This specialty is designed to acquaint the diver with special skills and techniques necessary to successfully plan, execute and evaluate a search and recovery dive.
Who this course is for:
- The certified diver looking for more information to maximize the use of search and recovery for scuba diving
Course prerequisites:
- SDI Open Water Scuba Diver, SDI Junior Open Water Diver, or equivalent
- Minimum age 18, 15 with parental consent
What you can expect to learn:
The SDI Search and Recovery Diver Course takes an in-depth look at all of the following and more:
- Navigation
- Compass use
- Estimating distances
- Natural navigation
- Limited visibility diving
- Factors affecting visibility
- Hazards of limited visibility
- Techniques of diving
- Search techniques
- Shotgun
- Circular search
- Grid search SDI Instructor Manual
- Current (overlap) search
- Signals for search diving
- Salvage techniques
- Depth considerations
- Lift bags
- Lifting drums
- Necessary qualities of lifting devices
- Knots and rigging
- Fill techniques
- Mud/silt suction considerations
Some of the required skills you will have to demonstrate include:
- Review compass techniques
- Review search techniques
- Practice and perform different search patterns
- Review lifting techniques
- Recover an object from depth
- Salvage and recovery of an object with a water weight of between 11 and 33 kg/25 and 75 lbs
- Simulate scuba emergency using a minimum of 2 searching techniques
- Log dives
What’s in it for you?
Upon successful completion of this course, graduates may engage in diving activities without direct supervision of the SDI Instructor* so long as the following limits are adhered to:
- The diving activities approximate those of training
- The areas of activities approximate those of training
- Environmental conditions approximate those of training
Also, the SDI Search and Recovery Diver certification counts towards a single specialty rating to achieve the SDI Advanced Diver Development Program.
SDI Search and Recovery Diver minimum requirements:
- Complete all open water requirements efficiently
- Demonstrate mature and sound judgment concerning dive planning and execution
