Many people from around the world enjoy the underwater world, using scuba gear. They might explore sunken wrecks, photograph coral reefs, or even search a lake bottom for old bottles. Scuba diving offers a unique experience to its visitors. For a select group of individuals, called commercial divers, this underwater world is the place where they go to work.

Commercial diving is an exciting career that is both challenging and unique. Generally, scuba certification is not sufficient to qualify as a commercial diving candidate. Typically, one must attend a specialized program or school to become an accredited diver. These programs tend to vary in length and scope. In selecting a program, it is important to keep in mind that many companies will retrain its divers to follow a company's own protocols. As a result, it would be advantageous to chooses a school that gives hands on training in specialty areas of interest such as underwater welding or similar fields.

Due to the nature of the job, commercial diving is not for everybody. Here are a few things to consider before becoming a commercial diver. Divers work either offshore or inland. Offshore work usually involves spending months on an oil rig and may not be conducive to a family life. A benefit of offshore diving is that it provides can provide experience working with specialty equipment such as large ROVs that are less common inland.

Inland diving includes working in lakes, rivers, ponds, nuclear reactor pools, and other aquatic structures. An inland diver may experience a broad range of tasks and will need to be able to adapt to a variety of circumstances. Though inland divers are able to spend more time with their families, the nature of the work often requires a lot of travel.

To succeed as a commercial diver, one must possess strength, ingenuity, dexterity, the ability to work with ones hands, as well as the ability to work calmly in hazardous environments. Frequently, commercial divers must perform their tasks in low light, murky, low visibility water. As a result, divers must learn to rely on touch to navigate structures and accomplish tasks.

Due to the dangers involved with this line of work, divers can be well compensated for their time. Often, divers will receive depth pay, hazard pay, and other bonuses in addition to their hourly rates.

James Cross Jr. is an outdoor enthusiast that has grown up around the inland commercial diving industry. He has also created a list of commercial diving companies in the United States and Canada to serve as a resource for future divers and general contractors seeking to connect with commercial diving companies.

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