SSI Open Water Instructor Course
SSI Open Water Instructor is the highest professional certification in the Lead / Pro pathway at Tom’s. OWI certification authorizes independent instruction: certifying Open Water divers, teaching continuing education courses, and working as a dive professional with full SSI standing worldwide. Requires Divemaster, Assistant Instructor, and completion of the Instructor Training Course (ITC). Contact Tom’s to discuss the path.
Availability: Contact us for booking information
You Do Not Just Want to Dive. You Want to Be the Reason Someone Else Does.
SSI Open Water Instructor is the highest professional certification in the Lead / Pro pathway at Tom’s. It is the credential that authorizes independent instruction: the ability to certify Open Water divers, teach continuing education courses, and develop the next generation of divers with full professional responsibility.
Instructor certification at Tom’s requires completing the Instructor Training Course (ITC). The ITC is a multi-day comprehensive evaluation conducted by an SSI Instructor Trainer. Getting there requires Divemaster, Assistant Instructor, and a formal application and assessment process. Contact Tom’s to talk about the full path.
Open Water Instructor at a Glance
| Certification | SSI Open Water Instructor (OWI) |
| Price | Contact Tom’s for pricing |
| Format | Instructor Training Course (ITC) conducted by an SSI Instructor Trainer · Multi-day intensive evaluation and training |
| Pool | Tom’s 91°F heated indoor pool · 5909 Burnet Rd, Austin TX |
| Prerequisites | SSI Divemaster · SSI Assistant Instructor · Minimum logged dives per SSI Instructor standards · Tom’s recommendation and application |
| What it enables | Independent instruction of Open Water Diver courses · Instruction of continuing education specialty courses · Certification of students with full professional authority |
| Enrollment | By application and assessment. Talk to Tom’s before you begin. |
| Beyond OWI | Open Water Instructor enables further SSI instructor ratings: Specialty Instructor, Dive Guide Instructor, Master Instructor, and Instructor Trainer pathways are available to qualified instructors. |
The Path to Instructor Starts Long Before the ITC.
If you are considering instructor certification, start the conversation now. The path involves Divemaster, Assistant Instructor, real teaching experience, and our personal recommendation. Call Tom’s to talk through where you are and what the realistic path looks like.
Call (512) 451-3425 →What Readiness Looks Like for Instructor Certification
The ITC evaluates whether you are ready to independently certify other divers. That is a significant responsibility, and the prerequisites reflect it:
Step 1 completed.
Divemaster is required before AI and before OWI. If you have not yet completed DM, that is the starting point. See Divemaster.
Step 2 completed.
AI certification is required before the ITC. Teaching experience at the AI level is what prepares you for the evaluation standards the ITC demands. See Assistant Instructor.
Actual time in front of students.
SSI ITC candidates need genuine teaching experience before the course. At Tom’s, AI candidates who work with our instruction team build that experience before the ITC is recommended. This is not something to rush.
We know you before we recommend you.
Instructor certification from Tom’s carries our name behind it. We formally recommend candidates for the ITC based on demonstrated capability. That relationship starts long before the ITC application.
The Scope of Open Water Instructor Certification
Certify Open Water divers independently
OWI certification authorizes you to independently plan, conduct, and complete SSI Open Water Diver certification: academics, pool sessions, open water checkout dives, and issuing the certification. No supervising instructor required.
Teach CE specialty courses
SSI OWI enables instruction of a broad range of continuing education specialty courses with appropriate specialty instructor ratings. Tom’s offers a comprehensive CE catalog, and instructors who teach here contribute to the full range.
Work in the dive industry
OWI is the baseline professional certification for most dive industry employment: resort dive operations, liveaboards, dive shops, and certification-based programs. SSI OWI is recognized at dive operations worldwide.
The foundation for further professional development
OWI enables pursuit of SSI Specialty Instructor, Dive Guide Instructor, Master Instructor, and ultimately Instructor Trainer ratings. The professional development pathway continues beyond OWI for those who want to go further.
Open Water Instructor in the Lead / Pro Pathway
Dive Guide
Non-professional leadership. Lead dives without professional certification.
Divemaster
First professional certification. Lead certified divers commercially.
Asst. Instructor
Teach under a certified instructor. Direct path to ITC and OWI.
OW Instructor
Full teaching authority. Certify divers. Teach CE. Work professionally worldwide.
See the Lead / Pro pathway for the full picture.
The instructors who come through Tom’s professional development program are people we know. We have watched them dive, watched them teach, and made a personal judgment about their readiness before recommending them for the ITC. That is not the norm in professional certification programs. At Tom’s, it is the standard.
Forty-plus years of instructor development.
Tom’s has been training SSI instructors in Austin since 1982. The professional development program here has a track record that spans four decades and more than 18,000 certified divers.
SSI credentials issued by the only SSI center in Austin.
Tom’s is the only SSI Dive Center in Austin. Instructor certification earned here carries the SSI standard and the backing of a shop that has been Austin’s SSI center for its entire history in Austin.
Train in a real teaching environment.
Instructor candidates at Tom’s develop alongside 30 or more active SSI-certified instructors. That professional environment is rare and genuinely prepares candidates for the ITC and for independent instruction.
Divemaster through Instructor without changing shops.
Tom’s supports the full Lead / Pro pathway. Dive Guide, Divemaster, Assistant Instructor, and Open Water Instructor are all developed here, by the same team, with continuity throughout your professional development.
We follow DAN dive safety protocols.
Tom’s follows Divers Alert Network (DAN) safety standards and recommends DAN dive accident insurance for every certified diver. Safety is not a checkbox on our website. It is the foundation of how Tom’s has operated since 1982.
Frequently Asked Questions
The ITC is the SSI evaluation and training event that certifies candidates as Open Water Instructors. It is conducted by an SSI Instructor Trainer and typically runs over several days. It covers teaching theory, pool skill demonstrations to instructor standard, watermanship skills, academic presentation, and open water instruction. Candidates are formally evaluated and must meet SSI standards in every component. Tom’s supports ITC candidates through the preparation process and coordinates the ITC with an SSI Instructor Trainer.
Yes. Many SSI instructors teach as a passion rather than a primary career. If you want to teach at Tom’s as a volunteer or part-time instructor, contribute to the local diving community, or simply reach the highest level of SSI professional development because you love the sport, instructor certification is open to qualified candidates with those goals. The path and the standards are the same regardless of career intent.
The path from Divemaster through AI to OWI typically takes one to two years for candidates who train consistently. Rushed timelines produce instructors who are technically certified but not genuinely ready. Tom’s supports candidates on a timeline that reflects real development, not minimum requirements.
Call us at (512) 451-3425 to discuss your current certification and experience. Tom’s can often work with candidates who completed earlier steps elsewhere, but we do need to know your background and form our own judgment about readiness before recommending anyone for the ITC.