Private Scuba › PADI Courses › Specialties › Search and Recovery
The PADI Search and Recovery Diver Specialty course helps you develop effective ways to find missing objects and then use a lift bag to bring large, awkward items from the seabed to the surface.
Nonetheless, accurate underwater navigation is much more than luck alone! You will learn how to navigate with an underwater compass or a Nav-Finder when conducting complex navigation patterns.
Important: You may count the Search and Recovery Specialty certification towards the PADI Master Scuba Diver Rating. Check out our PADI® Specialty Courses List for further details on more than thirty other specialties (listed from A to Z).
In simple terms, a Specialty Diver is someone with enhanced scuba diving abilities beyond entry level certifications (e.g. Discover Programs, Scuba Diver, Open Water Diver).
Signing up for specialist scuba courses is the ideal path to take if you want to learn new techniques and experience different kinds of underwater exploration.
Furthermore, you will get the best opportunity to acquire superior knowledge and skills in the diving activities that interest you the most because a 'Specialty Instructor' will be supervising the training.
There are minimum age requirements and maximum depth limits for all the specialties that require scuba training dives in open water.
As a result, before you can enrol in the PADI Search and Recovery Diver course you will need to be:
Important: Even though scuba certifications do not expire, we recommend taking the PADI ReActivate® refresher course if you have been inactive from diving for a while (e.g. longer than six months).
It's not uncommon for divers or passengers to lose objects overboard when scuba diving from boats. So, if you can find it, and retrieve it from the water, you can become an instant hero.
Furthermore, you get to practice making several complex underwater search patterns, and using a lift bag, to execute mock retrieval operations of larger objects.
In a nutshell, it's challenging and rewarding to know how to find valuable items underwater. This course will teach you how to resource information and then organise effective searches.
Some of the recommended search patterns that work well in shallow depths, include:
It is important to understand that the techniques and procedures used when conducting search or recover missions underwater will vary in different areas around the world.
Having the knowledge and unique skills to explore distant locations away from the shore is another reason for taking the course.
Do you like swimming around big fish?
If so, you need to go diving in deeper water that attracts schooling vertebrates and pelagics, such as large sharks, groupers, and sea turtles.
In general, it is much easier for divers with a busy schedule to choose the online learning option to start scuba lessons.
Being able to complete the independent study portion of a multiple day course offers you some flexibility and convenience.
As long as you have a computer or a mobile device, you will be able to study the knowledge development portion at your own pace (online or offline).
If you sign up for PADI eLearning® you can complete the self-study assignments online for around 4,500 THB.
Following that, you would need to contact the dive shop to perform the required scuba training dives with a PADI Instructor to finish the course.
You need to participate in the instructor-led knowledge development sessions by completing all knowledge reviews from the student manual.
Here's why...
You will learn how to enter and exit the water in a safe and effective manner while wearing scuba gear and carrying various tools used for searches (often from a custom-built dive boat).
Besides that, you will also learn about:
Note: Did you successfully complete the elective S & R Dive from the Adventures in Diving Program? If so, an instructor may count it as being the first training dive of the certification requirements in this particular specialty course.
You need to wear standard scuba gear for the four training dives conducted in open water. Other specialist equipment that you'll use, may also include:
Note: Using different underwater torches will be useful as the surroundings become darker and if you will be navigating your way through any dangerous structures (e.g. 10 best wreck dives in the world).
You need to make a total of four (4) training dives to complete the course. Each training session will include a range of tasks and skills that you need to master prior to certification.
The term 'deep dives' has a different meaning in recreational scuba diving than it does in technical diving.
The deepest dive made for recreational purposes should not be below forty metres (130 feet). Whereas, a professional technical diver can go down to sixty (60) metres (200 feet).
We refer to the US Navy decompression dive tables to answer this question. Divers can only stay at forty seven metres (160 feet) for around five minutes before they need to decompress during the ascent.
Fun Fact: The deepest scuba dive ever made is 332.35 metres (1,090 feet) undertaken by Ahmed Gabr in September 2014 in Dahab, the Red Sea. Using open circuit scuba, it took only fifteen (15) minutes to make the descent, but the ascent took thirteen (13) hours and thirty five (35) minutes.
The diving buddy system is a safety procedure pairing two or more divers together. Also, the group should perform pre-dive safety checks (Begin With Review And Friend) before entering the water.
Nonetheless, PADI does consent to a kind of 'solo diving' through the Self-Reliant Diver certification course, which is available in Pattaya, Thailand.
Divers share a common responsibility to protect and conserve nature. As a result, interacting passively with aquatic animals helps to safeguard the habitats of delicate and sensitive sea life.
After cleaning the gear, there are several kinds of activities that divers should avoid doing. They include:
Suppose you don't go diving for more than six months. There is a simple way to refresh the knowledge and skills that you already learned.
After a long period of inactivity, taking the PADI ReActivate® program will help you brush up on the safety procedures and scuba diving fundamentals.
You must be in good physical and mental health and be medically fit for recreational scuba diving. You can review the Diver Medical Participant Questionnaire Online to check whether you need to be evaluated by a physician.
It is not appropriate to ask dive staff (e.g. divemasters, instructors) for medical advice or clearance to go diving. Instead, you can contact the Divers Alert Network (DAN) if you have questions about your medical fitness to dive.
We have qualified instructors and expert dive guides who can teach in several languages, including English, Thai, and Chinese.
The price includes (all):
Important: You will usually be making two (2) scuba training dives in the same day. The PADI flying after diving guidelines say you need to wait a minimum of eighteen (18) hours after the second dive before you go to altitude. Please send an email to our team if you need further information.
Most of the information and advice in this section focuses on deep scuba diving activities which we usually conduct from a boat in Thailand.
We also have a list of blog articles about snorkeling and freediving basics - with other popular watersport tourist attractions at the beach resort of Pattaya.
Note: The short video [5:05 seconds] presented by PADI highlights what to expect when taking the Search and Recovery Diver course with some tips about underwater navigation for beginners.
Recovery diving is very popular with many divers because of the excitement and exhilaration that searching for lost objects underwater can offer.
So what comes next?
This certification links to several other scuba certifications, including Advanced Open Water Diver course as well as the popular Specialty Courses offered by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors.
Even so, the PADI® Search and Recovery Diver course combines nicely with several other specialties, such as:
Note: All course prices for diving are subject to change and assume that all prerequisites have been met to start the training. Click here to contact the team at Private Scuba in Thailand to make a booking or send an enquiry.