Diving in Rivers

[pdwh]

After a little bit of research, I've discovered that SSI and PADI both have had River Diving specialties in the past. After a query to SSI, I was informed they still have it but no online materials and not many shops teach it. I'm still waiting to a question on which ones in the US.

Does anyone know of any places in the continental US, preferably the Midwest, that one could get training on safe method of diving in rivers? I've done enough research to see that there are certainly a lot of extra considerations besides just the current. This is a case where I'm not really concerned about which agency - I just want to get some training so I can do it safely.

 

[Tigerpaw]

If you're interested in river diving and you're not getting any replies from shops, you might be better suited to find divers with experience and learn from them. You can learn a lot from an experienced diver or instructor than you can taking a class. Drift, DSMB, Navigation and Photo/Video are some specialties that I got my learning from an experienced diver and not a class.
One last thing, this board has a regions section. Look for Midwest US and post your question there, asking for an experienced diver or instructor to do river diving. Good luck and have fun. Hope this helps.

 

[Waterwulf]

Look for rivers where lots of people go tubing. Then look for groups of divers who dive those tube float routes for "treasure". Sunglasses, cell phones, jewelry, wallets, etc, are all lost on tubing trips. They also collect the garbage they find. The tubers usually float on weekends so plan the river trips during the week.

 

[Rilelen]

There's a decent amount of river diving in Florida; most people stick to Rainbow River, which is a spring-fed river, clear and shallow for the entire stretch. But some people also dive the Peace River looking for fossils etc., and a decent number drift parts of the Sante Fe when the water levels are down and the river is tannic but clear(ish).

There’s no formal courses for diving these, I think most people just go with someone whose gone before. Several dive ops run trips down Rainbow.

 

[tursiops]

@TMHeimer

I'm pretty sure there was never a PADI River Specialty, but there may well have been a Distinctive Specialty, meaning that it was written by some instructor as a private class, and vetted and approved by PADI as being safe and reasonably meaningful/useful. They are not listed anywhere, and in general if that instructor stops teaching it, the class is gone.

 

[Rob9876]

Did a quick G search for "padi river diver" and turned up 1 PADI course (Michigan) and 1 SSI course (Penna.) on the first page. I did not look past the first page, but you might look or make a more specific search.

I recalled seeing murky videos of people diving the Cooper River in NC looking for fossils, and found this good article about that which mentions that Rescue and Solo would be good courses to have for river diving (makes sense, since with low viz and current you can quickly be out of sight of a buddy).

Went further down this rabbit hole and found this site listing dive ops for the Cooper River which might be good to check with about whether they offer a specific class.

As mentioned above, if you know of rivers closer to you that many people dive regularly you might go down that same search path and find something closer.

 

[pdwh]

If you're interested in river diving and you're not getting any replies from shops, you might be better suited to find divers with experience and learn from them. You can learn a lot from an experienced diver or instructor than you can taking a class. Drift, DSMB, Navigation and Photo/Video are some specialties that I got my learning from an experienced diver and not a class.
One last thing, this board has a regions section. Look for Midwest US and post your question there, asking for an experienced diver or instructor to do river diving. Good luck and have fun. Hope this helps.

Yeah, I've been reaching out in local dive groups.

 

[pdwh]

Did a quick G search for "padi river diver" and turned up 1 PADI course (Michigan) and 1 SSI course (Penna.) on the first page. I did not look past the first page, but you might look or make a more specific search.

I recalled seeing murky videos of people diving the Cooper River in NC looking for fossils, and found this good article about that which mentions that Rescue and Solo would be good courses to have for river diving (makes sense, since with low viz and current you can quickly be out of sight of a buddy).

Went further down this rabbit hole and found this site listing dive ops for the Cooper River which might be good to check with about whether they offer a specific class.

As mentioned above, if you know of rivers closer to you that many people dive regularly you might go down that same search path and find something closer.

I've already reached out to both of those shops, waiting for replies, and have been checking things. Seems like it should be more prevalent especially after reading here on some of the dangers and tips - Diving Articles - he's got 4 articles and a set of lecture slides with some good information.

 

[pdwh]

@TMHeimer

I'm pretty sure there was never a PADI River Specialty, but there may well have been a Distinctive Specialty, meaning that it was written by some instructor as a private class, and vetted and approved by PADI as being safe and reasonably meaningful/useful. They are not listed anywhere, and in general if that instructor stops teaching it, the class is gone.

I've contacted PADI directly to ask. I've seen references to one in a couple of places but it may have been something local as you mention.

 

[pdwh]

Look for rivers where lots of people go tubing. Then look for groups of divers who dive those tube float routes for "treasure". Sunglasses, cell phones, jewelry, wallets, etc, are all lost on tubing trips. They also collect the garbage they find. The tubers usually float on weekends so plan the river trips during the week.

Yes, done that, lots of those spots near me, and surprisingly no info on people doing treasure hunting or cleanup in the rivers, at least in the water. It's all about shore cleanups.