OFO No: 684101

What is a Diver?

Are you an ocean lover who would rather be in the water all day than working a desk job? Consider an adventurous career in diving, working underwater at various depths with breathing equipment and protective gear.

For many, diving is seen as something to do for fun or sport, but actually diving is a paying skill in demand by a number of industries in South Africa and all over the world.

A Diver can choose to pursue a profession in various areas or organisations:  

COMMERCIAL DIVERS

• Exploration and production: example: diamonds
• Shipping:  underwater construction, repairs, mining, maintenance, surveying, monitoring and salvaging, etc
• Oil Industry: divers get to work underwater on oil rigs etc
• Scientific/Research: conducting underwater research for the fields of oceanography, mineralogy, and biology
• Tourism:  tour operators taking tourists on shark dives and/or other adventurous diving experiences

MILITARY DIVERS

Trained divers of the SA Navy form military operational diving teams who are placed on ships along the coasts. Tasks vary from finding mines to salvaging wrecks to assisting with disasters.

POLICE DIVERS

For those with interested in the criminal field, police Divers are needed to assist in investigations, search and recovery operations, and crime prevention tactics.

DIVE into a wild career!

What does a Diver do? (depending on what area of diving they work in…)

• work with explosives
• survey the ocean bottom
• find food sources
• repair pipelines
• perform maintenance on ships and oil rigs
• collect ocean rocks and minerals
• take film footage of ocean life
• recover sunken ship parts
• recover bodies submerged in water
• take tourists on diving tours:  shipwrecks dives as well as shark dives etc

Are you … ?

• passionate about the sea and diving?
• a person with good stamina?
• a person with good sight and hearing?
• claustrophobic?  If yes, this will not be a suitable career for you!
• in excellent physical and medical condition?
• dedicated?
• enthusiastic?
• work well under pressure?
• willing to travel?
• a strong swimmer?
• prepared to work in difficult natural conditions?
• willing to be in closed spaces for considerable lengths of time?
• a team player?

How do I become a Diver? 

Here are just a few diving schools:

• SA NAVY

The SA Navy Divers offers young men and women excellent diving training opportunities which are both physically and psychologically challenging. 

http://www.navy.mil.za/SANCareers/divers.htm 

Minimum requirements:

http://www.navy.mil.za/SANCareers/requirements.htm

• DOWN SOUTH SCUBA:  (Cape Town)

Offers a variety of PADI courses:

• SEADOG COMMERCIAL DIVING SCHOOL:  (Saldanha Bay)

Offers a variety of scuba diving courses:

• PROFESSIONAL DIVING CENTRE:  (Durban)

Their courses are recognized by: IMCA, The UK HSE, ADAS Australia, IDRF, NDC, DOL and others.

PDC is the only diving school in South Africa, which can offer other international certifications such as ADAS.

• B.S. DIVERS:  (Hermanus)

BS Divers offers the following Department of Labour, South Africa approved commercial diver courses.

• JACK’S DIVE CHEST:  (Strand)

Offers courses in:

• Specialist Underwater Mining & Exploration
• Body Recovery & Evidence Collection
• Specialist Underwater Welding Proficiency
• Chamber Operators Course
• First Aid
• Tools Training

• SCUBA.CO.ZA:  (Johannesburg, Pretoria and Vaal Triangle)

Offer a variety of PADI courses from beginner to Master Courses and many specialized courses too.

OTHER CAREERS TO CONSIDER: Marine Biologist and Professional Golfer

Is becoming a Professional Diver the right career choice for me?