Looking For Sunken Treasure?
We’d all love to spend our days pining for lost gold on a wreck that has yet to be discovered. Perhaps, spend years plotting maps and one day have a documentary show about us like Discovery Channel’s Cooper’s Treasure! Let’s be realistic. Most of us will never find a coffer of Spanish gold off the coast of Florida. However, many of us have dropped items over the side of the boat by accident. It’s an awful experience watching your phone slide off the edge of the boat. All you can do is watch as it fades into the depths to become some octopus’s new form of entertainment. Of course, now you can't even call someone for help. If only there was some way to know how to find your now sunken treasure. The PADI Search and Recovery course will give you the skills to do just that. Maybe, you’ll find some gold while you’re looking for your phone!
Search and Recovery (SAR) Diver
Search and Recovery diving doesn’t just have to be for public safety teams. We get calls all the time to recover someone’s lost ring or watch off a dock on the lake. Even prized fishing poles that were jettisoned during a long cast. Other items include cameras, boat props and, amazingly, dive equipment. Divers may decide to wrongly wear their masks on their heads and before they know it it’s in the abyss. Sometimes a weight belt isn’t secured or a diver forgot their lanyard on their dive light. In any case, knowing how to recovery these items can save you a trip to the shop and some money.
How Your Search and Recovery Course Works
During your course you learn how to effectively plan your search before the dive begins. Then you will perform four dives under the guidance of an Instructor. During your dives you will practice search patterns using a compass and your navigation skills. Using these navigation tools and patterns you will locate objects both large and small. Once you have located the objects you will utilize many recovery methods such as using a lift bag. Ultimately, surfacing with the lost item and completing your recovery. So, the next time your phone slides off the side of the boat you will know exactly what to do!
Adding Search and Recovery Diver to your scuba repertoire is a good idea. Often, the first dive of this course is completed during your Advanced Open Water course. This means you're already on your way to becoming a recovery diver. Combine your SAR skills with what you learned from your Underwater Navigator course and you should be able to find lots of things underwater with ease.
