PADI Rescue Course
About the Course
The PADI® Rescue Diver course will change the way you dive – in the best possible way. Learn to identify and fix minor issues before they become big problems, gain a lot of confidence and have serious fun along the way.
Discover why countless divers say Rescue Diver is their favorite scuba course.
What You'll Learn
-Fix minor gear issues
-Use an emergency oxygen kit
Certification Requirements
Adventure Diver/Junior Adventure Diver (or qualifying certification) with completed Underwater Navigation Dive; EFR Primary and Secondary Care training (or qualifying training) within 24 months
PADI eLearning: 8-12 hours. Entire course: 4-7 days
12 years or older
Good physical health
How to Become a Rescue Diver
Learn how to think like a rescue diver through home study and skill practice with an instructor. All PADI courses are flexible and performance-based. You'll practice basic rescue skills and then show you can effectively apply them in open water.
Step 1
PADI eLearning
Online learning makes it easy to fit scuba lessons into a busy schedule. Complete the knowledge development section of your course whenever, wherever it's convenient for you.
Work at your own pace, online or offline, using a computer or mobile device. Connect with your instructor for in-water training, or whenever you have a question.
- eLearning time commitment: 8-12 hours
Step 2
With Your Instructor
The water training sessions are serious fun. You'll practice handling scenarios such as a leg cramp and assisting a tired diver by role-playing with other students and your instructor. Total time commitment: 4-7 days.
Scuba diving requires a minimum level of health and fitness. Chronic health conditions, certain medications and/or recent surgery may require you to get written approval from a physician before diving.
Avoid disappointment, download and review the Diver Medical form to ensure you won’t need a physician’s approval to dive before enrolling in a scuba course. Instructors, divemasters, and dive shop staff are not physicians and should not be asked for medical advice; only medical professionals can give medical clearance to dive.
If you (or your physician) have questions about medical fitness to dive, contact the experts at Divers Alert Network (DAN).
The skills and confidence you'll gain in the PADI Rescue Diver course prepare you to take the first step towards a scuba career and/or achieve the most elite rating in recreational diving. As a certified Rescue Diver (18 years or older), you can enroll in the PADI Divemaster course.
Upon completion, you can work anywhere in the world there's water: assisting with classes, leading dives, working on a liveaboard. A PADI Rescue Diver certification is also a prerequisite to enrolling in the Public Safety Diver™ course. This intense and challenging program comes with great rewards. If the programs above don't interest you, consider becoming a PADI Master Scuba Diver™. Fewer than 2 percent of divers ever achieve this elite rating. As a certified Rescue Diver, you only need five specialty certifications and 50 logged dives to become a Master Scuba Diver™.