Pro Dive® International, the largest instructor development center in North America and the world's first PADI Career Development Center, has announced it will be an exhibitor at Die Boot, Germany's largest consumer dive show, to be held in Düsseldorf from 19 January through 27 January 2002 as a first step into the German dive market. In making the announcement, Pro Dive continues its international expansion, which started with the creation of Pro Dive BVI located in Tortola, British Virgin Islands earlier this year. ''The German market is the gateway to the European Union'' says Felix Huang, Chief Operating Officer of Pro Dive. ''It is a sophisticated market where German sport divers routinely look to advance their skills beyond that of an open water diver. Our facilities in Fort Lauderdale & the British Virgin Islands can and should attract the German divers looking to become professionals in the recreational diving industry. We have German instructors conducting advanced upper level courses in the German language but more importantly we have dive resorts in the, Pacific, Caribbean as well as in Latin America that are very excited with the prospect of recruiting instructors with multiple European language skills.'' The two Pro Dive locations offer some of the world's finest diving: the BVI are famous for crystal clear conditions with an average yearly water temperature of 27° and an abundance of marine life and dive sites, including the world-famous wreck of The Rhone. Ft. Lauderdale boasts North America's only living barrier reef - the same which starts in the Florida Keys - and one of the world's largest artificial reef programs - home to more than two dozen ship wrecks, all in the 18m - 40m range, as well as a number of spectacular, deeper wreck sites in the 45+m, offering ideal technical dive training. Since its establishment in 1975, Pro Dive has emerged as a recognized leader in dive training, graduating more than 300 instructors and issuing around 2500 certifications each year by its 15 full-time instructors. The Pro Dive Fast Track Career Development Program utilizes a phase curriculum, with each phase - or group of instructional programs - enabling the student to progress closer toward a career in scuba diving including Pro Dive's exclusive Resort Operations Specialist (ROSÒ) program. Developed in conjunction with dive operators worldwide, ROS combines 7 specialty instructor certifications including underwater photography; advanced dive accident management training; regulator, compressor, and cylinder inspection and maintenance; coral reef ecology; resort scuba instruction; and dive retail operations and human relations. ROS students will also enjoy internships in Pro Dive's retail and charter departments and function as student-captains and dive leaders on the boats, working with actual students and guests. In the 2002 curriculum, Technical Diving has been incorporated as well. Pro Dive's full-time Director for Job Placement assists IDC and ROS graduates in finding the right job. This is a lifetime service that we extend to our graduates and is totally free. For more information about Pro Dive's German Programs, contact Carolin Gatzke [email protected].