Course overview

The SSI Diver Stress & Rescue course builds the awareness and skills to prevent diver stress and handle in-water emergencies, practised in the calm bays around Nilaveli and over Pigeon Island's reefs. Trincomalee's settled east-coast conditions and good visibility make it an ideal place to rehearse realistic rescue scenarios. You emerge a safer, more capable buddy and dive leader.

What you’ll learn

• Identify and defuse diver stress before it escalates
• Carry out self-rescue and assist a struggling diver
• Search for and recover a missing or unresponsive diver
• Provide in-water rescue breaths and tow a casualty
• Coordinate a rescue, first aid and emergency oxygen
• Plan for emergencies at a specific dive site

Prerequisites

• Minimum age 12 (junior) / 15 for full certification
• SSI Advanced Adventurer or equivalent
• React Right or equivalent first-aid / CPR training
• 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 & self-rescue

   Complete the digital academics and practise self-rescue and stress recognition in the calm shallows off Nilaveli.
2. Day2
   Rescue skills

   Work through the rescue exercises, including tows and surfacing an unresponsive diver.
3. Day3
   Scenarios & certification

   Run full rescue scenarios on the reefs near Pigeon Island and certify as an SSI Stress & Rescue diver.

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 Trincomalee.

Frequently asked questions