Tony Farr - Training Officer

PADI IDC Staff Instructor #402181
EFR Instructor #402181

Tony is a passionate PADI IDC Staff Instructor and enthusiastic scuba educator. He is also an 'Adaptive Techniques' instructor.

PADI Adaptive Techniques Instructors are PADI professionals who have received additional training that builds on PADI's inclusive approach to allow them to adapt to student-centred and prescriptive approaches when adapting techniques to meet diver's needs.

Tony not only enjoys diving in the UK but also in warmer waters, whether it be wreck diving in Malta or Egypt or marine life around the world, Tony has dived with sharks, rays and an abundant of different species of fish in locations like Italy, Turkey and most of the Canary Islands.

First and foremost though, Tony is a family man. A Husband, father and grandfather to several grandchildren.

Tony's Story

Tony’s scuba diving journey began back in 2010 whilst he was on holiday in Cyprus. Bored of the all-inclusive routine, eating and drinking; he was hungry for a bit of an adventure...

He suggested to one of his friends that they enquire about scuba diving at the local dive centre, his friend was game to give it a go and so they found themselves at Marine Divers and before they knew it, they'd signed up to a PADI Open Water Diver course.

From that moment the holiday turned into a 'diving holiday'... the run of the mill routine of sitting on the beach or by the swimming pool was gone, as was the boredom!

The first task was to read the PADI Open Water manual, learn the theory and pass the exam. Tony absorbed everything he read, fascinated by the physics and physiology involved. then came the confined water training as he leaned and mastered all the basic skills needed for scuba diving. And then came his first open water dives and those first ever breaths underwater!

That was it, he was hooked.

And not content with gaining his PADI Open Water certification, he immediately signed up for his Advanced Open Water course and started reading the manual for that whilst still on holiday! Five more dives and his life was forever transformed, Tony was now a scuba diver for life!

Once back in the UK Tony felt he needed to further his journey into scuba diving, he had the bug and went looking for a local club to join and enrolled on a Rescue Diver course!

Tony then started working for a new company in the power industry as an EC&I (electrical controls and instrument technician) where he met a fellow diver who was also an Instructor for PADI. Here the next chapter for Tony's scuba diving journey began, he was thrust into the challenge of becoming a PADI 'Divemaster'. A year of intense training ensued and he finally achieved what he thought would be his final position on the diving ladder, how wrong he was...

Despite reaching the enviable achievement of becoming a PADI Divemaster, Tony still felt he needed to progress further up the professional ladder in order to quench his thirst for scuba diving. This meant he had to commit fully to the professional level and become an instructor.

Tony committed himself to an IDC (Instructor Development Course) and hit the books once again as he brushed up his knowledge in preparation for the 5 instructor grade exams that he would need to pass. He honed his Divemaster presentation quality skills and ensured he was well prepared in all areas in readiness for the I.E. (Instructor Exam) and the presentations needed in order to successfully become a PADI Open Water Instructor.

The date was set... Tony was booked on to a PADI IDC and I.E.

It is no easy achievement becoming a PADI Open Water instructor, it takes an enormous commitment and a huge amount of work in preparation and it is profoundly stressful, and yet incredibly rewarding at the same time. Tony, like many others, made some lifelong friends whilst undertaking his instructor journey.

Tony achieved his dream and became a fully fledged PADI Open Water Instructor on the 6th of May 2018.

Since completing his PADI IDC and I.E. Tony has gone on to become an MSDT Instructor and he then completed his PADI IDC Staff Instructor course, consequently, Tony will soon achieve the ultimate goal of becoming a PADI Master Instructor!

Tony has also undertaken specialist training and become an Adaptive Techniques Instructor and can train people to scuba dive with various disabilities, both physical and mental. He is able to adapt the program to suit the individual(s) and thus remove any potential barriers to the sport for those individuals who, arguably, would benefit the most from the therapy that being immersed in the aquatic realm can offer.

Tony is also a member of the SAA (Sub-Aqua Association) and along the way has completed various servicing and technician courses that allow him to strip down and service various makes of scuba diving regulator, he is also a PADI equipment specialist.

Tony Farr backwards rolls off a RHIB into the ocean.

For his 'day job' Tony works full-time on power stations and at present is based at Avonmouth, near Bristol. His job role is electrical, as a controls and instrumentation engineer. He is frequently 'on-call' and often finds himself being called away to random parts of the UK to deal with powerstation failures of various sorts.

Tony is a family man, he has several grandchildren and hopes to teach them how to scuba dive when they are older, he's keen to make them all divers and keep scuba diving in the family.

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