This former Blogger draft was fully rewritten, fact-checked and updated in July 2026.
A certification card proves that someone completed an instructor course and met an agency standard at that time. It does not tell you how patiently that person teaches, how recently they have been active or how they react when a student is frightened.
After teaching more than 1,200 students, I believe the best instructor is not necessarily the one with the loudest profile or the highest dive count. It is the one who combines current competence with judgment and humility.
Verify the basics
- Current teaching status with the relevant training agency.
- Recent teaching activity and familiarity with the course being offered.
- Appropriate insurance, emergency plan and oxygen availability.
- Well-maintained equipment in suitable sizes.
- Clear information about class size, schedule, prerequisites and total cost.
Ask how the course is taught
A good instructor can explain what happens if a student needs more time, misses a session or cannot complete a skill on the first attempt. Beware of guaranteed completion dates. The certification should follow competence, not the calendar.
A good instructor should teach the reasoning behind depth, time, gas and ascent decisions. The BusaBoy Dive Planner can make those relationships visible, but it is still a cross-checking tool rather than a substitute for training. Explore a sample plan →
Observe behaviour before the water
Does the instructor listen? Are questions treated seriously? Is the briefing organised? Do they check equipment and conditions rather than rushing to enter? Small habits on land often reveal the standards that will appear underwater.
Experience should be visible as judgment
Logged dives are valuable when they have produced better observation and decision-making. An experienced teacher notices rapid breathing, silence, fixation, equipment discomfort or a student pretending to be fine. They adapt the explanation or stop the dive without making the student feel like a failure.
Trust your reaction
You are allowed to choose another instructor. Feeling nervous before learning is normal; feeling pressured, dismissed or unsafe is not. The right instructor makes standards clear while creating enough calm for you to learn.
Sources and further reading
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