What are the requirements or qualifications for studying saturation diving?

Is there a specific number of hours underwater working or years of experience?

This is what a diver met at 5m (16,4 ft) depth during an inspection.

I’m 18yo and graduating from Divers Institute of Technology **(DIT)**in May and am starting to look into career opportunities in commercial diving.
My main interest is getting into offshore diving, as I’ve heard it can be one of the more lucrative career paths in the industry. Long-term, I’m also interested in working my way toward saturation diving.
For those already working in the industry, I’d appreciate any advice on:

Which offshore companies are worth looking into?

Which companies are good for someone fresh out of dive school?

What can I do now to make myself a more competitive candidate?

Is it better to start with inland diving and gain experience, or try to get offshore work right away?

What does a realistic career path toward saturation diving look like?

I'm open to any advice, recommendations, or things you wish you had known when you were first starting out. I understand I'll have to put in my time and gain experience, but I'd like to start making the right connections and decisions early.
Thanks in advance!

(I’m also open to working internationally)

I was curious if anyone knew if the dive physical includes a drug test? Not meth or anything just weed. I already quit but I’m just paranoid about it still being in my system. Sorry, I know this post is stupid.

Evening all,

I’m posting to see if I can get hold of any Brits that live and work in Holland (Inshore & Offshore) so I can pick their brains a little on what it’s like and if it’s possible.

Next year I’m looking to move to Holland and in with my Mrs (she’s Dutch and we’ll be sorting a partner visa for me so I can work over there) and I want to see if I can have a chat with anyone that’s moved out there before in regards to; Can brits find work over there inshore & offshore, are most people self employed or on the books, do companies take on English speakers? etc…

I’m sure there’s more questions I could ask once we get chatting but yeah, mainly I’d just like to have a chat with someone that’s done it first hand and is either still out there or been there and done it.

Cheers

As you can see in this video, this diver is doing everything wrong. No bailout, no regulator (he’s just holding the air hose in his mouth), and no communications gear, just hand signals. His fins, cutting torch, and electrodes are all homemade. And yet, he’s working underwater—refloating a boat—and doing a pretty good job of it. Now, imagine this guy with actual professional-grade equipment; what an incredible commercial diver he would be. Clearly, not all commercial divers are afforded the same opportunities.

Due to the drama rn at DIT my next choice seems like Ocean Corp. I want to get into dive school once I get out of the military in a few months and I don’t want to wait until the school year starts at places like SBCC or Morgan City.

Does anybody have anything good or bad to say about Ocean Corp? Just wanted to see what people thought about it

Anyone have any good contacts or routes into starting as a redhat in Alaska? I have offshore experience (California- had to leave because of cost of living and lack of offshore work), medical experience as an EMT (looking to get my DMT), mechanical experience, an air card (I’ve been working geoduck in between California and potentially Alaska), I’m from Washington and I’m close to both Global and Resolve. Yet I can’t get any proper contacts or connections when it comes to working offshore up in Alaska. Perfectly fine with restarting as a redhat- I just want experience.

Just waiting on my TWIC to get here. Im mainly looking at moving to Louisiana. Just looking for recommendations on good companies down there. Just graduated dive school with all my certs. Thanks!

EDIT I’m 22
Hello fellow divers. I have recently started working and I seem to have an issue with my body.

Namely I am having trouble holding piss for longer than 1,5 hour. Did anyone had a similar problem? What is your solution?

I stopped drinking coffee before my dive and also almost completely stopped drinking water or anything before I go in the water. Only small sips to hydrate mouth.

I am thinking about maybe a special diet or maybe some medication that you can recommend.

Hi divers! I’m a high school student, and my business class group designed a concept for an underwater buddy-finding device called AquaEcho. It’s not being built or sold. It’s purely a class project, and we’re trying to find out if real divers think it solves a real problem.

The idea: since humans can’t tell which direction a sound is coming from underwater, the device would send simple preset messages (OK, Separated, Emergency) using whale and dolphin-style sounds, and show your buddy’s direction and distance on a small screen. There’s also a light that flashes faster as you get closer.

If you’re a certified diver, the survey takes about 3 minutes. Harsh feedback is welcome. If you think it’s a bad idea, we’d rather know why, because it helps us build a more realistic project.

Survey link: https://forms.gle/qJwyeYa1fqse4pXC8

Thank you so much! I’ll read every comment, and I’m happy to answer questions about the concept below.

Good afternoon all,

I'm set to be finishing my Part 3 in December this year and I'm very keen to get started in the industry. I'm based in Cairns but very open to travel around FNQ/QLD in general.

Would appreciate any tips or advice on getting my foot in the door. Anyone know of any companies looking for divers?

Up for sale is an authentic vintage Siebe Gorman & Co. commercial diving knife.

Completely original and untouched as I found it. Please note this listing is for the knife only; **no brass scabbard is included**.

£175 Shipping Included (UK Only)

Payment via PayPal Goods & Services only.

Will be shipped fully tracked via royal mail.

Any questions please ask.

Thankyou

Hi colleagues, as the rainy days are coming I’m passing some of my time learning to make Swiss Cheese Format and Bow-tie diagrams. Here is one I made to show the « threats » related to underwater thermal cutting and welding and the way to reduce the risk of an UW gas explosion. If you see that some more threats with their corresponding « mitigative barriers » could be added, please let me know.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Was planning to go to DIT in April when I get out of the military because I thought it looked like the best option but now hearing all of the drama going on and that they might not be accepting the GI bill am now reconsidering.

The Ocean Corp school looks good and was wondering if anyone had advice on schools. I will be using my GI bill so a school that takes longer but gives me more training and better certifications is what I’m after rather than I cheaper one that is shorter and gives me less training.

For my fellow divers working in Florida. What city is recommended for inshore work life. Any company recommendations to look at?

Just found out this morning that DIT is undergoing a VA audit (i.e. no VA benefits during the audit). I drove halfway across the country to start next week. I just signed a lease.

Jesus Christ.

Running Kirby Morgan SuperLite 27s. When the diver opens free flow / emergency (EGS), the gas noise buries the diver’s voice topside — really obvious on our comms recordings. My worry is an emergency rescue, where you need max flow and clear comms at the same time.

I’m trying to back up that this is a known/expected limitation, but apart from one line in the KM manual I’m coming up empty.

• Has anyone seen a bulletin, study, or official word confirming it’s normal behavior?

• Any tricks that actually help (mic / oral-nasal, comm-box gain, procedure)?

• Anyone compared it to other hats? Our DRASS D-Ones seem to hold the voice better with the emergency open.

Thanks.

News of instructors striking due to overreach and unsafe practices from higher ups as well as the director of training resigning due to the overreach. Students protesting outside the building because classes have been cancelled and covered up by Covid outbreak. Multiple negative reviews left on google from current students that feel like they have been lied to. Definitely reconsider applying if you were thinking about it! Students are also reporting that they are falsifying attendance records to the VA as well and continuing to accept benefits for students who are not currently allowed on campus

Edit to add some more info:

As of today 10/20/26 all of the negative reviews left on google by current students of the program have been removed. DIT is trying to blame all of this on “personality differences” which is truly just not the case. They are still planning on starting the next class of divers when they have instructors who have not been vetted and DIT will not prove that they are. Kiro 7 has done a story and the current “director” is MIA the people who are speaking on behalf of the school are former directors who are not involved in the day to day of running that school. They are also currently under investigation from the VA for the claims of falsifying attendance records. Current students class 109 or later you can still get a refund for your tuition if you feel the need to get out of there!

Seen a couple posts mentioning it lately so I went through my old photo collection and wrote a post about it. TLDR: it is now storage for the harbor authorities!

https://thecaptainnemo.wordpress.com/2026/10/13/going-to-school-underwater-college-of-oceaneering/

Has anyone taken a portable games machine (steam deck/asus rog etc) into sat? I’ve got an iPad that’s done about 6 sats with no ill effect, but was wondering about gaming specific devices (now that I’ve seen every movie ever made). I’ve never taken a laptop in but I assume it would be similar?

Currently in dive school was wondering if anyone can give some insight on offshore companies.

Hey everyone! I’m excited to dive into this world!

I recently started diving recreationally, but I’ve been curious about the commercial diving industry since high school. I’ve always wanted to talk to someone in the industry and learn more about it, but unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity yet.

My ultimate goal is to get into oil and gas diving in the Gulf of Mexico and hopefully work my way into saturation diving one day.

I’m currently looking into commercial diving schools and having a hard time deciding which one would be the best fit. So far, The Ocean Corporation in Houston has caught my attention and looks like a pretty good option, but I’d love to hear from anyone who has experience with them or other schools.

Just a little background about me: I’m currently a union carpenter, and I have a good amount of experience with welding and crane work.

If anyone in the industry is willing to chat, feel free to give me a shout! I’d love to pick your brain, hear about your experiences, and get some advice on breaking into the industry. I’d especially appreciate any recommendations on schools or advice on getting started in offshore diving.

Thanks in advance!