What has LEGO to do with the PADI IDC?

Becoming a Complete Instructor: The PADI IDC Indonesia at Oceans 5 Gili Air

PADI IDC Indonesia | LEGO Approach

In the diving world, there’s a monumental shift that happens between the role of a Divemaster and that of a PADI Instructor. The PADI Divemaster course is about leading certified divers, perfecting your own dive skills, and understanding dive operations. But once you step into the PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC), everything changes. You're no longer preparing to assist—you’re preparing to teach. To lead. To inspire. And at the PADI IDC Indonesia at Oceans 5 Gili Air, that transformation is done with care, depth, and a philosophy that turns you into a complete dive instructor—not just someone trained to pass the PADI Instructor Examination.

Not Just Passing the Exam: Creating Instructors with Purpose

One of the biggest criticisms of many IDCs around the world is that they teach to the test. Candidates walk into the PADI Instructor Examination (IE) prepared to tick boxes, recite theory, and demonstrate skills—but not necessarily teach those skills effectively in the real world. At Oceans 5 Gili Air, we reject that mindset. Here, the PADI IDC Indonesia is not a crash course to beat an exam; it’s a carefully structured journey to becoming a confident, adaptable instructor who knows why each component of teaching matters.

Our candidates don't just learn how to get through an exam weekend. They learn how to become lifelong educators—mentors who can identify and address real student needs in real-world diving conditions.

Teaching Is Like Building with LEGO

Let’s take a step back for a moment.

Remember the first time you played with LEGO? You probably started with a small set, building simple houses or cars. Each brick had a purpose. You understood the difference between a flat piece and a connector, between a wheel and a block. And over time, you could take those same familiar pieces and start building castles, spaceships, or entire cities.

The power of LEGO isn’t in the complexity of the individual pieces—it’s in the consistency and modularity of the design. Once you know how each piece works, you can build anything.

Teaching scuba diving is the same. Each skill in the PADI system is a structure built from smaller “LEGO pieces.” As a PADI Instructor, your job is to teach students how those pieces work and fit together. And just like with LEGO, if a student struggles, it’s often because one tiny piece is missing—not the entire skill.

That’s the heart of how we teach at the PADI IDC Indonesia.

Understanding the Building Blocks

At Oceans 5 Gili Air, we help IDC candidates identify these foundational pieces—what we call "micro-skills." For example, let’s say your student struggles with mask removal and replacement underwater. The issue might not be the entire skill. Maybe the problem is exhaling through the nose to prevent water from going in. Maybe it’s a confidence issue. Maybe they’ve never practiced the hand coordination needed to clear the mask effectively.

Instead of re-teaching the entire skill, we teach you, as the future instructor, to isolate the problem. Find the missing LEGO brick. And help the student rebuild from there.

This isn’t just more efficient. It’s empowering—for both instructor and student. It removes frustration. It fosters trust. And it leads to better divers.

The Divemaster vs. Instructor Mindset

To really appreciate the leap from Divemaster to Instructor, you have to understand the shift in responsibility. A Divemaster leads and supports. An Instructor creates understanding.

In the Divemaster course, you learn how to manage logistics, guide fun dives, and assist with training. You work on being the best role model you can be, perfecting your buoyancy, awareness, and problem-solving.

But in the PADI IDC, the focus is on how people learn. Why students behave a certain way underwater. What it takes to break down a skill into teachable segments. You stop thinking like a diver, and you start thinking like an educator.

And that shift is profound.

Teaching Isn’t About Control—It’s About Connection

Too many new instructors leave their IDC thinking they must control their students underwater. That’s not teaching. That’s babysitting.

Real teaching is about connection and communication. It’s about understanding where your student is in their journey and guiding them to the next level. It’s about identifying the missing LEGO piece and offering it gently.

At the PADI IDC Indonesia at Oceans 5, we take the time to help you internalize that philosophy. You’ll role-play. You’ll practice being both student and instructor. You’ll receive feedback that doesn’t just say “good job,” but actually helps you understand why something worked—or didn’t.

How We Build Complete Instructors

Our 20-day IDC schedule is built to reduce stress and encourage deep learning. We limit each IDC to a maximum of six candidates. That small group size means you’ll receive personal coaching every step of the way. You’ll never feel like a number. You’ll be seen, heard, and challenged to grow.

You’ll also learn to teach for real. Not in simulations. Not in a controlled vacuum. You’ll be part of a working dive center with real courses happening every day. You’ll assist on Discover Scuba Diving programs. You’ll watch actual student behavior. You’ll help manage real challenges.

And every time you do, you’ll learn a little more about what it means to be a complete instructor.

The LEGO Approach to PADI Standards

PADI standards aren’t rules to memorize—they’re tools to help you teach. And like LEGO pieces, they fit together logically.

At Oceans 5, we don’t just tell you what the standards are. We explain why they exist. We walk through the Open Water Diver course structure, the performance requirements, the sequence of skills—and show you how they were built from the ground up to support student learning.

When you understand this, you’ll never teach a course “just because PADI says so.” You’ll teach it with purpose. You’ll know why a confined water dive must come before open water. Why buoyancy control comes early. Why each skill has its own place in the progression.

Real Skills. Real Feedback. Real Growth.

Your time at the PADI IDC Indonesia isn’t about perfection. It’s about progress.

You’ll make mistakes. That’s part of learning. But every mistake will become an opportunity to understand more. You’ll receive real feedback from our Course Directors and Staff Instructors. You’ll be encouraged to think critically. To ask questions. To adapt your teaching style to different types of learners.

And along the way, you’ll notice something remarkable: you’re no longer trying to “pass the IE.” You’re becoming a professional who’s ready to teach divers around the world.

The Role of Our Course Directors

At the heart of the IDC experience are our in-house PADI Course Directors, Sander Buis and Warren Beyers. With decades of teaching experience, they’ve developed a reputation not just for getting candidates through the IE—but for mentoring instructors who make a difference.

Their strength lies in their ability to tailor the program to your individual needs. Whether you struggle with public speaking, knowledge development, or skill demonstrations, they’ll help you break each challenge down—brick by brick—until you understand how to rebuild your approach.

You’ll learn from their stories, their mistakes, their successes. And you’ll leave the IDC knowing that you’ve been trained by professionals who genuinely care about your growth.

Beyond the IDC: A Lifelong Skill Set

One of the best parts of doing your IDC at Oceans 5 Gili Air is that the learning doesn’t stop at the Instructor Examination.

We offer a free 2-3 week IDC internship for those who want to continue developing under the supervision of experienced instructors. You’ll assist with real students, gain confidence, and start developing your own unique teaching style. It’s a bridge between the classroom and the career—and it makes a world of difference.

You can also continue your education with Instructor Specialty Courses, including Peak Performance Buoyancy, Deep Diver, Nitrox, and Shark Conservation, among many others. Our goal is not just to help you pass the IE, but to give you the tools to thrive in the diving industry long-term.

Teaching Is an Art—And a Skill

It’s easy to think of teaching as something people are either good at or not. But like diving itself, teaching is a skill you can learn, practice, and master. It requires empathy, observation, patience, and technique.

At the PADI IDC Indonesia, we teach you the art and science of instruction. We give you frameworks. We give you feedback. We give you space to grow.

And most importantly, we treat you not as a candidate—but as a future colleague.

From Candidate to Colleague

When you join the PADI IDC Indonesia at Oceans 5 Gili Air, you’re joining a community. A team. A family. We don’t push candidates through a cookie-cutter system. We invest in people.

We want you to succeed—not just on exam day, but every day after. We want your students to look back and say, “That instructor changed everything for me.”

That’s the kind of dive pro we build here. That’s what it means to become a complete instructor.