SDI/TDI Instructor Crossover
What is your least favorite part about teaching for your current diver training organization? Is it:
- Having to pay so much for outrageously priced student materials, renewals and registrations it’s hard to actually make money?
- Having to follow training standards written by people who do not actively dive or teach?
- Being told you can only teach certain skills on certain dives or pool sessions — regardless of what might better meet student needs?
- Being locked into teaching for a certain dive center or facility?
- Dealing with a training agency that feels students are their customers, not yours?
If you’ve experienced any of these frustrations, you know why SDI and TDI are among the fastest-growing diver training organizations on the planet. Why not become part of the SDI/TDI family and make teaching scuba fun again? Doing so is both easy and affordable.
Prerequisites
To crossover to SDI and/or TDI, you must be an instructor in Active status with at least one widely recognized diver training organization. You can find a list of agencies SDI/TDI recognizes here.
If you are not in Active status with such an organization, you may still qualify. This would typically be if you were in Active status through all of last year but did not renew this year because you wanted to make the switch to SDI and/or TDI. We can help you find out what you need to do.
What’s involved?
SDI/TDI crossovers are purely administrative. There are no pool or open-water sessions. As long as you went through an instructor evaluation process with a recognized organization, we know what you did to get your current instructor rating. Here is what the SDI/TDI process involves:
- The first step is to put together documentation of your current instructor status. We will send you a list of what you need. At one time this involved making copies of your various instructor cards. Increasingly, however, we find crossover candidates can simply download PDF reports from their current agency’s website.
- The next step is eLearning. We will send you a code that will enable you to log into the SDI/TDI eLearning site and go through the most recent online crossover course.
- The third step is one-on-one orientation. This typically takes a morning, afternoon or evening.
During the orientation, we:
- Review your student report from your crossover eLearning course.
- Teach you how to use the SDI/TDI website to find information and conduct a variety of administrative tasks.
- Answer any questions you may have.
- Finish completing any paperwork.
It only takes a few days for SDI/TDI to process crossover registrations. So you will be ready to teach before you know it.
Course Location
We usually conduct the in-person orientation portion of crossovers at our Gainesville, Florida, office or online via Zoom. Being able to meet in person is ideal but not essential.
Costs
SDI/TDI Instructor Crossovers fee includes:
- SDI or TDI Instructor Crossover kit
- Crossover eLearning program
- In-person instructor orientation session
- One-time instructor registration fee
- Instructor membership fee for the balance of the current year
Additionally, any Specialty Instructor ratings you possess for which SDI/TDI has equivalencies will cross over at no additional charge. Should you crossover late in the calendar year, your crossover fee will include instructor membership for the coming year as well.