€380 · Requires Advanced Open Water
The course that teaches you to respond to an emergency
Rescue Diver is the step after Advanced Open Water: it stops being only about your own safety underwater and becomes about the people you dive with too.
Rescue Diver does not add depth or new diving environments — what it adds is judgement. You learn to spot a problem before it becomes serious, to act if a buddy struggles or tires on the surface, and to organise a rescue if it comes to that. It is the certification after which most divers notice they start reading the water differently.
What is required to enrol
Two requirements, by PADI standard: holding Advanced Open Water (or an equivalent certification from another agency) and having completed first aid and CPR training — PADI calls it EFR, Primary and Secondary Care — within the last 24 months. If you have not done it, it can be taken alongside the Rescue course.
What the course involves
It combines confined water exercises — simulated panicked diver, unresponsive diver at the surface and underwater, tows, and exits — with several open water scenarios that bring them together in a more realistic situation. There is theory, but the weight of the course is in practice, repeated until the response is automatic.
- First aid and CPR (EFR), if not already completed.
- Rescue exercises in confined water, one per scenario.
- Open water rescue scenarios, combining several exercises in sequence.
- Rescue Diver certification: the prerequisite for Divemaster, for anyone who wants to continue.
What is included in the price
- Full kit: wetsuit, jacket, regulator, tank and weights
- First aid materials for the practical sessions
- Insurance
- Instructor throughout the course, theory and practice
- PADI Rescue Diver certification on completion
If you do not yet hold Advanced Open Water, that is the step before this one — walls, navigation and the rest of the specialty dives.
See Advanced Open WaterWhat you take away from Rescue Diver
You know how to react, not just prevent
The course trains the response to real problems: panic, exhaustion, an unresponsive diver.
A step towards Divemaster
It is the prerequisite if you ever want to move on to professional levels.
Personalised training
Small groups, with the instructor focused on every exercise and every student.
Practised in your real scenario
The scenarios are set up in the same conditions you will actually dive in, in the Mediterranean.
How it is arranged
What you decide and what the calendar decides.
Confirm you hold Advanced (or the EFR)
If you are missing the EFR, it can be taken alongside Rescue.
Dates get fixed
The centre tells you which days are free and how much notice it needs.
Confined water, exercise by exercise
Each scenario is practised separately before combining them.
Open water scenarios
The exercises come together in a more realistic scenario, and that earns the certification.
Before and after Rescue Diver
Where you come in and what is around it.
Before enrolling
How much does Rescue Diver cost in Jávea?+
€380, with full kit, practice materials, insurance and PADI certification included. If you have not completed EFR (first aid and CPR) in the last 24 months, it can be added to the course — mention it when you write so you get the combined price.
Is it a very physical course?+
Some exercises take effort — towing another diver, for instance — but exceptional fitness is not required: it is more about technique than brute strength, and the instructor adjusts the pace if needed.
Do I need to bring my own kit?+
No. It is included in the price: wetsuit, jacket, regulator, tank and weights, plus the first aid materials for the practical sessions.
Is an Advanced certification from another agency accepted?+
Yes, if it is equivalent and internationally recognised. Tell us which one you hold when you write and it gets confirmed.
Ask about dates and conditions
Tell us whether you already hold Advanced and the EFR, and which dates you are working with. The centre tells you how much notice it needs.