The Course Director you train under shapes the next decade of your diving career. Here’s how to vet them properly before you pay.
Choosing the right PADI IDC in Indonesia matters more than most candidates realise. The Course Director you train under shapes the next decade of your diving career — your standards, your network, your reputation in the regional market. Most candidates pick on location, weather, or price. Those are the wrong filters for a career decision.
Below are the seven questions every IDC candidate should ask their prospective Course Director before signing up, drawn from 25 years of running PADI 5-Star IDC dive centres across five locations in Indonesia.
Does Your Course Director Teach the IDC Personally — or Hand Off to Staff Instructors?
A Course Director who delegates IDC teaching to staff instructors isn’t fully delivering what PADI standards intend — and you’d be paying Course Director rates for instructor-level teaching.
The PADI Instructor Development Course is structured around a Course Director leading the teaching theory, modelling presentations, evaluating candidate performance, and signing off on each candidate’s readiness to teach. PADI standards permit staff instructors to support — they can’t replace the CD’s role.
In practice, some Course Directors delegate more than they should. Reasons vary: high-volume centres running multiple concurrent IDCs, schedule overlaps with other training, freelance CDs covering several centres in a single trip. The signal a candidate should watch for is whether the CD is named in every module or only in the headline marketing.
Why is this important? Although this is not breaking standards, the level of advice, especially for real world teaching, is the gold that a CD can bring to the candidates and it will be far superior from an experienced CD compared to a staff instructor/ CD-wannabee. Most candidates choose their IDC because of the CD and not an unknown CD-wannabee, so expecting the CD to actually teach the IDC modules should be non-negotiable.
The question to ask in plain language is: “Will you personally teach every module, or will any portions be delivered by staff instructors?” A legitimate Course Director will give you a clear, specific answer. At Two Fish Divers, Restuning teaches every IDC from beginning to end without handing off mid-course.
Is Your Course Director Permanent at the Centre, or Flown In for IDC Weeks?
A permanent Course Director is invested in the centre, the local dive sites, and the candidates who came before you; a flown-in CD knows the curriculum but leaves when the course ends.
The “flown-in” model is common in parts of Indonesia, particularly Bali. A freelance Course Director travels between centres on contract, runs the IDC week, and moves to the next location. From the centre’s perspective, it’s flexible. From the candidate’s perspective, the trade-off is invisible until after the course.
What’s missing in the flown-in model isn’t course-day quality. A capable freelance CD can deliver a competent IDC. What’s missing is the surround: knowledge of the local dive sites you’ll be teaching in, the resident instructor team who supported your divemaster path, awareness of how prepared you were going into the course, and any post-course mentorship. The relationship is two weeks long, and the network you’re being plugged into ends when the CD leaves.
A permanent Course Director changes the equation. The centre’s standards reflect their standards. The resident instructors are people they’ve worked with for years. The regional network they introduce you to is their actual network, not a list from a different country.
Questions to ask: “Are you on staff at this centre, or contracted in for the IDC period?” “How long have you been at the centre?” “Will you be available to me after the course ends?”
Does Your Course Director Have a KITAS to Legally Teach in Indonesia?
Foreign Course Directors need a work-category KITAS sponsored by the dive centre where they teach to legally run an IDC in Indonesia. A CD working without one risks deportation, and if that happens mid-course your IDC stops with them.
KITAS (Kartu Izin Tinggal Terbatas, the Limited Stay Permit Card) is the Indonesian residency permit issued to foreign professionals. For work, it must be sponsored by an Indonesian company, typically the dive centre where the CD teaches, through a Foreign Worker Utilization Plan approved by the Ministry of Manpower. The permit is tied to both the sponsor and the role. A KITAS issued for a different job at a different company does not cover teaching an IDC.
This is not a technicality. Under Indonesia’s Immigration Law (Law 6 of 2011, Article 122), working outside the terms of a stay permit carries penalties of up to five years imprisonment and a fine of up to IDR 500 million, for the foreign worker and for anyone who allows it. Enforcement is real: foreign dive instructors have been deported from Bali for teaching on visit visas, and in one case for holding work permits tied to entirely different jobs. Since 2025, Bali’s immigration office has run targeted enforcement against foreigners working on tourist visas.
The risk for you as a candidate is practical rather than legal. If your Course Director is removed mid-course, your IDC stops with them. Your schedule, your Instructor Examination date, and the money you have paid are all tied to a person who may not be allowed to finish the job.
What candidates can ask: “Do you have a KITAS sponsored by this dive centre to teach here, and how long has it been in place?” A legitimate professional won’t be offended by the question, and the operator who employs them shouldn’t be either. If the answer is evasive, treat that as a signal.
Two Fish Divers operates legally across all five Indonesian locations, with Course Director Restuning as an Indonesian national who doesn’t need a foreign-work permit. Our operational standards apply to every PADI professional at every centre.
What's the Candidate-to-Course-Director Ratio in Your Cohort?
PADI’s maximum ratio is one Course Director to eight IDC candidates; the lower the ratio, the more personal attention you receive on your teaching presentations and the more direct feedback you get before your Instructor Examination.
The 1:8 ratio is a cap, not a target. Inside it, the operational reality of a cohort changes significantly between 1:8, 1:6, and 1:4. With eight candidates, your practice teaching gets less individual feedback time, weak areas may not be diagnosed early, and the CD has less bandwidth to coach you through specific challenges. With four candidates, the CD can sit with each presentation, debrief properly, and adjust the course around where individuals need support.
Smaller isn’t always better in every dimension. A cohort of two means less peer learning and fewer diverse teaching scenarios. The sweet spot for most candidates is a cohort of three to five — enough peer interaction, plenty of CD time.
Two Fish Divers runs IDC cohorts at one Course Director to four candidates or smaller. That’s well inside PADI’s 1:8 cap, by design rather than by accident. Our model is small-group training rather than high-volume IDC weeks, which means we accept fewer candidates per intake but give each one substantially more direct CD time than a packed cohort can offer.
There is a significant difference when the 14 IDC-days are shared with 8 candidates compared to being shared with 4 candidates. For example, more time to find & practice “your authentic instructor voice and style”, more time to practice teaching the underwater skills, and more personal feedback that is tailored to each person depending on their strengths. Overall a 1:4 IDC gives the candidates more space to grow with a less-stressful program.
The question to ask: “How many candidates are typically in your IDC cohort, and how does that affect the feedback I’ll get on my teaching presentations?”
What's the Daily Structure of the IDC, Including Lifestyle?
The IDC isn’t just classroom and pool sessions — the daily lifestyle around the course shapes whether candidates arrive at their Instructor Examination focused, recovered, and ready to teach safely.
The traditional IDC culture in many parts of the diving world leaned hard on social camaraderie: bar nights, late evenings, candidates living and drinking together for the duration of the course. For some candidates, that’s part of the appeal. For others, it produces a cohort that arrives at the IE under-rested, distracted, and operating below their actual capability.
The new generation of dive professionals is increasingly different. Research on younger workers across industries shows a clear shift toward wellness, recovery, and structured daily rhythms over the traditional party culture. Candidates investing thousands of dollars and several weeks into a career step are looking for environments that support performance, not undermine it.
At Two Fish Divers, the IDC includes structured wellness as part of the daily schedule — including 6am yoga and breathwork sessions led at the centre. It’s part of the course structure, not a bolt-on. The aim is candidates who finish each day capable of absorbing the next day, and who arrive at the IE in the kind of shape needed to teach safely in real conditions.
This won’t suit every candidate, and that’s fair. The point is to know what you’re signing up for before you arrive. Questions to ask: “What does a typical day look like during the IDC?” “Is there scheduled time for rest and study, or is the structure dawn-to-bar?” “Does the centre have a wellness or recovery component to the programme?”
What's Your Course Director's Track Record with PADI APAC and the Regional Network?
A Course Director’s reputation in the regional dive industry is the network you inherit when you become an Instructor — and it determines which centres will hire you, which liveaboards will trust you, and which agents will refer their candidates to your future courses.
The dive industry runs on relationships. A new Instructor’s first job rarely comes from a CV submitted cold. It comes from a recommendation: a Course Director who calls a centre owner, an alumni Instructor who flags an opening, an agent who places a referral. That network is the part of an IDC that no candidate sees in the brochure, and it’s the part that does the most work over the next five years of your career.
What “reputation” looks like in practice: ongoing engagement with PADI Asia Pacific, alumni placed across centres in the region, professional standing recognised by other centre owners, and visible track record of graduates who have moved into successful instructor careers. A Course Director whose graduates aren’t visible anywhere is a flag — either the network doesn’t exist or the CD isn’t doing the introductions.
Restuning has been a permanent Course Director at Two Fish since 2018 and has built relationships with operators across Indonesia over more than two decades in the regional industry. The first Indonesian female PADI Course Director, her professional standing is recognised across PADI APAC and the wider Indonesian dive market.
Questions to ask: “Where are your past graduates working now? Could I speak to two of them?” “Are you in regular contact with PADI APAC?” “Which other centres in the region would speak to your training standards?”
What Happens After the Course Ends? (The Question Most Candidates Never Ask)
The IDC isn’t the end of your relationship with your Course Director — it’s the start, and a CD who disappears the day the certificates are signed isn’t the mentor your career needs.
The first 100 hours of teaching as a new Instructor are difficult. You’ll meet situations the IDC didn’t quite cover — a panicking student diver, a course with a tricky personality dynamic, an unfamiliar dive site you suddenly have to brief professionally. The candidates who navigate those situations best are typically the ones who can pick up the phone and call their Course Director.
The “two-week relationship” failure mode is when an IDC ends, certificates are signed, and the candidate never hears from the CD again. Five years into your career, that CD becomes someone you trained under once. The CD who stays in contact becomes a reference you can use indefinitely, a mentor you can return to, and an advocate when a job opens up at a centre you’d like to work at.
What ongoing CD mentorship should look like: references for job applications, advice on first instructor roles, support during the hard early stretch, and ongoing professional development. Some Course Directors maintain alumni groups, some keep direct contact, some host annual events. The form matters less than the fact of it.
Questions to ask: “How do you stay in touch with past candidates after the course?” “Can I speak to two of your graduates from the last three years to understand what that contact has looked like for them?” If a CD can’t answer either question with specifics, treat it as a flag.
How to Use These Seven Questions: A Practical Framework
Use the seven questions above as a vetting framework with every IDC centre you’re considering. Don’t take a marketing answer for any of them — ask for specifics, ask for names where appropriate, and ask for the names of past graduates you can speak to.
Red flags to walk away from:
- A Course Director who won’t answer the KITAS question directly
- A centre that won’t connect you with past graduates from the last three years
- Vague answers on cohort size or daily structure
- A CD who can’t articulate their teaching method beyond “I follow PADI standards”
- A 30%+ price premium without a specific explanation of what you’re paying for
Green flags:
- Course Director is permanent on staff, not flown in
- Specific cohort numbers given (1:4, 1:5) rather than “small groups”
- Named past graduates working at specific centres or liveaboards
- A clear daily structure that includes scheduled rest and study time
- A direct answer to the KITAS question with the sponsoring company named
No single question on this list is decisive on its own. A CD can personally teach every module and still be working without a permit, or run small cohorts with no structure around them. The signal is in the pattern: a centre that gives you direct, specific answers to all seven has nothing to hide.
Choosing between IDC centres more generally? Our seven-factor guide to choosing a PADI IDC covers location, facilities, pricing and internships.
Two Fish Divers has been running PADI IDCs across Indonesia for 25 years. Course Director Restuning is on staff for IDCs in Amed, Penida, and Sanur, and your training there is the start of a network that spans five Indonesian locations.
Questions about the PADI IDC
Everything you need to know before choosing your PADI IDC
No – as an IDC candidate you’re attending a course, not working. KITAS work-permit requirements apply to your Course Director (if foreign) and to you only after you start working as a paid instructor in Indonesia.
The PADI Instructor Development Course itself is 10 days minimum. Including the Instructor Examination (IE), most candidates plan for 12 to 14 days on-site. Pre-IDC preparation (Assistant Instructor or Divemaster review) can add another 1 to 2 weeks if needed.
Course fees in Indonesia typically range from USD 1,800 to 3,500 depending on the centre and what’s included. PADI application fees (approximately USD 800 to 1,000), accommodation, and dive equipment (if not owned) are usually separate. Always confirm exactly what’s included before paying a deposit.
PADI requires Divemaster certification with at least 60 logged dives and a minimum 6 months between Open Water and Instructor certification. Beyond the minimum, the realistic question is whether you’ve taught enough as a Divemaster to be ready to teach. Most Course Directors recommend 100+ dives and 6 or more months of active Divemaster work.
Bali has the highest concentration of IDC centres in Indonesia, but also the highest concentration of flown-in freelance Course Directors. Less crowded regions like North Sulawesi (Bunaken) often have more stable, permanent CD relationships. The right answer depends more on the specific Course Director than the island.
