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SSI Search & Recovery Course Goa
SSI Certified

SSI Search & Recovery Course Goa

2-3 Days 30m / 100ft Specialty Course
  • Learn professional search patterns
  • Master lift bag techniques
  • Team diving skills
  • SSI specialty certification
₹13,464
+ GST per person

Optional Add-ons

  • + Extra application dive ₹2,800
  • + GoPro rental + edited video ₹1,500
  • + Private instructor upgrade ₹4,500
  • + Specialty digital materials pack ₹950

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SSI Certified Dive Centre in Goa

SSI Search & Recovery — find it and bring it up

Duration
2–3 Days
Depth
30m/100ft
Dives
2 OW Dives
Cert
SSI Search & Recovery

The SSI Search and Recovery specialty teaches you to find objects lost underwater with systematic search patterns, then bring them up safely using lift bags. It's a genuinely useful skill, whether you've dropped a piece of dive gear or you're helping out on a salvage job.

In Goa's conditions — occasional strong currents and limited visibility — being able to navigate a search pattern systematically rather than searching randomly is particularly valuable. The course combines classroom learning with 1 pool session and 2 open water dives.

This is one of the more physically engaging specialties — particularly the lift bag work, which requires precise buoyancy control and coordination. Good buoyancy beforehand is a significant advantage.

SSI Search & Recovery — Skills and Techniques

Search Pattern PlanningU-pattern (jackstay), expanding square, circular search, and compass arc patterns. Choosing the right pattern for the search area and conditions.
Current Compensation in Search PatternsAdjusting kick cycles and headings for current drift. Maintaining pattern integrity in moving water.
Lift Bag TechniquesCalculating the lift required for a given object weight. Attaching a lift bag, controlled inflation, managing a lift bag ascent without runaway surfacing.
Reel and Line ManagementLaying a guideline during a search, maintaining tension, following the line back to the starting point.
Team Diving in Search OperationsCommunication in a 2-diver search team, coordinating search lines, maintaining buddy contact during spread-out search patterns.
Surface CoordinationCommunicating search progress to the surface, coordinating a multi-diver search from the boat, calling in recovery assets.
The lift bag skill in particular requires careful execution — an improperly inflated lift bag can shoot an object (and the attached diver) to the surface uncontrolled. The course specifically addresses how to avoid this.

Prerequisites for SSI Search & Recovery

SSI Open Water Diver (or equivalent)
Age 10 or older
Good buoyancy strongly recommended
Recommend 20+ logged dives
No prior specialty required
Buoyancy control matters particularly for the lift bag work in this specialty. If your buoyancy is uncertain, we recommend doing SSI Perfect Buoyancy first.

Training Dives — Grandé Island and Pool

One confined water session for pattern familiarisation and lift bag practice, followed by 2 open water dives applying the full skill set.

Grandé Island Reef
5–18m · All levels

Coral gardens, moray eels, snappers, parrotfish. The primary training reef — gentle conditions and rich marine life.

Suzy's Wreck
12–18m · OW+

British-era vessel thick with soft coral. Resident groupers, blue-spotted stingrays, moray eels. Light-zone penetration possible.

Sail Rock
14–24m · AOW recommended

Rocky pinnacle with currents and pelagics. Eagle rays, drift diving. One of Goa's most dynamic dive sites.

Shelter Cove
6–14m · All levels

Protected bay, very gentle. Nudibranchs, pipefish, seahorses. Ideal for skill-focused dives without current distraction.

Bounty Bay
5–12m · All levels

Shallow reef for long bottom times. Macro life — nudibranchs, ornate ghost pipefish. Great for photography and hover practice.

Open water search dives at Grandé Island: Objects are placed on the seabed before your search dive. You navigate from the entry point, execute a systematic pattern, locate the object, attach the lift bag, and coordinate the recovery. All dives are within the 30m depth limit.

What's included in this course

SSI digital learning materials
4 academic sessions
1 pool/confined water session
2 open water search and recovery dives
Full ScubaPro equipment rental (includes lift bag and reel)
SSI Search & Recovery certification card

Not Included

  • Accommodation
  • Pick-up and drop-off
  • Video and photo service
Certification: Your digital certification card is issued immediately upon successful completion. You are certified before you leave Goa and can dive anywhere in the world.

After SSI Search & Recovery Certification

Recover dropped or lost equipment on future dives
Assist in professional search operations as a qualified searcher
Counts toward SSI Master Diver (4 specialties + rescue)
Advanced dive skill set for technical and commercial diving interest
Practical skill valued by boat captains and dive operators
Search & Recovery is one of the skills that transitions recreational divers toward quasi-professional capability. Many DiveMaster candidates choose it as one of their 4 required specialties for this reason.

Why train with FlyingFish in Goa

Here's what actually sets us apart.

ScubaPro Equipment — Maintained on Schedule

Pro-grade gear serviced every 100 dives or 6 months, not when it fails. MK25/S620 regulator, Hydros Pro BCD, Aladin Sport dive computer. You train on the same equipment working instructors use.

Maximum 4:1 Diver-to-Instructor Ratio

Your instructor knows where you are underwater at all times. No crowded groups. If a skill needs more practice, you get the time — not the time left over after 8 other students.

Both SSI and PADI Certifications at One Centre

We teach both agencies at the same location. You choose which certification fits your future dive plans. We give you honest advice, not a push toward whichever we sell more of.

Professional Base at 5-Star Novotel Candolim

Proper briefing rooms, clean equipment rinsing stations, structured course schedule. The difference between a dive school and a beach shack matters when you are doing a multi-day certification course.

Pool session first, so the patterns are locked in before open water

Search patterns must be executed with precision to be effective. We practice every pattern in the pool first — where you can stand up and restart if you lose track — before moving to open water. By the time you execute the pattern in open water, it is already automatic.

Frequently Asked Questions

Objects are placed on the seabed before your search dive begins — typically a weighted buoy or marked object. The search dives simulate real lost-object recovery scenarios. The objects are recovered using lift bags during the second open water dive.

An improperly inflated lift bag can rise uncontrolled, taking attached equipment — or an attached diver — with it. The course specifically addresses how to inflate lift bags in controlled, small bursts, monitor the ascent, and disconnect if it runs away. Properly executed, lift bag operations are safe within the training framework.

The U-pattern (jackstay search) is the most commonly used pattern for systematic coverage of a defined search area. It provides full area coverage when executed correctly. The expanding square is used when the last-known position is known precisely. We practice both during the course.

No — lift bags and reels are included in the equipment rental for the course. If you plan to dive Search & Recovery regularly in the future, we can recommend a specific lift bag and reel setup after the course.

This certification provides foundational skills for underwater search and recovery operations. Professional salvage and maritime recovery work typically requires additional training, commercial diving certification, and insurance. The SSI S&R cert demonstrates familiarity with the principles and techniques.

Yes — SSI Search & Recovery counts as one of the 4 SSI specialty certifications required for SSI Master Diver recognition.
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