THAILAND - PHUKET IDC - PADI COURSE DIRECTOR

WHO IS - ALAIN BARRAT?

I’m also called «Cacao» and I’m born in Couvet, in the French part of Switzerland. I began diving at the age of eight during my holiday and the first time, I was searching for my sense of direction, lying down on my back to the floor of a swimming pool since the tank, made with steel, was considerably higher and heavier than I was. My parents couldn’t imagine at this time that I was, fortunately since, going to learn how to use a compass and almost never leave this element.

“A Swiss, scuba diving instructor, what! a joke, they don't have any sea!” And for Alinghi was it another one?

I became PADI Instructor in 1998 and since have trained over 600 divers at non professional level. I only became PADI Course Director in 2005 however I have conducted many successful IDCs as Senior IDC Staff. I have been involved since 2001, up to today, in the training of over 400 PADI professionals at all levels.

I had the chance to dive in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Atlantic, in the Caribbean, the Pacific and of course in our good, old Neuchâtel Lake. During the last ten years I dived extensively throughout the Andaman Sea as instructor during liveaboards and daytrips here in Phuket. I have been involved in the Instructional development and management of a 5-Stars IDC centre for four years, prior to focus in 2002, on the Instructor Development Courses (IDC). This has given him a large network of dive centres and liveaboards, useful for those of you that will be looking for a job after the IE.

I will also give you considerable information, useful, to succeed in your career and new lifestyle as a scuba diving Instructor. Why? Because I had the chance to follow a training, to work as Tender and Operator in hyperbaric chamber, since 2001, and I will give you the chance to see how this work. I will, in the near future, follow a DMT Diving Medical Technician course, which is going to allow me to teach another speciality for people who are more interested in Decompression Sickness and chambers. I will start TEC diving but before that time…..I will need to make some IDC.

I speak and teache as well in English as in French and I’m the only Course Directors in Thailand that can teaches the complete IDC in French. This year I will get back to German and will learn Spanish in order to open doors to other persons and who knows…

My running talents, for creativity and instruction in scuba diving, made it possible for me to be known by many Divemasters and Instructors from all over the world from whom I received many recommendations. Below you can see few comments from former IDC candidates….

«Throughout the course, Alain worked hard to ensure that I gained the very best from the course possible. Alain's combination between a serious approach of training Instructors to go far beyond the IE and a deep sense of humour make him an excellent teacher. Alain is an eager learner and he instils that desire to keep learning in all he teaches. Good luck to him and may he have every success in the job he obviously loves.»

IDC Candidate from the UK / PADI Certificate of Recognition for Excellence

«The course was very intensive in order to prepare us for real life and the IE. It was very challenging and at sometimes I wondered If I ever going to pass. Alain was so helpful and so professional throughout the IDC, he made me feel at ease and I learned so much about his own teaching styles: clear, precise, very informative and really specific on the real world application.»

IDC Candidate from the US

«We also saw how Alain was passionate to teach our IDC and using creativity to help people with learning disability. He is strict and we had to repeat and repeat the exercises until he was perfectly satisfied. Everybody liked him even when we sometimes complained about his (Swiss) perfectionism.»

IDC candidate’s couple from Switzerland.

«He has the patience, compassion and ability to help many students getting through the program. Once of his biggest assets is his fairness, sense of humour and easy going personality, all important for being an educator.»

IDC Staff Instructor.