PADI Rescue Diver

Consistently described by experienced divers as the course that changes how you think underwater — the Rescue Diver trains you to recognise and manage critical situations before they escalate, rather than reacting after the fact. It covers stressed and unresponsive diver scenarios, surface rescues, and emergency management.

At Happy Dive the course is run by instructors who also teach Emergency First Response, so the medical side of the curriculum gets treated as a coherent skill set rather than a box-ticking exercise. Tilo Balzer, one of the team's instructors, lists EFR training as his particular focus.

Completing Rescue Diver is a prerequisite for the Divemaster course, so for anyone with professional aspirations this is the penultimate step. It also significantly increases confidence for dive buddies — both yours and theirs.

Price on request. PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (or equivalent) and Emergency First Response certification required.