Commercial & saturation diving

The guide to the best-paid job on the seabed

What saturation diving is, how to train, what it pays and where. 34 verified schools, hiring companies, certifications and events — data from official sources, no fluff.

View the 34 schools What is saturation diving

34verified schools

5train in saturation

13countries

18industry events

Start here

Understand the job in three steps

No marketing, no myths: what this job really means.

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What a saturation diver is

Living under pressure to work on the seabed, explained clearly.

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How to train

From the medical certificate to your first offshore job, step by step.

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What it pays

How the money works: campaigns, day rates and the saturation bonus.

Directories

Featured schools

Six leading centres — including the very few in the world that train in real saturation.

South AfricaSaturation

Professional Diving Centre (PDC)

Gansbaai

AustraliaSaturation

Océanos – Professional Diving School

Barcelona

United StatesSaturation

CDA Technical Institute

Jacksonville, FL

View the full directory →

The whole portal

Resources

Diving schools

34 centres in 13 countries, 5 with saturation.

The 876 companies

The industry's world map: contractors, equipment, crewing and operators.

Equipment

14 manufacturers: helmets, saturation systems, tools.

Jobs & agencies

Crewing agencies, job boards and how to get in.

Certifications

HSE, IMCA, ADCI, ADAS and DCBC compared.

Community & creators

8 accounts to follow to understand the job.

Where you work

The world's saturation hubs: from the North Sea to Brazil.

Offshore platforms

87 iconic installations by basin, with operator and type.

Dive support vessels (DSV)

46 saturation vessels: who operates them and their system.

Industry events

18 fairs and conferences with verified dates.

From the blog

Guides, pay and the state of the market

215 articles on training, certification, equipment, offshore work and the markets that hire divers, including eleven in-depth sourced guides and ten pieces of original research built on our own directories.

In-depth guide·25 min readGuide

Underwater welding: the pay, the training and the myth

US commercial divers have a median of US$72,990 and a 90th percentile of US$157,790. What underwater welding really pays, what it costs and who gets hired.

In-depth guide·25 min readGuide

What a saturation diver actually earns

The 2026 North Sea minimum is £2,137.53 for a day in saturation. Here is how that is built, what a tour pays, and why the annual figure is far lower.

In-depth guide·29 min readGuide

Commercial diving certification: HSE, IMCA, ADCI, ADAS and DCBC

Five schemes, no automatic equivalence. Not one US qualification appears on HSE's approved list. What each ticket covers, costs and where it works.

In-depth guide·28 min readGuide

Commercial diver requirements: the medical, eyesight and age limit

What the commercial diving medical actually tests, scheme by scheme: HSE's 6/9 eyesight bar, the VO2 max bands, what disqualifies you, and the 12-month clock.

In-depth guide·23 min readGuide

What commercial diving school really costs

Commercial diving school costs US$1,852 to US$34,850 in the US alone, and £30,000 for closed bell. Every price dated, linked and itemised, with hidden costs.

In-depth guide·23 min readGuide

How to become a commercial diver with no experience

The honest route from zero: entry courses run 4 to 28 weeks, UK packages cost £14,995, and the 10th percentile of US divers earned US$43,330 in 2025.

Calendar

Upcoming events

Fairs and conferences where the industry — and the jobs — are.

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