commercial diving

[mps798]

been instructor in 5 (padi naui tdi sdi etc)of all , including all courses just looking for the final , a pro commercial diver trainning school , is any body able to give me this info please ?(time ,costs ,location ,phone contact number , and what ever available) thank you in advance

[aqua]

best place to do is scotland or south africa.

there are not that many schools there. with a bit of research on the internet u may find some schools.

south africa seems to be cheaper, depending what courses / levels u wanna do.

[chris the vis]

Ahoy, in South Africa we can get trained up to ClassII
The best school as far as my knowledge goes is this one:
Commercial Diving School South Africa - wccds - Home
Got a classIV, but would still like to go all the way some day, unfortunately I just started a job in aquaculture, so my diving has been seriously curtailed, considering I spent more time in water than on land...what an adjustment this is going to have to be!!
Goodluck!

[Rockbrother]

Hi Chris,
ever considered volunteering at the 2Oceans Aquarium.
They are always looking for people with class iv. The department recently nulled all limited scope Class IV qualifications and now there is almost no more volunteers to clean the windows.

Wilhelm

[Yidaki]

Hi there, check this out The Commercial Diving Directory

Cheers,
Burak

[nostres]

Hi!

Couple years ago I was looking for the same thing as I wanted to work on the oil rig really bad. After long research and recommendations from few commercial divers I was getting ready to join this school
Commercial Diving Training - Divers Academy International's world-renowned and sought after reputation for producing professionally trained, highly skilled divers continues to be an integral part of our success. www.diversacademy.com

I don't know if You are planning to go to US but it's supposted to be #1 place of this kind in the States. Martin Stepanek graduated from there. It is located in New Jersey not far from New York and during the training You get to work in "real life conditions" meaning cold and dirty water. The only problem for me was the cost, I only came up with enough money for tuition (including some financing) which back then was $12k but You also need not to work for five months and have enough money for rent, food and... NY nightlife Right now it's probabbly even more so it's expensive but most of diver's academies keep similar prices, it will be hard to find anything cheaper(at least in the states, there are also schools in Texas) The Good thing is that they assist in finding a job and most of their graduates gets contracts right after certification.

good luck!

[Yidaki]

Originally Posted by nostres

Hi!

Right now it's probabbly even more so it's expensive but most of diver's academies keep similar prices, it will be hard to find anything cheaper(at least in the states, there are also schools in Texas) The Good thing is that they assist in finding a job and most of their graduates gets contracts right after certification.

good luck!

Lousiana Technical College has reasonable prices..(They are listed in the link that I gave in my previous message)

Cheers,
Burak

[nostres]

Originally Posted by Yidaki

Lousiana Technical College has reasonable prices..(They are listed in the link that I gave in my previous message)

Cheers,
Burak

O Man!

This is community college, but it's cheap! Too bad I did not know about it couple years ago. Or not, no regrets..

[chris the vis]

Hey Wilhelm,
Living in PE at the moment.did work at Bayworld oceanarium for a while, but now I've got a full time job, so diving a lot less...Damn!

[mps798]

Thank you for your replies, i will try to contact the suggested schools but if you know more, please let me know, because the decision is not easy. Sorry for being late in replying but time is something i can not find easily. Thank you for your patience and your kindness’

[Erik]

In North America, just get a very basic course. 10,000$+ courses where you are taught sat diving, etc are a waste of your money. Nobody will hire you to do advanced/highest level work until you earn your way in. People dont walk out of college and into a deep sat job or start welding up pressurized pipes. You bust your ass and be ready to go anywhere on a moment's notice, be easy to get along with and work hard, and eventually you get better paying work.
There is more chance of actually getting in the water if you are INLAND. On the coasts, lots of competition and crap money for hauling equipment around and being a tender for a looong time.
The Commercial Diving Directory has everything you need to know about comm diving in my opinion.
Do not go and spend 1000's of dollars on a year-long school before reading that website and the forums extensively.
Cheers,
Erik

[MKDVR]

Originally Posted by Yidaki

Lousiana Technical College has reasonable prices..(They are listed in the link that I gave in my previous message)

Cheers,
Burak

I kicked the idea around for 3 years, found a company that could hire me part time, and flew to the Oceancorp to check it out and pay my deposit. Thought about it some more and decided against it. On the short list of smart things I've ever done.

Currently I work for a marine construction company and share the shop with the divers. 2 of which graduated from the school in New Jersey. The turnover rate is high for a reason. It's hard work. No matter what diving you do having construction experience will put you way ahead of the curve. We had a recent graduate come in and was really green. He didn't know what a shackle
was and when asked to inspect the propeller on the tugboat didn't know what we were talking about. Honest. He really didn't know. For a$25,000 school you would think he would have known some basic concepts. This isn't an isolated case. I frequently meet dive school graduates who have no real mechanical ability. You're still a construction worker. Just add water.
I'm not saying you shouldn't do it. Just want you to have a realistic idea of what you're getting into before getting a fat tuition bill! I chose not to do it because I love diving but the commercial stuff was too much like work. I didn't want to turn what I love to do into something I hate.

If you should do it save yourself a lot of time and money and go to Young Memorial. It's state funded and cheap. Few thousand last I checked. Not privately owned and expensive. You can jack up the tuition with the private schools by taking every bell and whistle they offer but in the end you don't learn the job until you get to it. Theory (school) vs. practical (the real world). Go into it with your eyes wide open. My 2 cents.

[shoutatthesky]

If you want to earn money diving then wouldn't it be better to work in the tourism industry. Like MKDVR said "construction, just add water".
I have no commercial experience but have looked at the options available to make money in the underwater world. Construction and/or saturation diving don't sound too fun to me. I like clear water.
Good luck