3 reasons to do PADI Rescue diver certification

The PADI Rescue diver certification is one of the most rewarding PADI certifications I have done so far. The course is designed to help boost confidence among the divers by preparing the divers for emergency situations. I feel I learned a lot during this course.

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What is PADI Rescue Diver course?

The PADI Rescue diver course is designed for helping the divers to deal with scuba diving emergencies. It teaches the divers with self rescue and rescuing and managing any diving emergencies that may occur during the diving trips. The Rescue diver is the third level certification after the Advanced level certification, just before the professional step of Dive Master course.

The course mainly covers the below topics:

Self rescue.
Emergency management and maintaining equipment.
Scenario based rescues (panicked, unresponsive, missing divers).
Exits and towing.
Dive accident scenarios and skill improvements.

PADI means Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) is a diver training organisation founded in the year 1966. The organisation provides a range of scuba diving certifications.

Requirements for the course

In order to do the PADI Rescue diver course, one needs to complete the below pre-requisites:

Minimum age of 12 years.
Be at least PADI Open Water certified or equivalent.
Emergency First Response (CPR and First Aid) training in the last 24 months. The dive centres do offer these training along with the Rescue course, but they are more expensive. I looked for deals on Groupon website and did the course for a cheaper price.
At least 20 logged dives.
Dive medical if the diver has an underlying medical condition specified in PADI Medical assessment.

What does the course entail?

The Rescue diver course is an intense and challenging course but is surely worth and rewarding. The course is divided into three parts.

Self study theory lessons – The theory includes information on various emergency situations, equipment used for rescue and the types of rescues. It also includes the search patterns and various scenario based emergencies such as unresponsive or missing divers. This is a self study on the PADI Library website.
Final exam – An objective based exam testing the knowledge learned in the theory lessons. The exam involves 50 questions and the student needs at least 75% correct answers to clear the exam. The exam is easy if you read the theory lessons well and understand the concepts.
Scenario based practical course – The practical course is spread across a span of 1.5 days where the instructor tests the students providing real life situations and assessing them on how the emergencies are conducted. This is the most amazing part of the course and I surely had a lot of fun.

3 reasons why you should do Rescue diver course

There are many reasons why one must do the PADI Rescue diver course. As I mentioned earlier, the course increases the confidence among the divers and prepare them for any unforeseen situations. However, below are the three main reasons why I think a diver needs to do the Rescue course

Preparation for any emergency based scenario

The course assess the students on various emergency situations. The situations include scenarios where a diver finds another diver who is panicked or unresponsive. And the course prepares the divers for handling such situations.

Makes a diver a better buddy

The Rescue diver course builds up confidence in divers and due to which they become better scuba buddies. The divers after getting certified start looking out for any situations that can cause emergencies and start looking out for their buddies. It builds up awareness among divers.

Navigation skills

The course prepares the divers to have better navigation skills. The course teaches the divers with search patterns and how to navigate underwater to find missing divers or things.

Diving at Little Manly beach

The practical lessons for the Rescue Diver course was conducted at the Little Manly beach. Little Manly beach is located within the Little Manly Cove. Even though we had a lot of fun on the course, the diving at Little Manly beach was not that great. The visibility was horrible and I hardly saw any marine life.

I was informed that there is an octopus in the area that hangs out and the divers have seen it many times.

Little Manly Beach – View on Google Maps

The Little Manly Beach has a cafe. The cafe is open over the weekends and is a good place to buy lunch during the course. They accept cash and credit/ debit cards for payments.

The beach is quite busy and is famous among the families so ensure to give your lunch order well in advance.

There are also toilets and showers at the beach.

Dive Centre

Dive Centre: Dive Centre Manly.
Address: 10 Belgrave St, Manly NSW 2095.

Dive Centre Manly – View on Google Maps

Cost: The Rescue diver course cost me AUD 495, includes the theory and practical lessons.
- Dive Centre Manly has a membership that costs AUD 100. Once you become a member, there are discounts for doing hiring the equipment.
Equipment: The equipment can be hired and the hiring of equipment (full gear for 2 days) cost me AUD 75 (for members).
- Note: I paid an extra AUD 55 for the pocket mask that is required for practical course.
Booking: On their website. The booking is easy and the equipment hire can is selected at their shop on the day of dive.

Brenda was my instructor for two days. She was very knowledgeable and very chilled out during the course. I did learn a lot and had a great time learning from Brenda.

Closing Notes

For information on the scuba diving terminologies, refer Scuba diving this or that post.

I hope I can be a better diver now as I have completed my Rescue diver course. The confidence has definitely increased and I did observe that on the dive I did after my course. That was the first time I was looking for my buddy often and was very calm while diving.