift Diver Instructor

If you are well prepared and know how to handle yourself diving in strong currents can be a lot of fun, but those who are not properly prepared can run into problems. The PADI Drift diver course is a platform to look at advanced propulsion techniques, equipment configuration, and team participation, preparing your divers to enjoy flying underwater safely. This course is available to open water scuba instructors (or those with a higher certification) who have at least 10 drift dives experience.

PADI Boat Diver Instructor

For most divers, the majority of our dives will be from a boat, after all the best dives sites are a little out of the way. Often a bit too much is taken for granted when it comes to moving around a dive boat safely, this course provides valuable knowledge and skills that can raise the safety bar for everyone. The PADI Boat diver instructor course is available to open water scuba instructors (or those with a higher certification) who have at least 10 boat dives experience.

PADI Distinctive Specialty Instructor

PADI allow their instructors to write their own specialties, which they can then use to teach and certify students, who will receive a PADI card with that specialty indicated on it. There are certain conditions that must be met for this to be possible, and all applications are subject to approval by PADI HQ. If you would like to write your own specialty, please discuss it with your Course Director during your training program.

How to book

We offer specialty instructor courses and MSDT prep programs as part of our Instructor Development Courses, these do need to be booked in advance to enable us to fit them into each programs schedule. If you would like to discuss your training options with the Course Director, or if you know which Instructor Specialties you would like to add to your training package, please get in touch via the contact page, or by using one of the social media options you can find at the top and bottom of this page.