Online Rescue Course

What are your thoughts on doing the rescue course online? Yay or nay?

I'm definitely doing my rescue course this summer - I tacked on another week in Cozumel to do it before this year's Invasion. I'm going to knock out the CPR/First Aid with the Red Cross before I go (something I've done a few times over the years, just not presently current). Now I'm wondering if I should do the course online first, too (I'd probably do it a week or 2 beforehand so the material will still be fresh).

I've done the Nitrox course online 2 or 3 years ago and felt that was sufficient, but I'm thinking the rescue course may contain more 'sensitive' and detailed material which may be better taught by an actual person / or in a setting where I can ask questions. At the same time, (even though I'm extremely interested and don't mind the time spent) it's nice not to have to spend *precious vacation time* in a classroom watching videos and reading books. Is the online portion basically just that? Theory, knowledge reviews, and training videos? Would I "miss out" on anything or receive a "dumbed down" education by taking the course online? Is it more of an advantage to be taught by the person you will actually receive the training from?

If anyone else has gone this route, what were you're thoughts of the online portion of the course?

I think it's more a matter of whether you want to sit in a classroom 2 days of your holiday. Personally I'd do it online and if needed take a fist full of questions with you. I really like the online courses as you can stop whenever you want and read the book or google certain things, or fly through things you know. if you're familiar with first aid there are some things in the course that you can do in your sleep.


Either way, you do (in my opinion) 70+% of the learning while in the water. The theory for me was just reduced the time the instructor needed to explain things while in the water.

have fun with it, I found rescue to be the most fun of all the PADI courses.... oh, and make sure you pick the smallest person on the course as your buddy

This is a personal anecdote only slightly related to your post. :dozingoff:

During my open water class, there was a kid who did the classroom portions online, while the rest of us did it in the classroom. Although he passed the online sections, during the pool and open water dives, he did quite a few unsafe maneuvers. The great part about classroom sessions (other than building a rapport with fellow divers) is that you get instant clarification for questions, especially if you have weird questions. Also may depend on your instructor, though.

However, part of the problem may have related to his younger age, and if you really want to learn it, you'll likely do just as well online as in the classroom.

I took the PADI RD course online and found it more than satisfactory as far as the "knowledge" portions are concerned. The fact is, the online course follows the materials in the printed manual exactly. Keep in mind though that the in-water part of the course should be given by a really good instructor. This would be true whether you did the knowledge part from the book, or online. Your instructor should be able to explain the practiclities of RD as well as be a tough task master when doing the rescue scenarios.

I was lucky enough to get a good instructor and found the course, as a whole, the best and toughest educational experience I've had while diving.

Some good posts so far. I'm interested to hear more as I too am taking the Rescue Course in June/July but I think our LDS only does it online to cut out the classroom and then take all the rest to the pool and OW. Makes sense to do it online. I've done other schooling that way and it's been a success and when I did both OW and AOW I had a copy of the book ahead of time and completely read the whole thing before the class even started so I was walking in quite confident but still full of questions too. I'm actually requesting the book though for the rescue course as I want a hard copy for those days when the internet goes down or power goes out etc etc.

I did PADI OW, AOW and Rescue online. My wife has done OW and AOW. Our dive buddy Kim did her OW online.
It all depends on you. As with any class, you're going to get out of it what you put in, regardless of if the class is in a building or online.
Personally, I'm not spending my vacation time in a classroom. I do the coursework online, make notes and ask questions. I ask here. I search other sites. I talk to my instructor.
Then I go someplace nice and make some bubbles.

I did the PADI Rescue course on line, even though I ended up doing the actual course SDI. I probably would have been just as happy to have the book in advance and read it, but the online course was easier to get at the moment I wanted it than the book. Since I didn't get "credit" for the online course, this didn't lessen the time at the course, it just enhanced it.

I think its a good idea to have some background going into the actual course, so that you can focus on fine-tuning your brain rather than it being the first time you are exposed to the concepts.

If you have thought through the basic concepts, then you can get more retention from what the instructor has to say, and be better able to formulate questions to fill in the gaps.

Also, the book/online course covers techniques relevant to a number of different environments, and the actual instructor is going to emphasize those environments accessable to the class. So you will probably pick up details that otherwise you would not be exposed to, that might be interesting if you travel to other environments.

Sounds like all Yay's so far! Thanks for the responses, especially from those who have taken the course online! When the time comes, I think I will do it online and just make a list of questions as they come up (or flood ScubaBoard, hahahaha). I've been wanting to take this course for a while now, I'm sooooooo excited to finally do it!!

One thing nobody has mentioned is how much fun the PADI online courses are to take. Perhaps I'm just an inveterate nerd, but I really enjoy the way these courses are constructed. You learn a few things, then take a test, feel good about having passed the test. You get a sense of accomplishment at every step of the journey.

I just finished the online portion of the Rescue Diver course, will do the in-water portion at Sunset House in Grand Cayman at the end of March. I'll be going on the usual morning boat dives each day, and doing the course in the afternoons over 3 days. Needless to say, I'm exercising daily in preparation.

I did rescue out of the book. It was still mostly a study, then do course. Very little classroom. Reading how to do Rescue Exercise 7 is the same in the book or online. The real learning happens when you get in the water and have to actually do it.