Specialty Instructor Ratings Worth Adding to Your Resume

Specialty Instructor ratings let you teach beyond the core Open Water curriculum, and picking the right ones early in your career can shape both your teaching skill and your job prospects. A few consistently stand out as strong first choices. Enriched Air (Nitrox) is often the easiest and most widely requested, since many recreational divers want it soon after certification. Deep Diver and Wreck Diver build on skills instructors use constantly and tend to attract enthusiastic, motivated students. Digital Underwater Photography is popular with travelling divers and pairs well with a centre's social media and marketing efforts. Rescue-adjacent specialties, like Search and Recovery, deepen the safety-focused skills that make you a stronger instructor across every course you teach, not just the specialty itself. Beyond the immediate demand, each specialty you add also counts toward Master Scuba Diver Trainer status, so there is a compounding benefit to building a well-rounded set rather than picking only the most popular ones. Choose specialties that genuinely interest you - that enthusiasm comes through in how you teach them.