PADI® Search and Recovery Diving

Age, Depth, and Prerequisite Certification

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:

• At least twelve (12) years old.
• Already certified as (either):
  • PADI Junior Open Water Diver (with Underwater Navigation certification)
  • PADI Open Water Diver (with certification in Underwater Navigation)
  • PADI Junior Advanced open Water Diver
  • PADI Advanced Open Water Diver or equivalent (e.g. from one of the approved training agencies)

Number of Days: Two (2) (minimum)

Scuba Training Dives: Four (4)

Maximum Depth: Depends on age and certification level

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).

Reasons to Become a Search and Recovery Specialist

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:

• Circular search
• Expanding square
• Grid
• Semi-circular
• Snag-line
• Towed-diver

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.

Searching Offshore Dive Sites

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.

Digital Learning Programs for Self-Study

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).

Search and Recovery Diver eLearning: Up to Four (4) Hours

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.

PADI Search and Recovery Diver: What Skills Will You Learn?

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:

• Different search patterns (easy and complex)
• Compass navigation
• Natural navigation (without a compass)
• Search techniques and how to use a PADI Navigation Finder
• Knot tying skills
• Using different lift bags for recovering sunken objects

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.

Dive Gear and Specialist Equipment

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:

• Lift bag with overpressure relief valve
• Underwater computer and diving watch
• Dive flag and float (e.g. diver down flag)
• Retractors, Dive Clips, Retractor Reel, and assorted Safety Items
• Diver Propulsion Vehicle (sea scooter)
• Navigation tools (e.g. underwater compass, nav-finder)
• Digital cameras and underwater photography equipment
• Surface signaling devices or inflatable signal tube

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).

FAQ Section and Medical Questionnaire Form

How Many Dives for PADI Search and Recovery Diver?

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.

What's the Deepest Diving 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).

Can I Survive Below 40 Metres Underwater?

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.

Can a Certified Recovery Diver Dive Alone?

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.

Can I Touch the Underwater Organisms?

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.

What Should I Not Do Straight after Scuba Diving?

After cleaning the gear, there are several kinds of activities that divers should avoid doing. They include:

• Physical exercise
• Flying in a plane, including traveling to altitude (e.g. mountain hiking).
• Drinking alcohol
• Having a full body massage, hot bath, or hot shower
• Forgetting to log the dives

When Should I Take a Scuba Refresher Course?

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.

Medical Requirements: Free Download

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.

Price for PADI Search and Recovery Diver Specialty Course in Thailand 11,000 THB*

We have qualified instructors and expert dive guides who can teach in several languages, including English, Thai, and Chinese.

The price includes (all):

Boat trips (with free soft drinks served on board)

Professional tuition from a "Private Scuba" Instructor

Free rental of required diving equipment (including a dive computer)

PADI Search and Recovery Diver Specialty Manual and Certification Card

Hotel transfers within Pattaya City limits

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.

YouTube Video and Knowledge Base for Recovery Divers

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.

Scuba Diving Help Guides

• How to get PADI Underwater Navigator Specialty Certification?
• Diving Emergency Action Plan (EAP Flowchart)
• PADI Dry Suit Diver Specialty Course in Pattaya, Thailand

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.

What Comes after the Search and Recovery Diver Specialty?

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:

1. Boat Diver
2. PADI Delayed Surface Marker Buoy (DSMB) Diver
3. Multilevel Diver
4. Public Safety Diver™
5. Wreck Diver

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.