Scuba Diving instructor Course in Gozo, Malta
Qualify to teach. Guaranteed the work to prove it.
Become an SSI Open Water Instructor on a month-long course led by Platinum Pro Instructor Trainer Lee Rigby, at the only dive centre in the world that backs its instructor training with both a Pass Guarantee and a Work Guarantee. Train inside a working dive centre with real students, on Gozo, one of the Mediterranean's best diving and teaching environments.
An SSI Open Water Instructor rating: licensed to teach for a living
Complete the course and pass your Instructor Evaluation (IE), and you become a certified SSI Open Water Instructor. From there you can independently teach, assess and certify divers across the core SSI programmes: Scuba Diver, Open Water Diver, Advanced Open Water, Perfect Buoyancy, Diver Stress & Rescue, Enriched Air Nitrox and Dive Guide.
It's a professional rating recognised in more than 110 countries, renewable every year, and it doesn't tie you to one employer or one ocean. It's also the gateway to everything above it: Specialty Instructor, Assistant Instructor Trainer, Master Instructor, and eventually Instructor Trainer. This is a full instructor course, not a taster or an assistant rating. You finish it ready to run your own classes.
Our Guarantees
Going pro is a real leap. You're putting money and time behind a course that's supposed to change what happens next for you, so we backed the training with something concrete. Two guarantees, aimed at the two things every instructor candidate actually worries about: passing the Evaluation, and getting paid work once you're done. We don't hand you the training and walk away. If it doesn't work, that's still our problem.
If you don't pass your Instructor Evaluation the first time, you retrain with us, free, until you do. We can offer this because we train to a hiring standard, not a passing one, which is also why our first-time pass rate is 100%.
If you qualify with us and don't get paid diving work, we make sure you have a route forward.
Ask us about the full Work Guarantee during your discovery call.
SSI's two-step pathway: the ITC, then the IE
We run both stages back to back as one continuous programme. If you trained with another agency, the terminology differs but the destination is the same: what PADI runs as an IDC, SSI runs as the ITC.
Twelve days of intensive training in how to teach: academic sessions, confined-water skill circuits, open-water training dives, managing students, and demonstrating every skill to a professional standard. This is where a competent diver becomes a competent teacher.
The Instructor Evaluation is hosted at Bubbles and conducted by an independent SSI examiner. You're assessed in the classroom, confined water and open water. Our candidates hold a 100% first-time pass rate, and if you're the exception, the Pass Guarantee means you retrain with us for free until you pass.
What you need to start, and what you need to certify
To begin the ITC, you must:
To certify at the IE, you additionally must:
A full month, not a compressed week
Most centres run the instructor course over a week or two. We give it a full month, because the difference between passing an exam and being ready to stand in front of paying students is team teaching and shadowing our experienced instructors.
Before You Arrive
Complete the SSI digital learning at your own pace, including the Instructor Manual, Training Standards, theory review and ITC pre-test, so you arrive ready to get in the water.
The ITC
Twelve intensive days of presentations, teaching workshops, confined-water skill circuits and open-water training dives. You'll teach, receive feedback, refine your skills and teach again until professional standards become second nature.
The IE
Hosted at Bubbles by an independent SSI examiner, the Instructor Evaluation assesses your classroom, confined-water and open-water teaching. Our candidates have a 100% first-time pass rate.
Team Teaching
Certification is just the beginning. Stay on to team teach real courses, earn your Specialty Instructor ratings and gain the confidence that only comes from teaching alongside one of the world's busiest SSI Career Centres.
Your Trainer
This isn't a stat we made up. Our Platinum Instructor Trainer, Lee Rigby, certifies more professionals a year than any other trainer worldwide, by a huge margin. That's not luck. Lee runs an ITC every month, not a few times a year like most Instructor Trainers, and repetition is what separates the best from everyone else, in diving same as anywhere. He's trained every instructor working at Bubbles to the exact standard he'll hold you to. You're learning from someone who teaches instructors for a living, at a centre that only hires the instructors it produces. We wouldn't put our own name behind anyone we hadn't trained ourselves. See Lee's full profile →
ITC Dates 2026
The ITC itself runs in the middle of each month, but the full programme is designed as a complete training month. Most candidates arrive near the start of the month and stay until the end, leaving time for preparation, fun dives, the 12-day ITC, 2 day IE and post-IE team teaching.
Exact arrival and departure dates can be discussed with us. We are flexible where possible and will help you choose the timing that best fits your level, travel plans and training goals.
| ITC Start | IE / Exam |
|---|---|
| 8 Mar 2026 | 21-22 Mar |
| 12 Apr 2026 | 25-26 Apr |
| 17 May 2026 | 30-31 May |
| 14 Jun 2026 | 27-28 Jun |
| 12 Jul 2026 | 25-26 Jul |
| 9 Aug 2026 | 22-23 Aug |
| 6 Sep 2026 | 19-20 Sep |
| 3 Oct 2026 | 17-18 Oct |
| 1 Nov 2026 | 14-15 Nov |
December, January and February courses run in the Maldives, contact us for more details.
ONE PRICE, EVERYTHING IN IT
The price you agree is the price you pay. A lot of dive centres surprise you with exam fees, materials extras or accommodation bolted on at the end. We don't. Just budget separately for flights, insurance, and any missing prerequisite course.
Nothing extra.
Nothing to chase.
Accommodation, lunch, equipment hire, certification fees and IE fees are all part of your package, one arrangement, no separate costs along the way.
Nothing to pay SSI, ever
Your SSI registration and certification fees are already covered in your training.
Active with SSI through year-end
You're kept in Active status with SSI through 31 December 2026 as part of your training, no renewal for you to arrange.
FAQ
How do I become a scuba diving instructor?
Get certified as an Open Water Diver. Complete Rescue Diver and Divemaster to reach professional level. Log at least 100 dives and get your Enriched Air Nitrox certification. Complete an Instructor Training Course (ITC). Pass the independent Instructor Evaluation to earn your instructor rating.
I trained with PADI, can I cross over to SSI?
Yes. Your PADI training counts, and you can cross over to SSI from any PADI level. If you're a PADI Divemaster or another leadership-level diver, we can assess your current rating and build the right route into SSI professional training. If you're already a PADI Instructor, you're still welcome, but to become an SSI Instructor you'll need to complete the full SSI Instructor Training Course. That's not because your PADI experience gets ignored, it's because SSI runs its own teaching system, standards, digital materials and instructor evaluation process. The ITC makes sure you're fully prepared to teach the SSI way, not just certified on paper.
What can I teach once I'm certified?
As an SSI Open Water Instructor you can independently teach and certify Basic Diver, Scuba Diver, Open Water Diver, Advanced Open Water, Perfect Buoyancy, Diver Stress & Rescue, Enriched Air Nitrox and Dive Guide programmes. You can add specialty instructor ratings from there.
Let's map your route to instructor
We run Instructor Training Courses year round. Tell us where you are now in your scuba career and we'll map the pathway, prerequisites and timing to your situation.
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Address 200 Bar, Triq il-Menqa, Gozo MFN 1303
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WhatsApp +356 2702 8299
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Email info@diving-gozo.com
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Open Daily · 8:30 – 17:30