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Permalink Reply by Adam Broetje on February 28, 2017 at 2:50pm

Corey - Some great answers to this question are coming up on our Commercial Diving Facebook page.    

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Permalink Reply by corey huber on March 3, 2017 at 12:47pm

     wanted to add that im a bit interested in becoming a saturation diver or get training in it, but from what im hearing you need a decent amount of experience in the profession. im also wondering what is the best schools in the US for me to apply for, looking for a international cert so i can work wherever, not too worrried about traveling and im not ancored down by a family nor do i see so in the foreseeable future. schools like DIT and CDA look decent, but im always up for suggestions!

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Permalink Reply by Robert Croot on March 10, 2017 at 11:57am

Corey, I went through USN salvage diver training in the early 1960's, then did a tour in 'Nam and I believe the training and experience I got with the Navy was more than excellent.  Then got out and worked inland as a freelance "do it all mud diver" for over 40 years and loved every minute.....well, almost every minute.

No idea what kind of diver training the Navy offers today, but it might be worth looking into.  It takes a four year obligation, but they pay you the wh*** time.  

Go to a commercial school and it sounds like you might have a problem paying off your loans in four years unless you are also a tradesman, like a certified topside welder.  That seems to be a fairly quick trade to learn and good topside welders are  able to make a decent living while waiting for that diving job to open up.

I.m not on Facebook, but good luck to all you "youngsters"..

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Permalink Reply by Grumpy Old Hardhat Diver on November 26, 2017 at 8:55pm

I was an industrial, bridge and dam diver (all hardhat) in the 80s, went to the military, and then got out and went to diving school in 95. I got in trouble then for working as a diver while in school (hey I had bills to pay!). I worked starting over offshore as a tender to sat then supervisor, and later being an office puke before selling my soul and going the company man route about a decade ago. Commercial diving is fun, dangerous, and not for sissies. Many times I had a company man said it was easy, I offered 400 bucks and offered my gear to him, so he can show me how it's done! Never had a taker. Diving is a losing game, BUT, there are so many fields you can directly learn hands on a 4 point, lay barge, rig etc. that if you apply yourself, you can learn a lot of skills, like welding, coating, NDT, vessel operations, Oil and gas structure design. On my off time I tried to learn everything around me, and was one of the 1st people to have a laptop in those days, which I learned form and procedural generation, AutoCAD, Solidworx, Bentley Microstation, as well as a myriad of other skills that directly led me into my current and extremely profitable job. Most of the guys spent time watching movies, porn or playing games on their laptops (as these became very commonplace in a few years), and most are doing fair at best income jobs now. It is all a matter on how you apply yourself. Also, you have to hunt the work down, Don't sit on your thumbs waiting on the phone to ring, And always be ready to leave at a moments notice, and plan to be there longer than the office said, take time off when the work dries up. 

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