Hi JB,

Kristi went through this a while back, she wants to travel on an international basis over the next few years and was advised to go through Surfing Australia as the instruction qualification and she also did the surf judging qualification both are recognised globally.

When she qualified it took her only 1 day to find local continuous part time employment as a surf / SUP coach and lots of options to teach overseas if she wants to.

With Surfing Australia you need to complete both the Surfing Instructors Course Surf Bronze, Level 2 First Aide and the SUP Surfing and or SUP Flat Water modules and practical hours depending on what you want to teach.

Phill

I took my instructor qualification several years ago and went though ASI and found it to be a very well presented and thorough course.

At the time if you wanted to take the course through Surfing Australia, you had to have done the surfing instructor course first, which seemed slightly irrelevant if your only teaching SUP on flat water (which is where all learners would start).

Plus, none of the surfing schools where teaching SUP at the time, so again, why put in all the hours with a surfing school to get your surfing instructor course only to switch to SUP and leave that all behind?

Looking at the Surfing Australia website again, it looks as though you can now skip the surfing instructor course and go straight to the SUP instructor course, but I could be wrong there.

Surfing Australian have a stand alone all inclusive SUP level 1 Flat water coach qualification. 2 day theory & practical course.
An addition 20 hours coaching under supervision, Apply First Aid, plus APOLOA or equivalent ocean rescue award is required. Surfing Australia conduct a 'working with chidren' check upon completion. The course is ISA and Federal Sports Commission recognised.
Best to check out the Surfing Australia website for correct details and official requirements. Hope that helps.