Scientific diving support: hire divers for research projects
Research diving support means divers working as part of a science project: counting fish or invertebrates along a transect, photographing quadrats, collecting water, sediment or tissue samples, and deploying, servicing and recovering instruments such as loggers, cameras and small moorings.
A good result is data you can use: the protocol followed exactly, samples labelled and handled as planned, instruments recovered with their positions logged, and a dive log of times, depths and conditions for every site.
How the diving is regulated matters. In the US, OSHA's commercial diving rules exempt scientific diving only when it is done under a program with a diving safety manual and a diving control board that, among other things, assures adherence to the buddy system for scuba diving (OSHA 1910.401). OSHA's guidelines describe scientific divers as observers and data gatherers, exclude construction and trouble-shooting tasks, and say the data are non-proprietary, which can matter for consultancy work (OSHA Subpart T, Appendix B). The American Academy of Underwater Sciences publishes scientific diving standards that its organizational members must meet (AAUS standards); it has more than 130 such members (AAUS).
In Great Britain, scientific and archaeological diving projects have their own HSE code of practice (ACOP L107). In Ontario, the Ministry of Labour lists scientific diving among the jobs where the person hiring the diver has many of the same responsibilities as constructors and employers (Ontario Ministry of Labour).
DiverHire is a new marketplace in public beta. Post the project free with sites, depths, dates and tasks, compare bids, and arrange payment directly.
Who needs this
- Universities and colleges: extra divers for field seasons, student projects and long-term monitoring.
- Government agencies: habitat surveys, invasive-species checks and water sampling.
- Environmental and archaeological consultants: baseline and follow-up surveys for permits and assessments.
- Museums and aquaria: collecting and site-recording dives.
- Community science and conservation groups: reef and lake surveys, often with volunteers.
- Instrument owners: deploying and recovering loggers, cameras and moorings.
AAUS organizational members span the same range (AAUS). Before you post, check whether outside divers can dive under your organisation's program, or whether the work counts as commercial diving where you are. In Great Britain, HSE accepts some recreational and scientific-diver qualifications for scientific and archaeological projects, including Dive Leader level (ISO 24801-3) and the European Scientific Diver (scuba only) (HSE approved list, 2026).
Typical pricing
Ask for research diving support to be quoted per diver-day or per team-day: scientific dives are planned around buddy teams and surface support, and field days can be lost to weather. Ask for separate lines for mobilisation and travel, boat time, gas fills, equipment (cameras, lights, sampling gear), per diem on multi-day trips, and data processing or report writing. A fixed price per site or per survey is another option.
We have not found a published rate card for research diving support that we could verify, so we do not quote figures here.
Quotes vary with depth, visibility, access, travel and team size, and with the number of sites, dive days and how much data handling you need. When you post, list the sites, depths, dives per day and deliverables, so bids are comparable.
Guides
- How to Hire a Diver: A Checklist for Boat Owners and Marinas
- Planning, Pricing & Recording Underwater Work: A Guide for Clients and Divers
Required / preferred certifications
- AAUS Scientific Diver (through an AAUS organizational member)
- European Scientific Diver (ESD) / Advanced European Scientific Diver (AESD)
- Dive Leader level (ISO 24801-3) or CMAS 3* (scientific diving in Great Britain, ACOP L107)
- CSA Z275.4 diver competency (Ontario)
- DAN Diving First Aid for Professional Divers
Other diving services
- Underwater inspection
- Underwater welding
- Underwater photography
- Salvage operations
- Boat & hull cleaning
- Marine surveying
- Underwater cleanup
Commercial diving by city
- Aberdeen, UK
- Anchorage, USA
- Auckland, New Zealand
- Baltimore, USA
- Boston, USA
- Brisbane, Australia
- Charleston, USA
- Chicago, USA
- Cleveland, USA
- Corpus Christi, USA
- Detroit, USA
- Dubai, UAE
- Duluth, USA
- Fort Lauderdale, USA
- Galveston, USA
- Halifax, Canada
- Hamburg, Germany
- Honolulu, USA
- Houston, USA
- Jacksonville, USA
- Jersey City, USA
- Key West, USA
- London, UK
- Long Beach, USA
- Melbourne, Australia
- Miami, USA
- Milwaukee, USA
- Mississauga, Canada
- Mobile, USA
- Montreal, Canada
- New Orleans, USA
- New York, USA
- Norfolk, USA
- Oakland, USA
- Perth, Australia
- Philadelphia, USA
- Portland, USA
- Portland, USA
- Rotterdam, Netherlands
- San Diego, USA
- San Francisco, USA
- Savannah, USA
- Seattle, USA
- Singapore, Singapore
- St. John's, Canada
- Sydney, Australia
- Tampa, USA
- Toronto, Canada
- Vancouver, Canada
- Victoria, Canada
Need a marine research diver?
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