SDI Search & Recovery
Specialty Course · Search & Recovery · For Certified Divers
Find what was lost, and bring it back up. The SDI Search and Recovery course teaches the two halves of the job: running a methodical underwater search with a compass and a pattern, and lifting what you find with a lift bag. You'll recover a real object between 25 and 75 pounds from depth. It's practical for anyone who dives lakes or spends time on boats, and it counts as a specialty toward your Advanced Diver rating. You'll need your own mask, fins, boots, and snorkel, and the rest of the rental gear, lift bags included, is provided.
Veterans can put their GI Bill toward their training, and families can use ESA or ClassWallet funds. See if you qualify.
Availability: Contact us for booking information
SDI Search and Recovery Diver Course
Finding something on the bottom that nobody can see from the surface takes a method, not luck. The SDI Search and Recovery course gives you both halves of the job: how to run a proper underwater search with a compass and a pattern, and how to bring what you find back up with a lift bag. By the end, you'll recover a real object weighing between 25 and 75 pounds from depth. It's practical for anyone who dives lakes or spends time on boats, where dropped gear, phones, and anchors are a fact of life. It counts as one specialty toward your SDI Advanced Diver rating.
What you'll be able to do
Search and Recovery is one of the most useful skills you can carry:
- Run a methodical search instead of hoping to stumble on it
- Navigate a pattern with your compass, even in low visibility
- Rig, fill, and fly a lift bag to raise a heavy object
- Bring up a real object between 25 and 75 pounds
Search patterns you'll run
You'll learn and practice the patterns that actually find things, and when to use each one.
- Shotgun: a fast, linear search when you have a good fix
- Circular: widening arcs out from a last-known position
- Grid: systematic back-and-forth that leaves no gaps
- Current (overlap): builds in overlap to account for drift
Lifting what you find
Finding it is half the job. The course covers getting it safely to the surface.
- Knots and rigging to attach a lift bag securely
- Filling a lift bag at depth
- Managing a controlled ascent with a loaded bag
- Recovering an object between 25 and 75 pounds
Who can enroll
Open to certified Open Water divers, with a hands-on recovery dive at a local lake.
- Certified Open Water divers, or equivalent
- Minimum age 18, or 15 with parental consent
- Divers who spend time on boats or freshwater lakes
- Anyone who's ever dropped something over the side
✓ What's included
- Instruction and your open water recovery dive
- Lift bags and salvage gear for the course
- Rental gear: BCD, regulator, computer, tank, weights, and wetsuit
- Your SDI Search and Recovery certification, plus a credit toward your Advanced Diver rating
What to bring
- Your own mask, fins, boots, and snorkel (required, we don't rent these)
- Your Open Water certification card
- A swimsuit and a towel
- Any of your own gear you'd rather dive
Frequently Asked Questions
What will I actually recover?
What will I actually recover?
What is a lift bag?
What is a lift bag?
What search patterns will I learn?
What search patterns will I learn?
What are the prerequisites?
What are the prerequisites?
Is this only for professionals?
Is this only for professionals?
What gear do I need to own?
What gear do I need to own?
Does it count toward anything bigger?
Does it count toward anything bigger?
Let's. Go. Diving.
Learn how to find what was lost, and bring it back. Call the shop and we'll get you scheduled.
📞 Call the shop (480) 881-4013A specialty course that counts toward the SDI Advanced Diver rating. Prerequisite: an SDI Open Water certification (or equivalent).
By booking, you agree to our Terms & Conditions.
