The mentors, the influencers of the dive industry, the icons who will teach you how to be successful in the dive industry as a professional.

Why taking the IDC in Cebu with Course Director Darwin Bawasanta and Christophe Pace and become a PADI Instructor is your best decision.
CD Darwin
CD Christophe

Meet Course Director Darwin Bawasanta

A not so classic case of trading corporate boardrooms to IDC classrooms, Darwin is not your typical instructor turned course director. In fact, he built a career in business management, hopping from one start up company to another. He helps companies build their operations in the Philippines from scratch. He is the epitome of accomplishing and earning the highest spot in an organization where he belongs. That is without cutting corners or stepping on anyone’s toes.

His Story

In 1999, he had the chance to take up scuba diving. He was lucky because his instructor was a course director. Right there and then, he knew that he will be a course director someday by following his instructor’s footstep. However, his career as an executive put his dive career on the side track until he finally got the opportunity to take his IDC with Christophe in Phuket, Thailand. That is how their friendship started. Darwin is actively teaching all levels of scuba training. He is continuously seeking more knowledge, skills and experience by working and training with various course directors. By running IDCs in different places in the Philippines or taking new courses. Developing leaders is not new to Darwin so becoming a course director himself and conducting his own IDC was the next logical step in his career.

His Current Role

He is the founder of Dive Funatics, he focuses on attracting more people to scuba dive and to become marine conservation activists. Darwin runs IDC in Cebu and in a few places in the Philippines. He selflessly imparts his genuine knowledge and experience in making one more attractive and more marketable as an instructor.

A Radical Philosophy

While others teach IDC to pass or beat the IE, at Dive Funatics, passing the IE is only a natural consequence because Darwin teaches the instructor development course properly and thoroughly. Instructor Exam (IE) is merely a validation, not a means to an end. If you are looking to get the most out of your time and money, if you wanted to learn more than just how to teach the PADI courses, then you come to the right place.

Some of his PADI Awards

  • Silver PADI Course Director
  • Elite Instructor 2016 to 2019

His Diving Qualifications

  • PADI Course Director 
  • EFR Instructor Trainer
  • PADI Specialty Instructor Trainer in more than 15 areas:
    • Care For Children
    • Aware Coral Reef Conservation
    • Project Aware
    • Peak Performance Buoyancy
    • Aware Dive Against Debris
    • Emergency O2 Provider
    • Deep
    • Digital Underwater Photography
    • Enriched Air Nitrox
    • Night
    • Search & Recovery
    • Wreck
    • Sidemount
    • Self Reliant
    • Full Face Mask
    • Delayed SMB

Meet Course Director Christophe Pace

Over 30 years ago, Christophe took his first breath underwater in Europe and since that day, diving became his passion. Before taking a radical career change to work full time in the diving industry, he was working as an International Observer for the United Nations (UNDP), in countries such as Mozambique, Cambodia and South Africa. This is where he got involved in the implementation of civil education programs, teaching local people how to conduct, organize elections and implementation of Human Rights. At the time, they were two things that he was most passionate about – Teaching and diving. So his decision to pursue both passions was made possible by becoming a PADI Instructor, a Scuba Diving Instructor.

According to Christophe, in his own words…

“Working in the diving industry certainly was one of the best decision I have ever done in my life. My PADI Instructor card took me to marvelous places around the world. Beautiful places such as: Mexico, Australia, Europe, Belize, Honduras, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Tunisia, USA California, Egypt, The Philippines, Malaysia, Sipadan, Indonesia, The Maldives, Vietnam, Thailand and all over Europe. During all these years I have made contacts all over the world. These contacts are precious for IDC candidates Diving Internship/Career packages candidates, Scuba Diving Instructor students looking for a Job.”
In 2000, Christophe became a PADI Course Director. He did his Course Director Training Course (CDTC) at PADI Headquarters in California. From that time he has concentrated on teaching PADI Instructor Level courses and supervising Professional Internship programs. Because of his dedication to teaching, he continues to receive prestigious awards from PADI until now. Christophe is the only PADI Course Director in the world is awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Instructor Development four (4) times. This award is the most sough after recognition for many Course Directors.

Some of his PADI Awards

  • Recipient of the most prestigious Outstanding Contribution to Instructor Development for the year 2001, 2002, 2010, and 2016.
  • Platinum PADI Course Director (From 2008 – 2018)
  • 2011 One Certificate of Recognition for Excellence
  • 2010 Four Certificates of Recognition for Excellence
  • 2008 Two Certificates of Recognition for Excellence
  • 2003 Certificate of Recognition for Excellence
  • 2005 Finalist in the PADI Asia Pacific Member Awards for Diver Training

His Diving Qualifications

  • PADI Course Director year 2000 – Headquarter in California, USA
  • Medic First Aid Instructor Trainer in 2000
  • Emergency First Response Trainer year 2002.
  • PADI Specialty Instructor Trainer in more than 20 areas: Care for children, Aware Coral Reef Conservation. Boat, Care For Children, Deep, Digital Underwater Photography, DPV, Drift, DSAT Gas Blender Nitrox and Trimix, EANx, Fish ID, Multi Level, Night Diver, Distinctive Oxygen First Aid, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Project Aware, Search & Recovery, Underwater Naturalist, Underwater Navigation, Wreck, Dry suit..
  • Sidemount Instructor Trainer
  • PADI Self Reliant (solo diver)
  • PADI Nitrox Instructor Trainer
  • DAN Oxygen Instructor Trainer year 2000
  • TDI Advanced Nitrox Diver and Decompression theory year 1997
  • CMAS 2 Star Instructor
  • ANMP N4
Believe it or not, he continues to log his dives and has logged 5030 dives to date, issued 4890 certifications, and 3,000 of which are instructor level certifications! Instructor development is not just about passing the IE but more importantly, being able to teach courses well and thoroughly. Most of the time, serious candidates spend a good amount of time researching and finding the most suitable Course Directors to train with. Dive Funatics is lucky and privileged to have Christophe as its Course Director! If you are looking to do your PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC), look no further. We have the best deal, flexible schedules, wide range of specialty instructor courses to offer, tropical weather in a highly urbanized city, and with a multi-awarded, well respected, 10 year in a row Platinum Course Director one can have as a mentor and trainer.