ITW Israel: Meet the Instructor Trainers!

We’re excited to introduce the participants from one of our Instructor Trainer Workshops in Israel. From favorite dive sites and marine animals to professional diving goals and teaching philosophies, get to know this group of professionals and hear about their takeaways from the program.

Amir Aharonovich

Amir started diving at age 17 and became an instructor at 22. He has worked in Australia and the Philippines and has been diving in in Thailand, India, Japan, and Egypt.

His favorite international dive site is Sinai with its steep reef wall, and his favorite local site in Eilat is The Amphitheater at 42m.

He enjoys teaching the Deep Diver specialty course most because it opens the gate to technical diving. When Amir isn’t teaching or tech diving, he can be found pursuing his bachelor’s degree in marine biology!

His favorite part of the Instructor Trainer Workshop is that it equipped him with new teaching tools and brought SDI Instructors from different dive centers in the area closer together.

Gal Mor

Gal caught the diving bug quickly, earning his Open Water certification at age 22 and working his way to the Instructor level shortly after. He has spent time in the Andaman Islands and Mexico, and has also been diving in Cyrpus, Egypt, and Belize.

He enjoys diving Sinai because of the stunning diversity of marine life (sea turtles are a favorite!) and breathtaking coral walls.

He loves to teach Open Water courses for the opportunity to shape how a person will dive. Likewise, teaching instructor courses gives him an opportunity to shape how a person will teach. His big takeaway from the Instructor Trainer Workshop was developing a better grasp on using technology and presentations in teaching.

Iuliia Fomina

Iuliia started diving in 2010 when she lived in Vietnam, and has since gained diving experience in Mexico, Columbia, San Andres, Egypt, and Cyprus.

Her favorite dives have been with bull sharks in Mexico, but she enjoys teaching Wreck Diver and Night Diver specialties, and looks forward to pursuing tech training.

She worked through the challenge of language barriers during the ITW but achieved success and enjoyed the professional atmosphere throughout the workshop.

When Iuliia isn’t under the water, you can find her teaching windsurfing on the surface!

Margos Aslanian

Margos earned his Open Water certification all the way through his professional instructor ratings through Manta Diving Center in Eilat. He knew from the first time he saw a dolphin that diving would become his passion and profession!

Open Water courses are his favorite to teach because he loves growing the diving community. Margos is also a passionate amateur underwater photographer with sea turtles and divers making up his favorite photography subjects. He looks forward to managing a dive center and exploring more of the world!

Ofir Hameiri

Ofir started to dive at the age 21. At the age of 24 he was involved in a motorbike accident, and his left leg was amputated. Ofir loved diving and went back to the water two years after the amputation. His first dive with one leg was a horrible, terrifying experience. Instead of giving in, he decided to overcome his fear, accept the challenge, and reach beyond. He registered for the Divemaster course and passed the Instructor exam two years later. He dived in the Maldives, Australia, Thailand, and Egypt. Seahorses and eagle rays are his favorite marine creatures.

He looks forward to teaching the next generation of scuba instructors, along with some open circuit and CCR tech divers while he’s at it.

Raz Paz

Raz currently manages the Red Sea Lucky Divers Dive Center in Eilat. His favorite local dive site is the ‘Satil’ shipwreck but his most memorable dives were in Japan with the manta rays. He has worked as an instructor in Egypt, India, Andaman, Mexico, Thailand, and Japan.

He enjoys teaching Open Water courses with the philosophy ‘I like to take a tank with two legs to the water and make it a diver’.

Reuven Cohen

Reuven grew up without any access to or experience of the sea and did not know how to swim before becoming a diver. He pursued his first dive course in 2013 after his military service and never looked back.

Much of his diving has been in the Philippines; he loves the sharks in that area! His favorite site in Eilat is the Coral Beach Nature Resort Red Sea.

One of his professional diving goals is to bring diving to people who have no access to the sea and watersports, similar to how he grew up.

Ilan Berkovich (ITE)

Ilan has been with the International Training family for 20+ years, attended his Instructor Trainer Workshop in 2011, and became an Instructor Trainer Evaluator (ITE) in 2013.

He has an extensive background in public safety, research, and technical diving and is even volunteering as team commander for a national underwater rescue unit and doing all their training.

Ilan hopes to keep doing what he loves for as long as he can!

Ariel Auslander (IT and Regional Manager)

Ariel is an Instructor Trainer and International Training Regional Manager for Israel and Jordan. He started diving at just 14 years old and has since dived all over the world.

He started his instructor training when he got out of the army and fell in love with tech diving shortly after. He stays passionate about the industry by teaching the next generation of trainers. You can also find him sailing or flying!

Well done to all those involved in the program! Learn more about Instructor Trainer Workshops and view all prerequisites along with the upcoming schedule here.

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