Adaptive Support Diver
Diving, adapted for every buddy, whatever their ability.
1 day
PADI Certified
Course booking
From
£195.00
Need help choosing? Our team can match the course to your experience, goals and confidence level.
PADI 5-Star
Instructor Development Centre
Small Groups
Real Instructor Attention
Unit 4, Bellman Court, Great Knollys Street, Reading, RG1 7HD
Diving Academy
Safety First
Confidence Before Speed
Course overview
What to expect
Adaptive Support Diver
Imagine being the buddy who makes diving possible for someone who never thought the underwater world was open to them. This one-day PADI specialty builds a genuine toolkit for pairing with divers who have physical, sensory or cognitive disabilities, adapting equipment handling, entries, exits and buddy communication so every dive stays safe and enjoyable. It's hands-on and flexible rather than a fixed checklist, and it credits toward Advanced Open Water Adventure Dives and Master Scuba Diver.
In detail
About This Course
The PADI Adaptive Support Diver course trains certified divers to become confident, capable buddies and dive partners for people with disabilities, opening up diving to a much wider range of people. It is a practical, hands-on specialty that focuses on communication, adaptation and genuine teamwork underwater.
Over the course, divers learn to recognise the individual considerations involved when diving with a partner who has a physical, sensory or cognitive disability, and how to adapt standard techniques to suit each diver's needs. Practical sessions cover assisting with equipment, helping a diver with reduced mobility enter and exit the water safely, and maintaining effective buddy communication throughout the dive.
Because every diver and every disability is different, the emphasis throughout is on flexibility, problem solving and respect, rather than a single fixed set of techniques. Divers leave with a genuinely useful toolkit they can apply on real dives with real buddies.
The course also carries credit toward the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Adventure Dives and counts as a specialty toward PADI Master Scuba Diver, making it a meaningful addition to any diver's log book as well as a genuinely valuable life skill.
The process
How The Course Works
Step 1
Understanding Different Abilities
You work through the same knowledge development as the full Adaptive Techniques specialty, exploring how a wide range of physical and cognitive abilities can affect a dive - and what that means for you as a buddy. It reframes how you think about pairing up underwater, long before you get wet.
Step 2
One Pool Session, One Open Water Dive
A confined water workshop lets you practise adaptive pairing techniques in a controlled setting, then a single open water workshop puts everything into real conditions. It is a compact, practical course built to get you genuinely useful, fast.
PADI states: the course requires one confined water workshop and one open water workshop.
Course curriculum
What You'll Learn
Learning Outcomes
- Adaptive techniques for diving or freediving with a buddy who has a disability
- Individual considerations when diving with people with disabilities
- Practical skills such as helping a diver with reduced mobility enter and exit the water and assisting with equipment
Getting ready
Before You Start & What's Next
What's Included
- PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (Adventure Dive credit)
- PADI Master Scuba Diver (specialty credit)
Prerequisites
- PADI Open Water Diver or PADI Freediver (or higher), minimum age 15
- EFR Primary and Secondary Care completed within 24 months
- PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy recommended beforehand
Next Steps
- PADI Advanced Open Water Diver
Upcoming training
Dates & Booking
No fixed dates listed right now
Choose your preferred start date and the academy will confirm instructor availability with you directly.
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Quick facts
Duration
1 day of structured training
Location
Unit 4, Bellman Court, Great Knollys Street, Reading, RG1 7HD
Certification
Recognised PADI qualification on completion
Have questions?
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Our course directors can talk you through Adaptive Support Diver, confirm it's the right fit for your experience, and help you find a date that works.
From
£195.00
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