AIDA INSTRUCTOR COURSE

AIDA INSTRUCTOR COURSE
Turn your freediving experience and skills into the ability to teach.

The AIDA Instructor Course is designed for experienced freedivers ready to take the next step and become professional freediving instructors.

You’ll develop the knowledge, teaching skills and practical experience required to safely teach AIDA courses — from explaining theory and demonstrating skills to managing students in the pool and open water.

But becoming an effective instructor is about more than being able to perform the skills yourself. You need to understand why they work, recognise when a student is struggling, identify what is limiting their performance and communicate a solution clearly.

Just as importantly, you need to understand the risks involved in freediving and learn to identify and address potential safety concerns before they become problems.

What you'll develop

• AIDA teaching standards, course structure and methodology

• Theory presentation and practical skill instruction

• Student assessment, feedback and problem-solving

• Teaching static, dynamic and open-water skills

• Warm-ups, stretching and breathing preparation

• Open-water planning, equipment and risk management

• Safety, rescue and emergency procedures

• Student supervision and group management

• Communication and professional teaching skills

The AIDA Instructor Course experience

At Drifters, we see the Instructor Course as the beginning of your development as an educator — not simply the final step in your freediving qualifications.

You’ll spend time both learning and teaching, putting the AIDA system into practice under the supervision of your Instructor Trainer. You’ll teach theory, lead warm-ups, demonstrate skills and work with students in confined and open water while receiving feedback on your teaching.

Where possible, we also encourage instructor candidates to co-teach with our instructors on one or more AIDA courses during their training. This gives you the opportunity to gain experience working with real students, observe different teaching situations and develop your confidence before completing your accreditation.

We place a strong emphasis on developing good judgement — understanding what to look for, recognising when something isn't right and knowing how to intervene early.

A strong instructor doesn't simply respond when something goes wrong. They create an environment where potential problems are identified, communicated and addressed before they become safety issues.

Prerequisites

To enrol in the AIDA Instructor Course, you must:

• Be 18 years of age or older

• Hold an AIDA 4 Master Freediver certification, or meet the requirements for an AIDA 4 Crossover Evaluation

• Hold a current First Aid and CPR qualification

You should also have a strong foundation in both pool and depth freediving and arrive prepared to demonstrate the required skills.

Instructor Course requirements

Completion of the course requires you to demonstrate the required technical, theoretical, teaching and safety skills, including pool and open-water performance, rescue procedures, teaching assessments and written examinations.

The specific performance requirements and assessment criteria are set by AIDA and assessed by your Instructor Trainer.

What happens after the course?

Successfully completing the AIDA Instructor Course qualifies you as an AIDA Instructor, allowing you to teach within the scope of your AIDA instructor certification and active status.

But certification is only the beginning.

Our goal is to help you develop the knowledge, judgement, communication skills and teaching ability to become an instructor who can do more than demonstrate a skill — someone who can help students understand, develop and safely apply it.

Ready to become an AIDA Instructor?

Take the next step from experienced freediver to professional educator — and learn to teach with confidence, clarity and good judgement.