Become a Scuba Instructor in Florida
Train from Assistant Instructor to Open Water Scuba Instructor and on to Instructor Trainer, with
one Course Director, one standard, and one continuous path.
- Full Path Available
- Course Director Led
- Veteran Owned
Taught by a Ph.D. educator, Navy veteran, and IDEA Course Director.
Your first certification · From $450 · Private pace
The Path Runs Out Before You Do
- Local shops that top out at Divemaster
- Instructor courses run only in distant cities
- Cohort dates that never match your work
- Training that ends at the first rating
- No mentor once the certificate is issued
Your professional development should feel
continuous, mentored, and ambitious, not like a ladder missing its top three rungs.
I'm Wade Howell, and I'm Here to Take You All the Way
Teaching diving is not the same as diving well. Plenty of excellent divers become mediocre instructors, because nobody ever taught them how people actually learn, how to sequence a skill, or how to diagnose why a student keeps failing the same exercise.
I hold a Ph.D., taught for more than twenty years in graduate and undergraduate settings, served as a Navy hospital corpsman, and have been diving since 1991. As an IDEA Course Director I can certify divers, instructors, and instructor trainers, which means your entire career can be trained
under one standard, one mentor, and one roof.
You want to teach. Let's teach you how.
DEVIL'S DEN · WILLISTON, FL
What divers say
Your pace / Spring dives / From $450
Flagship
Scheduled / 20 dives logged / From $1,300
A Career Path That Does Not Stop
Every Rating in One Place
Assistant Instructor through Instructor Trainer under one Course Director so you can advance without starting over elsewhere, which means each level builds on assessments already on record.
Pedagogy, Not Just Standards
Instruction from a career educator so you can learn how people acquire skills, which means your students finish capable rather than merely certified.
Training Around Your Work
Scheduling built to your availability so you can advance without a cohort start date, which means a career change stops requiring an unpaid month away.
How It Works
Map Your Current Level
We review your ratings, logged dives, and teaching experience so you can enter at the right rung, not the first one.
Build the Ladder
Assistant Instructor, Instructor, and Instructor Trainer get sequenced with prerequisites and timing so you can see the whole route before committing.
Teach Under Supervision
You deliver real academic and water sessions with a Course Director observing so you can be corrected while it still matters.
What Sets This Instructor Training Apart
A Course Director Locally
Anyone can hold an instructor rating. Certifying instructors and instructor trainers requires the top rank in recreational scuba, and in this region that is rare enough to matter.
Twenty Years of Classrooms
Your trainer spent two decades teaching before ever running an instructor course. Knowing how adults learn is the difference between demonstrating and teaching.
Assistant Instructor First
The AI rating gets treated as real training rather than a formality on the way through, because teaching under supervision is where the actual learning happens.
Instructor Trainer Available
Very few schools in North Florida can take a candidate to Instructor Trainer. This one can, which means the ceiling here is the profession's ceiling.
Teaching Presentations Critiqued
Every academic and confined water presentation gets debriefed on content, sequencing, and delivery. Vague approval is how weak instructors get certified.
Standards and Risk Management
Liability, documentation, medical screening, and standards compliance. The administrative side is what actually ends instructor careers.
The Instructor Network
Once rated, you can teach through The Scuba Professor's instructor network rather than opening a shop, so you can earn without carrying the overhead.
Ten Local Training Sites
Springs, caverns, and rivers within an hour of Lake City. Learning to teach across varied sites builds judgment a single pool never will.
Continuous Mentorship
The relationship does not end at certification. Instructors who trained here keep calling with student problems, and that access is part of what you are buying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Decision-blocking questions answered directly.
What Are the Prerequisites?
Standard requirements are 18 years of age, Divemaster certification, and logged dive minimums that rise at each level. Instructor Trainer additionally requires years of teaching experience and a substantial student record.
Can I Do This Without Quitting My Job?
That is the normal case here. Training is scheduled around your work rather than delivered as a fixed residential course, so most candidates advance while still employed.
Is an Instructor Rating Worth the Investment?
It depends entirely on how you intend to use it. Full-time dive employment pays modestly, while part-time teaching alongside another career can work well. We will discuss your numbers before you commit.
What Does Instructor Training Cost?
Cost varies by entry level, how many ratings you bundle, materials, and site fees. Call and I'll build a written plan with the full figure.
Which Agency Will I Be Certified Through?
Training runs through internationally recognized agencies including IDEA, SEI, and SDI, and we will choose based on where you plan to teach. Recognition is broad across all three.
Ready to Get in the Water?
Tell me a little about your situation and I will come back to you personally.
