Search and Recovery
Sooner or later, someone who knows that you dive is going to ask you to find something for him. Or maybe you’ll need to look for something you dropped. Before you swim off to start searching, you must decide whether the rewards are worth the time, effort and risk.
If the missing object is worth searching for, you will need to know how to look for it and how to get it to the surface once you do. This is what we cover in the Search and Recovery Diver course.
This course generally takes just a single day and two dives. You can sign up in person, over the phone or online by clicking the button below. If you sign up online, you will still need to call to schedule your class.
This program generally takes just one day and two dives. With sufficient notice, we can usually offer this course when it’s most convenient for you.
- Be at least 10 years old. Students ages 10-14 may qualify for special Junior certification. Learn more.
- Be certified to at least the Open Water Diver level.
- Be able to answer No to all the questions on the medical questionnaire or obtain a physician’s approval for diving.
$249.95/person includes:
- All instruction
- Certification processing when earned
You supply:
- Mask and snorkel
- Adjustable scuba fins and wetsuit boots
- Adequate exposure protection
- Cylinder (one per dive)
- Regulator system with alternate air source
- BC with integrated weight system or weight belt
- Weights
- Dive computer
- Underwater compass
- Dive knife/cutting tool
- Dive light
- Lift bag
Items you don’t already own are generally available for rent. Students are also responsible for gas fills and boat fees or dive site admission.
Sooner or later, someone who knows that you dive is going to ask you to find something for him. Or maybe you’ll need to look for something you dropped. Before you swim off to start searching, there are questions you must ask. These include:
- Is the search area a place that’s safe to dive? Very often, things get lost at sites with poor visibility, mucky bottoms and lots of sharp and potentially entangling objects. They may also be a breeding ground for bacteria and other contagions. If the site isn’t safe to dive, the object isn’t worth recovering.
- Does the object’s owner know precisely where to search? Don’t trust anyone who “knows” exactly where he dropped the missing item. Without precise GPS coordinates or lineup from shore, wherever you are told to search won’t even be close.
- Do you have a reasonable chance of finding the missing item? Muddy or weed-strewn bottoms have a way of making objects invisible and not worth the risk inherent in looking for them.
Even with good reference points, you may end up searching an area with a diameter of up to 100 feet or more. You need techniques for searching such a large area without missing anything. Then, once you find the object, you need to be able to get it to the surface.
- If the object weighs a few pounds or less, you may be able to just hand-carry it.
- If it weighs more than this, you will need to know how to safely rig and use a lift bag.
By now it should be clear why you need special training before attempting any search and recovery dive. This is what we cover in the Search and Recovery Diver course.
In this course, we cover:
Navigation
- Compass use
- Estimating distances
Limited Visibility Diving
- Factors affecting visibility
- Hazards of limited visibility
- Techniques of search in limited visiblity
Search Techniques
- Shotgun
- Circular search
- Grid search
- Current (overlap) search
- Signals for search diving
Salvage Techniques
- Depth considerations
- Lift bags
- Lifting drums
- Necessary qualitites of lifting devices
- Knots and rigging
- Fill techniques for lift bags and drums
- Mud/silt suction considerations
Most importantly, we don’t practice these skills until you finally get them right. We have you repeat them until you can’t do them wrong.
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