Are you looking for career opportunities in scuba diving? Look no further than Sea Experience! You deserve the highest quality of staff, facilities, and location for your professional scuba training, whatever your goals are! We are not an Instructor mill that has a program every two weeks. We are a “true” Career Development Center!
Aren’t all IDC’s the same? The PADI curriculum is the same; it’s the “real world” applications that set us ahead of the rest. The training you receive from the Sea Experience staff is arguably the best you can find! Our professional scuba programs are conducted by some of the most experienced and qualified instructors in the industry. Combined, the Course Directors have over 100 years of scuba industry experience and over 30,000 dives between them. Amongst them they have owned or managed dive centers, owned dive boats, worked in dive resorts, on cruise ships, and live-aboard, have military dive experience and have overall lived the dive dream! You will receive your training from people who work in the industry. Staff of Sea Experience wrote and copyrighted the first PADI Resort Specialist program, which was designed for the industry by the requests of the industry. When you attend your PADI Instructor Development Course with Sea Experience, the entire program is conducted by one of 4 PADI Platinum Course Directors! The scuba industry knowledge that you absorb, along with the experience and expertise you gain from your professional scuba courses will set you on the road to a fun, fulfilling and most of all, a successful career in the scuba diving industry.
Sea Experience is a PADI 5 Star Career Development Center (CDC), licensed by the Commission for Independent Education through the Florida Department of Education. This ensures that your training is provided by a facility that meets the strictest standards not only required by PADI but also the State of Florida. Very few schools can boast this prestigious honor. The 5 Star CDC designation is given to PADI 5 Star IDC Centers that conduct additional Instructor Level scuba training and meet requirements for assisting dive leaders in reaching their professional goals. The license from the Commission for Independent Education is required for all Florida dive centers conducting Instructor level training. Our facilities are all in one location: the classroom, retail shop, scuba training pool, boats and rooms are all located at the Bahia Mar Resort. A rental car is not necessary! If transportation is needed to dive off-site, we will provide it. At Sea Experience each candidate is important to us; you will receive personal attention and never be just a number. For that purpose, we keep our group sizes to no more than six candidates to one Course Director. The IDC Open Water training dives are conducted in the ocean (unless weather dictates otherwise), and we have one day of workshops at a local lake: allowing you to also be familiar with the location of the Instructor Exam Open Water site. Sea Experience also offers a Job Placement program to get you out there and living the dive life yourself! Look for the links on this page to start the online form today!
Sea Experience is located at the Bahia Mar Resort in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and is on the beach in the heart of all the action. There are over 30 restaurants as well as convenience stores and numerous activities all within walking distance of the resort. We dive a large variety of shipwrecks and reefs just off our shores. In fact, this is where PADI professional instructor training as we know it began! There has been career instructor training taking place here for over 35 years. The Bahia Mar Resort is just minutes and a short taxi ride from the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport. We do not offer free housing or meals. Keep in mind that “nothing is free” and that you may end up in a dorm-style arrangement with up to 8 people sharing a room and meals provided with an extremely limited budget. The resort gives us special pricing for our Instructor Candidates, and you will have a private room with a refrigerator, microwave, and maid service. This provides you with your own space for privacy, quiet study, and preparation. We also have numerous other accommodation options for you ranging from budget friendly to luxurious to meet all needs.You also have an endless choice of restaurants and a grocery store nearby if you prefer to eat in.
A personal visit will go a long way in helping you make this important decision. You are making an investment in your future, and the best investment you can make in your professional scuba training is at Sea Experience in sunny Fort Lauderdale. We are very proud of our facilities and would welcome the chance to show you around, get to know more about you and your goals in the scuba industry. We want you to be 100% comfortable with your decision on where to take your training. After the tour, please accept a complimentary dive trip on our boat; do not forget your c-card! We want you to have some fun while you are with us, and you get to see the boat and perhaps talk to current students as to their training experiences. Call us to set up a time to visit or if you cannot visit but have questions or need further information, please give us a call at 954-770-3483.
Here are a few things you may want to look for, or ask about when selecting a PADI Career Development Center:
Staff Experience – How many Course Directors are there, and will they be doing the teaching? Some schools use IDC Staff Instructors for most of the program! Is the Course Director experienced in all aspects of the scuba industry?
Location – Is it on the beach? How far are the boat(s), classroom, pool, airport, and other facilities spread out? Do I need a car while I am there? Are there a variety of restaurants nearby?
Alumni – Will you become part of the largest group of instructor graduates in the world?
We are immensely proud of our staff, location, career training and industry standing. Here are a few reasons why.
Because we are licensed with the State of Florida thru the Commission for Independent Education (CIE) the SAA has approved the classes listed on our license by the CIE. Those classes are our phase programming. Total Immersion Program (TIP), Phase 1; Specialty Diver, Phase 2; Professional Divemaster, Divemaster as a stand-alone course, Phase 3; Open Water Scuba Instructor. Phase 4; MSDT Resort Specialist and IDC Staff Instructor. If you are using the Post 9/11 Bill (Chapter 33) that is tuition based educational benefits. The Post 9/11 will fund your tuition based on your percentage of eligibility. If you don’t already have that information the paperwork can be accessed thru the VA website. The VA will issue you a Certificate of Eligibility. Please be aware that we are a Non-College Degree school and as such your benefit time reduction is not based on time in school but on the cost of our courses. You would also receive a monthly stipend while you are in class that you can use toward your accommodations or equipment if needed. That stipend is pro-rated based on time at school and is paid 30 days in arrears. You must also file a 22-1995 form with the Veterans administration electronically at www.vets.gov and we will need a copy of this form for our files. That is a “change of program” form. If you cannot print this form from the VA website, you can fill out a copy at our office for your file or we can send you a blank so you can fill it out manually and scan it to send to us via email.
Because you are not a certified diver the Total Immersion Program is the curriculum that you should be considering taking. Total Immersion Program will take you from Open Water through Divemaster in approximately 6 weeks. This program will deduct approximately 6 months off your VA Benefit. I highly suggest that you ring a VA benefit counselor at 888-442-4551 for more details and clarifications.
Also please be aware that you will be required to produce original transcripts from any schooling, university, college, or post-secondary schools that you have attended after high school before your classes begin. You should contact the registrar’s office to request these documents. They can be mailed directly to us from the school’s office, electronically sent by the school or you can mail the sealed envelope to us. Please make sure that the school sends the transcripts to Sea Experience, 801 Seabreeze Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316.
Please read the synopsis carefully as there are specific paperwork obligations outlined that you must take care of to the satisfaction of VA rules and regulations.
Please ring a VA Benefit Counselor for any questions you may have as to how your benefits can work best for you. Their number is 888-442-4551.
The above information is an overview of how your VA educational benefits can work for you. There are more details about our courses and how you can proceed forward to become a PADI diving Instructor and further your diving education beyond that.