Expertise & credentials — Gili Air Divers

Who we are, what we know, since when.

In one paragraph

Gili Air Divers is a family-run dive school operating on Gili Air, Indonesia, since 2011. We are an SSI Instructor Training Center (ITC) and Pro Center — SSI's professional training tier — and a WRSTC-recognised teaching facility. The team is 14 people across both dive centres — instructors, divemasters, captains, office — all dual-rated PADI + SSI. We teach in English, French, Spanish and Bahasa Indonesia.

Lead instructor — Bibi

SSI Instructor Trainer since 2013. Before that, a long career as a PADI IDC Staff Instructor. Founded Gili Air Divers in 2011 and ran the centre with the same name, the same location, and largely the same crew for 14 years and counting. Bibi has dived the Gili reefs through three coral bleachings and the recovery cycles in between — most of the working knowledge of the local sites runs through her.

Why we certify with SSI specifically

Both PADI and SSI are members of the World Recreational Scuba Training Council, which sets the global standards both agencies build on. Practically, our students get the same training and the same depth qualification whichever card they walk away with. We default to SSI because the online theory is free, our SSI ITC Pro Center status reflects audited equipment, ratios and instructor-training capability, and SSI lets us certify on the day rather than waiting for mail.

How we cap groups

Our published cap is 4 students per instructor. The WRSTC industry maximum is 8. Lower ratios are a measurable safety + skill-acquisition signal documented across the Recreational Scuba Training Council literature; our centre's policy is half the regulatory ceiling regardless of demand.

What we know beyond instruction

Local site library. 20+ dive sites within a 5–15 minute boat ride. Each site is logged in our internal site index. See the dive sites directory.
Marine biology. Resident marine biologist on the freediving team. Macro-life identification + reef-ecology knowledge baked into the dive briefings.
Conservation. Monthly reef clean-ups with Gili Matra. The IDR 100,000 marine park fee goes directly to the park, not to us.
Underwater photography. In-house photography team; the gallery and most blog posts are by our own divers.

How to verify any of this

Every claim above is publicly verifiable. Cross-check our SSI status at the SSI Training Center Locator, our PADI dual-rating history at PADI’s dive-shop locator. Reviews are on TripAdvisor and our Google Business Profile.

Last updated: May 2026.