Course overview

The SSI Diver Stress and Rescue course in Bohol Panglao teaches you to spot, prevent and handle dive emergencies, making you a calmer and more capable diver. With scenario practice off Alona Beach and on Panglao's reefs, you gain the awareness that makes the Philippines' Balicasag walls and Pamilacan drift dives safer for you and your buddies.

What you’ll learn

• Identify the early signs of diver stress and intervene early
• Carry out self-rescue and tired-diver assists on the surface
• Locate and recover an unresponsive diver from depth
• Provide in-water rescue breaths and manage panic
• Build and run an emergency assistance plan for a dive site
• Use oxygen and first aid for diving injuries

Prerequisites

• Minimum age 12 (Junior) or 15+ for the full rating
• SSI Advanced Adventurer or equivalent certification
• Recommended around 12 logged dives entering the course
• Current CPR and first-aid / oxygen-provider training (or completed alongside)
• Diver medical clearance signed by a physician

What's included · What's not

Probability of sightings · month-by-month

What you're likely to see each month, based on historic operator logs.

Day-by-day itinerary

1. Day1
   Theory and stress recognition

   Complete the SSI digital theory and practise spotting and managing diver stress.
2. Day2
   Surface rescue skills

   Practise tired-diver tows and panicked-diver management in the shallows off Alona Beach.
3. Day3
   Unresponsive-diver recovery

   Work on underwater searches and surfacing an unresponsive diver with rescue breaths.
4. Day4
   Scenarios and assessment

   Run complete emergency scenarios on Panglao's reefs and finalise the assessment.

Verified through iDive

Every partner school in the iDive network is vetted on safety, instructor credentials, equipment standards and student feedback. Talk to a iDive dive pro on WhatsApp for current availability and reviews specific to Bohol Panglao.

Frequently asked questions