Rescue Diver

The Rescue Diver course at ZOEA runs over three to five days and covers the full PADI curriculum: self-rescue, tired and panicked diver rescue both at surface and underwater, and missing diver searches. It is one of the more demanding recreational courses in the ladder — physically and mentally — and the team at ZOEA teaches it with the same protocols the instructors use operationally. The centre runs annual emergency drills, and the Rescue content is built from those real procedures rather than being abstract classroom scenarios.

The practical sessions take place in the open water around Santa Ponsa Bay and the adjacent dive sites, which means the conditions are real Mediterranean water — variable visibility, some surge depending on the day, and actual boat operations involved. There is no pool phase here; the skills are practiced from the start in the water where they would actually matter. The five-module theory section is balanced with enough in-water time that the techniques become reflex rather than remembered steps.

The price of €580 covers everything: tanks, weights, all course books and reference materials, full equipment rental, and PADI certification fees. Nothing is added at the end. If you need the Emergency First Response primary and secondary care certification simultaneously — required for Divemaster and strongly recommended regardless — the combined Rescue Diver plus EFR package comes to €700. Both can run concurrently.

Entry requirements are firm: minimum age 12, Advanced Open Water Diver certification or equivalent from any recognised agency, and CPR and first aid training within the previous two years. The EFR course fulfils the CPR requirement and can be done alongside the Rescue course here. Completing Rescue Diver opens access to Divemaster — the first professional-level certification in the PADI system — which ZOEA also offers through its IDC programme.