Basic and intermediate shellfish diver: the real entry point into the trade in Chile

The real ladder: assistant, basic and intermediate

In Chile, to dive professionally you need a licence issued by DIRECTEMAR (Directorate General of the Maritime Territory and Merchant Marine), the maritime authority under the Navy. It isn't a course with a diploma from a school: it's a process before the State, exam included, and schools —where they exist— prepare you for that exam, they don't replace it.

The regulation sets out several categories, in this order of progression: Basic Shellfish Diving Assistant, Basic Shellfish Diver, Intermediate Shellfish Diver, Specialist Diver and Commercial Diver, plus the Instructor, Contractor and Supervisor licences (each with four distinct types). For the vast majority of people looking to get into the trade in Chilean aquaculture, the real path is: assistant (if you come in very young, without secondary education), basic, and intermediate. From there up —specialist, commercial— is a different level of requirements and, usually, a different kind of work (scientific diving, film, industrial underwater work), which we cover in detail in how to reach commercial diver and in this full guide to commercial diver in Chile.

One important nuance: there's no saturation diving in Chile. If you came here searching "shellfish diver" thinking of hyperbaric chambers and weeks living under pressure like you see in videos from oil platforms, you're in the wrong industry —see what saturation diving is and where it's practised. The shellfish diver works on compressed air from the surface, with short dives, at farm sites and natural banks of hydrobiological resources.

What each licence authorises, according to the regulation

The difference between assistant, basic and intermediate isn't cosmetic: each category authorises a different type of work and a different type of equipment, and working outside what your licence authorises is, literally, illegal, as well as dangerous. This is what the regulation says:

Source: Diving Regulations for Professional Divers (TM-035), DIRECTEMAR

The assistant, as the name says, doesn't go under: works on the surface, on the support boat or raft, and it's the entry point for anyone who doesn't yet have the age or schooling to be licensed as a diver. The basic diver already goes down and already harvests, but with "light" equipment —think a surface compressor with a hose, not autonomous tank gear or heavier systems. The intermediate diver extends the equipment to "medium", which in practice qualifies them for somewhat more demanding work within the same aquaculture setting, though the text we consulted doesn't set out a closed list of exactly what counts as medium versus light equipment. If you want to see real equipment used on the job, see our commercial diving equipment guide.

The depth myth: what TM-035 doesn't say

This matters more than it seems, because depth is exactly the variable that kills most in this trade, as you'll see further down with the case of Katherine Pérez Moraga. The only depth figures that do appear explicitly in the text of the regulation are for mixed-gas diving: 90 metres with helium-oxygen without a closed bell, and 200 metres with a closed bell —figures that have nothing to do with air shellfish diving and belong to a whole different level of the licence. If you want the full technical detail of the regulation, we cover it in this guide to TM-035.

Requirements to get licensed

Age and schooling

The regulation sets 16 years old as the minimum age to be licensed as diving assistant, 18 for commercial diver and specialist, 21 for supervisor and 25 for instructor (the latter also requiring five continuous years of prior experience). The sources we consulted don't detail a specific, distinct minimum age for basic and intermediate; what is clear is the schooling requirement: completed primary education for the basic level, and a secondary education certificate or its technical-professional equivalent for intermediate and above. In practice, this is what separates a lot of young people from Los Lagos, Aysén or Magallanes who leave primary school and come in as assistants, from those who've already finished secondary education and can aim straight for intermediate.

The licence also requires Chilean nationality, according to the ChileAtiende factsheet.

Documents and medical certificate

To apply for the licence you need: application form, photocopy of ID card, colour 3x3 cm photos, medical fitness-to-dive certificate, AFP certificate, criminal record certificate, up-to-date military service status, and a notarised sworn statement that you have not been struck off the maritime authority's registers.

• The medical certificate is only valid for 30 days to submit, so don't get it done too far ahead of the process.
• The licence itself stays valid for one year, counted from the date the medical certificate was issued, not from the day it's handed to you at the Capitanía.
• The process can be done at any Capitanía de Puerto in the country.

Fees and validity

Source: ChileAtiende, factsheet 1240

These fees are adjusted every 1 January. For the exact peso value on the day you go to pay, confirm it directly at the Capitanía de Puerto, because we won't convert an official dollar figure at an exchange rate that changes every day.

The exam: theory, practical, and where it's taken

The Capitanías de Puerto are the ones that hold the basic shellfish diver exam, and they hold the whole thing: theory and practical parts. For intermediate, specialist and commercial —plus instructor, supervisor and contractor— the exam is taken by the Gobernaciones Marítimas, and in most of those categories it's mostly theory-only.

To prepare, according to DIRECTEMAR itself, you have three options: study the text of the regulation on your own, go through a state-recognised training body, or use the online simulations available on the Capitanía Digital portal. Exam application dates are published every year on the DIRECTEMAR site, so if you have a date in mind, that's where to confirm it, not a forum or a school.

There isn't, in the sources we reviewed, a public figure for exactly how long the exam lasts or its pass rate, so we won't make one up here. If you're interested in the full licence process, with every step in order, we cover it in this guide to the professional diver's licence in Chile.

Where to study shellfish diving today

The training on offer specifically for basic and intermediate shellfish diver is quite a bit smaller than for commercial diver (see the full picture in our list of schools). This is what we were able to verify:

For Escuela de Buceo Puerto Montt, Diversub Chile and Subpacífico we couldn't confirm prices, duration or whether they specifically prepare for basic or intermediate shellfish diver with the public information available at the time of writing, so we won't give you figures that don't exist.

What work each rung leads to in aquaculture

The real work of basic and intermediate is almost entirely in aquaculture: cleaning and checking nets and structures at farm sites, removing mortality, support during harvest, underwater maintenance work. The geographic concentration is clear: Los Lagos, Aysén and Magallanes are the regions where Chilean aquaculture diving is concentrated, with Puerto Montt and Punta Arenas the cities most associated with training and work in the trade. See the detail in where work happens in this industry and in which companies hire.

Much of that work, too, is subcontracted: you don't work directly for the salmon farm, but for a diving contractor that provides services to the salmon farm. That has implications for pay, for conditions and, as you'll see in the next section, for safety.

On pay, the most cited public reference is the WageIndicator / Tusalario Chile 2026 projection for the diver occupation in general, without a breakdown by licence:

Source: WageIndicator / Tusalario Chile, 2026 projection, 44-hour working week.

That figure is for "diver" in general, it doesn't separate basic from intermediate or commercial, so take it as an indicative floor, not a guaranteed salary for your specific category. As a ceiling reference —not an average—, a vacancy posted by STS Chile for Commercial Diving Supervisor (a licence well above basic and intermediate) offered a gross salary of CLP 2,425,000 plus a taxable bonus; it's a one-off offer, not a market average. For the full breakdown of pay by category, see how much a diver earns in Chile and the active vacancies in jobs.

The accident rate: what the figures say

This is the figure no school will show you in its brochure, and the one you do need to know before signing a contract. According to DIRECTEMAR figures, 274 diving accidents were recorded at salmon farm sites between 2004 and 2026, of which 49 resulted in the worker's death. Ecoceanos director Juan Carlos Cárdenas has cited a higher, broader figure —90 workers killed in activities linked to the salmon farming industry over the last twelve years (2013-2026)—, and notes that most of those victims were working subcontracted.

January 2026 was particularly hard: seven deaths in a single month, according to Ecoceanos. Manuel Esteban Matus Caamaño, 29, died on 8 January diving at the "Martita" site run by Australis Mar, near Melinka, in the Aysén region; he was subcontracted through DM Services. Three weeks later, on 28 January, the catamaran Koñimó I sank in the Reloncaví fjord, Los Lagos region: six crew members died, none of them wearing a life jacket. The vessel belonged to the contractor Agua Santa and was working for Salmones Austral and Trusal. It isn't only the moment of the dive that kills in this trade: transport vessels do too. Between 2013 and 2026, 14 vessels of this kind sank, with around 30 crew deaths —if you're interested in the topic of vessels, we cover it in diving support vessels.

Two more figures, each with its necessary caveat. A figure of around 30,000 divers in Chile is cited (El Desconcierto, July 2024), but it's a press estimate with no explicit source, not an official record: as far as we could confirm, there's no official number of licensed divers in the country. And disbaric osteonecrosis —bone damage from inadequate, repeated decompression— is mentioned as a problem among salmon farm divers, but without prevalence data, so we won't give you a percentage that doesn't exist. For the full picture of accident rates in the sector, see diving on salmon farms.

The Diving Act: what changes and what's still undefined

On 17 February 2026, Law N° 21.789, known as the "Diving Act" (Ley de Buzos), was published, regulating a diver's employment contract in Chile for the first time. It comes into force on the first day of the sixth month after publication, that is, around 17 August 2026; within that period, the regulation and the Labour Directorate resolution that make it operative must be issued.

It applies to harvesting, farming or processing of hydrobiological resources —exactly the territory of basic and intermediate— and to industrial activities using air diving; it excludes military and police personnel and recreational diving. Among what it establishes: it requires the employer to provide "adequate technical means" and maintain sufficient safety equipment, with "permanent supervision and support" at every stage of the work; it creates an electronic register of dives and safety conditions, subject to inspection; it promotes certification of workplace competencies; and it strengthens protections around subcontracting and temporary work, exactly the point Ecoceanos flags as the hardest hit in recent deaths. It also declares 18 December National Chilean Diver's Day.

What matters for this article: the joint regulation from the Ministries of Labour and Defence, which will set technical requirements, habitability standards, safe working methods, PPE, safety equipment and accident protocols, is still not published and doesn't yet fix depths or oxygen or chamber standards —which is why you won't find those numbers anywhere except a forum making them up. In parallel, the Superintendency of Social Security (SUSESO) opened a public consultation on a circular with a Safe Diving Guide and further preventive requirements. It's worth following this closely if you're about to get licensed: the rules of the game for basic and intermediate are being written right now. See our guide on certifications to understand how the DIRECTEMAR licence fits with this new law.