SEARCH AND RESCUE IN FRANKFURT
Your PADI Search & Recovery Course
Price: 249 € — includes e-learning, tank, refills, lift bag, and certification
Duration: Four dives, usually over two days
Prerequisite: PADI Adventure Diver with a navigation dive or Advanced Open Water Diver
Minimum age: 12 years
Certification: PADI Search & Recovery Diver — recognized worldwide, valid for life
At some point, something goes missing: a camera, a dive computer, a wedding ring. Searching aimlessly underwater almost never works —not because the object can’t be found, but because without a systematic approach, no one can cover an area completely.
Searching is a process: define the search area, choose a pattern that suits your line of sight and the terrain, and work through it systematically. And then the second part begins— carefully bringing the object to the surface without putting yourself in danger.
The PADI Search & Recovery Diver course teaches you both. We provide the lift bag—hardly anyone owns one for personal use.
What to expect
Planning on Land
Where was the object last seen? How big and heavy is it? What are the visibility and bottom conditions like? This information determines the search area, search patterns, and team assignments.
Knots and Rope Work
Knots that work even with cold hands and gloves, and a search line that doesn't become a trap. First on dry land, then in the water.
Search Patterns
Circular search while on a leash, pendulum search along an edge, U-pattern search, and grid search with a compass. Knowing which pattern to use and when is the real skill.
Recovery Using a Lifting Bag
Attach, fill gradually, monitor ascent, maintain distance. A rising buoyancy bag gains speed faster and faster—we practice controlling it and letting go at the right time. On the final dive, you’ll plan and lead the dive yourself.
What's Included in the Price
Includes:
PADI e-Learning “Search & Recovery Diver” — Lifetime Access
Four dives with a PADI instructor in a small group
Lifting bags, search lines, reels, and carabiners — all course materials
Bottle and all contents
Port Fees
Digital Licensing Card and Licensing Fees
Not included:
Your diving gear. You’ll need to bring your own jacket, regulator, and wetsuit—or you can book the rental equipment package for 80 €.
ABC gear: mask, snorkel, fins, footies.
Gloves —practically a must when working with linen on the region's lakes. We carry them in our store.
Requirements
PADI Adventure Diver with a navigation dive or a higher-level certification such as the Advanced Open Water Diver.
Minimum age: 12 years.
PADI Pre-Course Medical Questionnaire — Required for every diving course.
A medical certificate of fitness for diving if we’re diving at Hunsfels. The lake requires this from every diver, without exception; at Kronau, it’s not necessary. Any doctor can issue it, including your family doctor. To be on the safe side, get it in advance.
Highly recommended: Underwater Navigation and Perfect Buoyancy Control. Search patterns are a form of navigation, and anyone who stirs up sediment while searching obstructs everyone’s visibility.
Search and Rescue in Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main Region
We hold our theory sessions and equipment training in Frankfurt-Schwanheim, at Vogesenstraße 12C. Customer parking is available behind the building (entrance at Am Kirchholz 12); to get here, take the A5 and then Schwanheimer Bahnstraße. It takes 15 to 20 minutes from Sachsenhausen, Niederrad, and Höchst, and a good half hour from Offenbach, Rüsselsheim, Hanau, and Bad Homburg.
Diving takes place in the region's lakes. They are nearly ideal for this course: limited visibility, soft to gravelly bottoms, and manageable depths. If you find an object here, you'll be able to find it again later even when visibility is better.
Why the Frankfurt Dive Center
The equipment is here. Lifting slings in various sizes, ropes, spools, carabiners—all from our inventory and regularly inspected.
Small groups. Teamwork with the line only works if someone swims alongside and can see where the tangle is forming.
Use as directed. About the FDC Club , you'll stay in the water regularly.
What comes after search and rescue?
The following activity fits the theme: WRECK DIVING, NIGHT DIVING and DEEP DIVER. If you enjoy planning and leading, the RESCUE DIVER .
It counts as one of the five specialties required to become a Master Scuba Diver—the five specialties plus certification cost €999 as a bundle.
You can find all specialties under SPECIALTIES, and all prices in the PRICE LIST.
Ready for the next step?
We’ll give you personalized advice—the best next course for you depends on your experience and goals. Give us a call or send us a message.
FAQ
-
249 euros. The price includes e-learning, four dives, a lift bag and guide lines, a tank, tank fills, lake fees, and certification. The rental equipment package costs an additional 80 euros.
-
No. We provide the lifting bags, ropes, reels, and carabiners for the course.
-
The PADI Adventure Diver course with a navigation dive, or a higher certification such as the Advanced Open Water Diver. Minimum age: 12 years.
-
In the course, we work with objects that can be safely handled using a lifting bag. More important is assessing what you can be responsible for with the equipment and your team.
-
Usually two days for the four dives, plus e-learning and dry-land exercises on knots and line handling.
-
The navigation dive is required. However, the complete "Underwater Navigator" course is by far the better way to prepare.
-
Yes, a search-and-recovery dive can count toward the AOWD as an Adventure Dive.
-
No. It is a recreational specialty course for recreational divers. Professional salvage operations are expressly not covered by this course.