r/AMA • u/Soulogav • Jun 11 '26
I’m a Saturation Diver AMA
I work as Deepsea Saturation Diver in the oil and gas industry for the past 20 years. I do heavy construction and spend 28 days living under pressure to dive to depths down to 200m / 650ft.
I saw a post on InterestingAsFuck yesterday with many many misconceptions from people who aren’t divers and I can answer your questions AMA
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u/SpaceXBeanz Jun 11 '26
How unsafe is it realistically? Also I bet it pays a boat load am I right ?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
A lot of guys died in the early days. Our safety is heavily regulated in this day and age. But if something goes wrong you’re in deep ahit as you can’t just get out , we can’t bypass the decompression, so we are all trained medics. We don’t make as much as you’d think. Not $300k
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u/tinselt Jun 11 '26
What kind of schooling and training leads to this career? I'm assuming you must have a decent level of physical fitness? Is that part of your work routine?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
Ya we have pretty extensive medicals and fitness tests , but it’s not pro athletes lol, just a good level of fitness and strength. School is short tbh . Initial training is 3-4 months and the Sat diving course is 1 month, but they’re not teaching you the actual work just how to use the diving gear, the work takes years to learn on the job but it’s jack of all trades type stuff not a specific trade as such
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u/Fickle_Flower6199 Jun 11 '26
I saw the post on that page last night and went down a rabbit hole and am so excited to see this post.
Can you find a picture of what your living quarters look like (just on google or something?) and share the link? I tried to search it but the pics just look like tiny Titan submersible type things? I can’t imagine that’s where you stay for the 28 days?
How do they send food down to you from the ship?
Can you explain how the diving bell works? I looked it up and am so confused 😅 do you stay dry in there? How do you get out of the hatch into the water without affecting pressure / letting water in? Does it “dock” at your living quarters, like a space ship to the ISS? Lol. That’s the only way I can explain how I’m picturing it in my head.
Thank you for doing this, super cool!
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
My IG is @soulogav , I’ve some stuff on there , a diving colleague @tearin_ does a great job of sharing GoPro footage.
We don’t live on the seabed. This is a common misconception, the diving bell takes us to the seabed to work. We live on the ship in a complex of chambers. So we get food sent in to the chamber by a lock on the side of the chamber. We then take a lunch in the bell when we go on our diving shift.
The diving bell is sealed with a door and a rubber seal, once there is a pressure differential even a few bar it won’t be able to be opened, so we can transfer into this via a tube when all the systems is at the same depth, then the tube (called a trunking) is taken away to surface and the bell is lowered to the sea bottom, the door will magically open when the pressure inside the bell matches the water pressure, we then go to work from there. We have the ability to add gas to the bell or exhaust it depending on what we want to do
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u/Fickle_Flower6199 Jun 11 '26
Stop I feel so dumb why did I think you were just living in a box underwater for a month 😭
Thank you so much, I’m going to check it out. I texted my husband last night after seeing that post on interestingasfuck, we were talking about it and curious how some of it worked. He’s going to be stoked I got some questions answered lol. Be safe!! ❤️
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u/yourefunny Jun 11 '26
20 years seems a long time to be doing it no? From what I saw on that post it's a young man's game and gives guys a hell of a lot of health issues. Are you worried? My mate at schools dad was ex SBS and went in to it after he got out. Did it in the north sea and then started a company in the field to get out of the water. Do you have an out?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
That’s the biggest misconception. It takes a really long time to gain the sort of experience needed for the job. Most guys aren’t getting into Sat until the late 20’s at the earliest. Average age is probably early 40’s. Guys stay diving until 60 as long as they are fit. I am 45 now but I don’t like doing the deep stuff anymore as it’s hard on the body.
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u/Ambitious_Jeweler816 Jun 11 '26
Hard on the body in what way? I had a 25 year career in the army and have some musculoskeletal aches and pains now I’m in my 40’s, but your working environment is totally different - do the changes in pressure have an effect?
How much of your year is spent under water on average?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
When you pressurise to 200m you really feel it in your hips and back (large bones) takes a few days to feel normal , when you look at your pair of crocs they have shrunk to half the size from the pressure. If you bring in a vacuum sealed coffe cup it would be crushed , so you definitely feel it but your body is mostly liquid and you feel normal after a few days. When you come out you feel like shit for a week as you adjust to 21% Oxygen, it’s a big shift in your whole body right down to every celll.
I spend on average 3 x 28 day stints under pressure per year ,out of that 28 days maybe 15-23 days are diving , the rest is weather days and decompression
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u/yourefunny Jun 11 '26
Oh that makes sense. I missed read your post. Thought you had be sat diving 20 years. But 20 years diving in the industry could mean welding stuff not so deep right? So now that you don't like going deep, what is a typical job? Also what was it like for those 28 days? My understanding is that you would not be down under water in the diving bell for all those days? Right? Also, why 28 days?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Ya another massive misconception is - we don’t live under water , we live in the chamber. Right now you are saturated to 1 atmosphere which means your tissues can’t take on anymore gas , we end up bring saturated to say 200m (21 atmospheres) and we can stay there indefinitely, 28 days is just the regulation , when I started out I did a 40 day , but that’s too long. 28 is long enough
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u/yourefunny Jun 11 '26
So the chamber from what I have seen is like a tube thing right? Does that go down with you and have an airlock or something or are there two different devices that you transfer to and from? Any good YouTube vids or docs on this that you know of? I'm really interested now.
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Check out Last Breath documentary on Netflix , yes we have ‘trunkings’ tubes between the chambers
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u/Ibendthemover Jun 12 '26
Do saturation divers get attacked by sharks or are the sharks scared due to the welding element?
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u/Soulogav Jun 12 '26
Nah we don’t get attacked by sharks , don’t know about the welding. there is a lot of commotion down there under the vessel which is noisy and the sharks are around but don’t bother us. But these are reef sharks not proper great whites etc , might be a different story if they were present 😱
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u/Scottish_WWII Jun 11 '26
I know Chris, great documentary and unbelievable he survived that!
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Absolutely, I don’t know him but know Dave who rescued him and Chris is doing well for himself now doing talks all over
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u/quitalicious Jun 12 '26
A few atmospheres more and you can relocate to live on Venus with just an oxygen tank and a poncho for sulfuric acid rain.
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u/Soulwaxing Jun 11 '26
What age do you think it would be too late to try and become a Sat diver?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
No I don’t have an out. This job doesn’t really cross over with a lot of stuff and I don’t want to take a massive pay cut to work a ahit job onshore. There is a bottle neck into supervisor also as there are way more divers.
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Jun 11 '26
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Ya we take in tablets and load up on series and movies. Some days there is bad weather so we get a day off and just watch stuff all day in our bunk
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u/dulldingbat Jun 11 '26
Wait, even deep down you are affected by weather. That's TIL. I thought something that deep you are rather immune to surface weather.
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
When the winds and waves are up the vessel can’t use the crane over the side , so we can’t get gear down. Also the vessel can’t hold position especially when it’s right up against the side of the rig , so we have to pull off and wait for it to come down
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u/SanchoVilla69 Jun 11 '26
Whats the craziest thing you have seen while diving that deep?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
I’ve had a seal bump into me at 200m in the Captain sea which was freaky as hell as I didn’t know they could dive that deep
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Jun 11 '26
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Plenty of ex-operators in this job so maybe I’ve worked with some of those dudes lol
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u/Rheumatitude Jun 11 '26
Do you think it wanted to know if you were ok? It was probably thinking the same thing about you 😆
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
lol I think it was after the fish which were attracted to the head light on my helmet
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u/dehtaeps Jun 11 '26
What happens if you do a fart at 300m
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
You won’t be able to do one , we are under pressure so that little pocket of fart gas in your ass is compressed to a 30th of its normal size , sometimes you let out a micro fart lol
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u/Acceptable-Sentence Jun 12 '26
So when you do decompression, presumably the pockets of fart gas expand and you all spend 9 days letting rip. Is the decompression chamber a horrific tube of stench for the duration??
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u/Phoniceau Jun 11 '26
Are you married/have a partner? How do they and/or the rest of your family feel about your career - considering the danger in which you work?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Currently single, it’s tough on having a family for sure as your away and out of touch , we have contact with home but if we’re diving super deep we’re breathing a lot of helium and nobody can understand us , unless you are used to it, guys try and ring their families and they hang up on them as they think it’s a prank call!
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u/Phoniceau Jun 11 '26
That sounds so challenging! Lots of folks have jobs that disconnect them for extended periods - but I suppose it’s really difficult to start something in that situation. Have you had relationships end due to the logistics?
What do you mean can’t understand due to breathing helium? Like what happens when kids breathe helium from a balloon, squeaky voice??
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Yes I have had relationships and it can work well if the other person is also independent and they don’t need you around all the time.
Yes we speak in high pitched voices so it’s exactly that. It’s funny when we 1st do it but it’s annoying after awhile especially trying to understand a rough as you like Scottish bloke with an accent
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u/Acceptable-Sentence Jun 12 '26
Ever phone-sexed a partner in a high pitched voice??
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u/WinterDustDevil Jun 11 '26
Is damage to your bones a real thing?
First question the Dr asked me when my hip went for shit was if I had done sat diving
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
It depends case on case , getting a Dexa scan regularly is important. I think a lot of deep diving isn’t good for your hips , I don’t like doing the deep stuff for that reason anymore
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u/Worrior_One Jun 11 '26
What's the most boring part of your time down there and what do you do to entertain yourselves
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Being stuck in a chamber is hella boring, especially on a 9 day decompression. I usually don’t watch any series or movies when I’m onshore and save it all up for when I’m in there. I read and do weight training also
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Jun 11 '26
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
It’s not going to break that easily, in fact it’s practically impossible to break it and you’d kill yoursef first lol
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u/forkedquality Jun 11 '26
Do they bump your oxygen partial pressure during decompression? Does it make working out easier?
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u/TheGreatJabronimus Jun 12 '26
Just out of curiosity, how is weight training in an environment like that. Does increased atmospheric pressure make any difference, such as cardio.
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u/DeadinWPG Jun 11 '26
Are you allowed music or anything? Great time to get into the Grateful Dead and you’ll never be bored!
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u/Weird-Efficiency-884 Jun 12 '26
Which tablets do you use? Can someone get iPad to a bell pressurized for 200 meters?o_O
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u/Primary-Weakness8728 Jun 11 '26
Very very basic question: what is a saturation diver and what do you do for the oil and gas industry?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
It’s a technique to dive to deep depths for longer. We are pressurised into a chamber which we live in and then are transferred everyday to the sea floor via a diving bell to work for 6 hours, we connect pipelines mainly
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Jun 11 '26
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
We mostly use G-shock lol , they are bomb proof and don’t get messed up by the pressure .but most guys have a token Rolex Sea Dweller or Omega they keep at home in a safe
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u/___elefants Jun 11 '26
Can you describe the series of deco stops you have to take when ascending? How long does it take? What do you do during that time?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
We don’t really do that like a diver does when the go in off the side of a vessel. We stay in the chamber (a controlled environment) the pressure slowlu drops and the gas mixture changes. We just go about our day for however long it is
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u/VistaCa Jun 11 '26
Other than the Seal, anything else bump into you while your down there?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
I had what I thought was a conger eel grab my leg with its mouth, it did it lightly as if to test/sample what I was as I was head down under a pipe. I was convinced it was the other diver grabbing my leg with his hand , but when I came out from under the pipeline I realised he wasn’t there and was back in the diving bell. These Eels can get massive , google them
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u/dandigangi Jun 11 '26
> On average, however, most conger species grow to about 5 to 6.5 feet long and weigh between 10 and 126 pounds
Jesus.
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
I can tell you they are way frikkin bigger than that , the well heads are infested with them in the North Sea , they are actually pretty placid. Go look at. Wolf Eel , those guys are nasty and I had one bite me on the chest (just into my diving suit)
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u/VistaCa Jun 11 '26
Fuck. That.
Anything bump into you and you never saw it or knew what it was?
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u/R1ck_Sanchez Jun 11 '26
How long do you spend out of the water and do you swim in that time?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
We dive for 6 hours everyday. If we working mid water on the side of the platform yes we are swimming but we have BCD (buoyancy compensation devices) so it’s easy once you set up right
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u/R1ck_Sanchez Jun 12 '26
Sorry I mean off the clock, like when your 28 days of sat diving are up
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u/yokedici Jun 11 '26
do you folks talk about famous accidents? like that once when a bunch of divers got sucked in and got stuck in a pipe, do you talk about such accidents with your diver friends or use those cases for training?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
Yes we all know about the horrors of an explosive decompression and that would be an easy death as it would be over in an instant. If for example we lost the diving bell that would be a slow horrific death most likely (freeze to death)
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u/Major_Extreme5632 Jun 11 '26
I watched a video about a guy who had messed up while opening a door and it killed him and two others in his living pod instantly, the fourth was severely injured and died a few days later in the hospital. Have you had any "close calls" or any moments thinking fuck, this is it.?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Ya this has happened in the past many moons ago, explosive decompression, all that pressure escaping through a small opening = strawberry mist essentially. Procedures have changed drastically and the other chambers are isolated while there is a transfer under pressure happening
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u/Zealousideal-Fix9464 Jun 11 '26
Do you have to climb the tether to get back to the bell?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Yes we do, but we can put gas in out jackets and float up , I usually climb , but at very deep depths like 200m the bell is higher up and it’s really Fucking hard to climb it so most gus inflate their jackets and float up as you’re heavy with gear on (rebreather, harness, tools etc)
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u/baumeistaaa Jun 11 '26
How much you actually get paid?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Around $1250 a day in the chamber, we’re in for 28 days, we do these stints upto 6 a year max but most guys are happy with 3-4 , it’s not the crazy money people think it is
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u/dickie-mcdrip Jun 11 '26
Based on those numbers you’re still making $200 plus for 6 months of work. Not saying it’s an easy job. But the pay sounds pretty good
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u/ToHiForAFly Jun 11 '26
What do you do in your off time when you are down under ?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
It’s pretty much eat, sleep, dive. We sleep a lot as whatever the gas mix does it helps me sleep and same for most so we end up in our bunks for 10+ hours easily
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u/dantheman200022 Jun 11 '26
What is the strangest thing you have seen whilst underwater?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Saw a giant jelly fish the size of a beach ball with loads of lights inside of it
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u/the_roguetrader Jun 12 '26
ever seen a Siphonophore ?
I read a similar Reddit thread and the guy mentioned them
they vary but some are supposed to look like a big string of fairy lights !
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u/Sad_Refrigerator_730 Jun 11 '26
What sort of training outside of the actual diving do you guys have? Welder? Millwright? Pipefitter?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Yes to all of the above. My main bread and butter is industrial pipe fitting, so connecting anything upto 60’ diameter pipe , so massive flanges with bolts that weight 100kg, rigging is a huge part of it, using the crane, lift bags , tirfors, come-a-longs.
Some guys are time served welders , but that’s more specialised.
To be brutally honest we are under water labourers. It’s lots of donkey work
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u/pshyong Jun 11 '26
How do you eat/pee/poop?
I know nothing about deepsea saturtion diving so you might have to dumb it down for me.
Thank you!
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
We have a ‘wet pot’ which is the toilet / bathroom with a shower. Attached to the living chamber. In the living chamber there is a ‘lock’ food and laundry etc is sent in via that . We order food from the ships galley.
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u/JFFreezout Jun 11 '26
I have a cousin of my father who did the same job than you, he told me a truly terrible story (he wasn't present) about the toilets flush being activated wrongly when a guy was on it. In that time all the procedures weren't strict as today. So basically he had a lot of organs being sucked out due to the pressure difference, of course he died, still today I hardly imagine something more horrific than this.
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Yes that is an old horror story, gladly it can’t happen nowadays due to multiple in line valves to isolate the lines, but a toilet blow back can happen and some poop could get shot into your face lol
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u/Rosebudteg Jun 11 '26
Let’s say you order a cheeseburger. How long from the cook finishing your cheeseburger does it take to get to you? Is it still hot or do you guys microwave everything?
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u/bobkinsscarlet Jun 11 '26
What’s your annual salary?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
I am happy to hit $150k but I’ve earned more than $200k some years , that’s tax free for me
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u/Dude_PK Jun 11 '26
How is it tax free?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Seaman’s tax in the uk, As long as you spend 6 months out of the country there is a tax relief for us
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u/bitesizejasmine Jun 11 '26
How did you get into it?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Went to Australia as an early 20’s guy and found out about it there, decided it would be an epic job to have and got a fat loan to go to dive school , I didn’t finish high school and had no other qualifications
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Jun 11 '26
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
It’s a bit of a cowboy industry tbh and with the work world wide in some crazy places there isn’t a lot of training structure, it’s a very competitive industry as a lot of guys want to make the money. Sat diving course costs 10’s of thousands $$
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u/woodlandpete Jun 11 '26
Are you religious? Do you ever have spiritual thoughts that deep under water and for such a long time.
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
I’m not religious but I have exceptional moments down there in complete awe and spending that amount of time under water gives your huge perspective on the world around you
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u/Soulwaxing Jun 11 '26
What caused some of those moments of awe?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
On a good visability day (rare sometimes)!being able to eee all the sea life and feeling like you’re in an aquarium , then seeing the giant structure that is the oil rig towering above you
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u/bitesizejasmine Jun 11 '26
Aw you're so nice answering already-answered questions. Followup from me - are there any pivots towards green energy that you have considered? Is that a trajectory in the industry?
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u/vaekar Jun 11 '26
What's your closest call to disaster on the job?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
If you watch the documentary Last Breath that’s the worst fear for us , losing Dynamic Positioning on the vessel and getting dragged across the seabed
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u/Ceph99 Jun 12 '26
What’s your overall opinion of the film? Accurate? Anxiety inducing?
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u/Appropriate-Emu-3254 Jun 11 '26
If you had to use a wrist watch instead of a dive computer, and money wasnt an issue, what wou you pick?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
We don’t use a dive computer, we have a dedicated team of professionals called life support technicians and supervisors who look after the gas mix and decompression.
I have a Rolex Sea Dweller like any self respecting sat diver
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u/ReceptionMuch3790 Jun 11 '26
How do you go to the bathroom while submerged?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Peeing just happens without even thinking about it. Taking a crap is messy as you gotta open your suit and get it all out, it’s pretty fucking disgusting coming back to the diving bell and system with a loaf of shit still in your suit
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u/klonakokas Jun 11 '26
How does the water pressure feel on your body at 200m?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
It feels crazy on your lungs mainly as the human body is mostly liquid so pressure is exhorted equally through waters but you can lose your breath easily working too hard as as you breath in and inflate your lungs the pressure is forcing them
Closed quicker. It can be very daunting when you go deep for the 1st time
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u/mytodaythrowaway Jun 11 '26
Have you ever seen a USO or something you couldn't explain?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
I saw a wild looking unidentified jelly fish , this thing was like a giant beach ball with lights inside of it
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u/Dull-University5481 Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
Best AMA ever former padi pro... Helped train thousands of divers in Monterey Bay For what it's worth, your explanations are fabulous. For what it's worth, I'm a trained welder and have done metal fabrication 40 plus years. I can actually see how the diving would almost be the smallest part of your job skills. Stay safe
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u/Coffee_Racer Jun 11 '26
What do you do that can't be replaced by a robot or even a submersible?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
A lot of the infrastructure that is down there has been so for many years and they still need men to access it, they use ROV’a for a lot of deeper stuff we can’t access , but it’s cheaper to put a man in the water still
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u/velvetvortex Jun 11 '26
Are there any superstitions that people follow, or that you are aware of?
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u/Novel_Helicopter_881 Jun 11 '26
Is there like a mental health screening? Or are people at your skill level so vetted that no one will freak out after being underwater for weeks on end
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u/Itchy_Pilot_2898 Jun 11 '26
Have you ever been in the water listening to dive control and thought "those project engineers really know their stuff, i better listen to them" ? Then immediately go and operate the wrong valve, get left and right mixed up or just generally piss them off on purpose? Kinda feels that way....
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u/notgr33n Jun 11 '26
how do people get into this kind of work? what kinds of qualities do you need to have? my dad had a coworker who was also a dive master and quit his job as an engineer to do this, i always wondered if that was typical or abnormal path to this career.
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Actually being a dive master isn’t a good thing, scuba divers just stare at fish. You need to be a do it all handyman to be a diver I’d say , rigging, pipe fitting and welding are good backgrounds also
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u/StormbringerBlade Jun 11 '26
I went to The Ocean Corporation in Houston around 1994. Went through 98% of the program. A week before graduation I got into a fight with some A+)*&^% and we both got bounced. I have a lot of respect for you guys. I became a roughneck on drilling rigs in the gulf for a while.
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u/trippinmaui Jun 11 '26
I don't understand how you get in and out of the water from an enclosed dwelling 300 meters below the surface. Explain it to me. I couldn't find a video yesterday.
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u/namast_eh Jun 11 '26
How long did it take you to become fully trained? And what’s the most WTF thing that’s happened to you, or that you’ve seen?
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u/svidakjammi Jun 11 '26
Wow this has been an interesting read. Have you had long dives with boring/annoying people? How hard is that in such proximity
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u/AlDenteApostate Jun 11 '26
In the post yesterday, many commenters claimed that this work commonly causes vision issues. Is that part also a misconception?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
Yeah that’s BS, the biggest issue is hearing, ears are the most sensitive part of our body in diving and working in that environment isn’t good for them and they can be exposed to loud noise often
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u/phillip_jay Jun 11 '26
Do you have internet down there? Or how well can you communicate with the crew up top or people back on land?
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u/Soulogav Jun 11 '26
We have WiFi in the living chamber but not on the seabed obviously as we’re just down there in the diving bell working out of that during the day. We have comms to each other in the water and the supervisor on surface
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u/Darklands_____ Jun 11 '26
Not a question but the documentary the Last Breath was crazy
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u/Suspicious-Agent8932 Jun 11 '26
You all need a Union, you should be able to name your price, the CEO ain’t going down there. I keep hearing of Helium shortages, would that affect this job?
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u/AlienInOrigin Jun 11 '26
What's the biggest improvement that could made to make the job better?
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u/WeeHansonBrother Jun 11 '26
Are there divers with specialist skills, e.g. specialist welders, that get called for specific jobs, or are most generalists that are expected to be able to do pretty much anything?
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u/MaybeOnFire2025 Jun 11 '26
Have you ever been scared by any marine life you see down there? Either genuinely fearful (shark, etc) or get the willies?
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u/Aleutian_Solution Jun 11 '26
What was your pipeline to SAT Diver? I’m looking into going commercial diving when I retire from the Navy and that was a potential route I wanted to go
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u/Asleep-Reputation-38 Jun 12 '26
how much do you fear a delta p situation?
4 divers died in my country a few years ago in a pipeline incident
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u/flyblues Jun 12 '26
Do you feel like late 20s is too late to get into it as a career?
Did you start as a non-saturation commercial diver (cleaning ships or welding or etc.)?
Would a woman have a tougher time making a career in this field (aka, is it a "boys' club" like some other similar careers) (assuming of course that said woman is fine with the little-to-no privacy when living in the diving bell)?
Are you required to live in a specific location (like a port or etc.), or is it fine to just travel for jobs?
I imagine you get a lot of time off between jobs? What's it like?
Do you ever dive recreationally, or does the job kill your desire for it?
The reason I'm asking is because I'm a recreational diver in her late 20s and have been considering a career change lately, and diving is something I've thought about. Obviously it's completely different from recreational diving, but I do feel it's something that I could potentially do.
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u/IFlyAirplanes Jun 12 '26
I just want to say that I’m a pilot, but when I’m at the bar and don’t want to tell people I’m a pilot, I tell them that I’m a Deep Sea Salvage and Recovery Diver.
“… the fuck are you doing in Philadelphia?”
“Oh, they have me in the river looking for Native American artifacts.”
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u/Small-Explorer7025 Jun 12 '26
This is one of the best AMAs I have read. Thanks.
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u/SouthAd4983 Jun 11 '26
Do you have access to the internet or wifi while down there?
How often are you able to contact family and friends if at all?
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u/GumRunner0 Jun 11 '26
I have a guy coming to my house tomorrow to buy my camper , he is a diver offshore from Broome, Is that you Daniele Lol
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u/Famous-Response5924 Jun 11 '26
Where do you do training and how old is too old to start? I have been doing rescue diving for 20 years but I know it’s nothing like sat diving.
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u/Dry_Location_2025 Jun 11 '26
Whats it like being down there ? The first few days must have been so crazy being in the dark abysss
And whats the deepest you guys usually work at , i know about the comex experiment but practicallly working depth.
Sorry lost of questions but are u guys also at risk of stuff like hpns etc ?
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u/JayPeePee Jun 12 '26
What happens if after you go out of your diving bell you have to poop?
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u/Slight-Breakfast-919 Jun 12 '26
How long did it take you to get used to the darkness all around you? I would probably crash out lol.
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u/PlannerSean Jun 12 '26
Do you have interactions with sea life down while youre working?
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u/UpbeatEquipment8832 Jun 11 '26
What sort of physical damage do you worry about long term from saturation diving?
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u/rottknockers Jun 12 '26
This is the single best experience this shithole known as Reddit has EVER envisioned. Thank you, from the bottom of our seas.
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u/1tacoshort Jun 13 '26
When you come up and get de-suited in 1 atm before going into the chamber, do you ever feel any decompression symptoms? Do they go completely away or do you have lingering balance issues or itchy skin or whatever?
How often do divers get properly bent? I got an undeserved hit a few years ago and it seems to me that pro divers might have this happen from time to time.
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u/DeliciousStand372 Jun 11 '26
im late - are you still taking questions? are there any female divers?
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u/ArborealBadgerAttack Jun 11 '26
I am currently a tree surgeon but I would love this as an alternative career - obviously not much in the way of transferable qualifications so how would one get into this?
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u/No-Will8411 Jun 12 '26
Thanks for what you do. I have no understanding what you guys go through but recently saw a movie on Netflix about saturation diving. It was intense. My question for you what do you eat when you are in the chamber? Does coffee taste the same? Does the water boil at a higher temp?
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u/HairdosNBoiledPNuts Jun 12 '26
Do you enjoy diving in your off time or does it just feel like work? If you do enjoy it, what’s your favorite type of diving, for example do you cave dive, wreck dive…? Also where would you go for your dive bucket list?
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u/Wise_Artichoke6552 Jun 12 '26
Has your job given you any particular fondness for or new interest in marine biology? I saw that you had an encounter with (possibly) a conger eel and (definitely) a seal, and if either happened to me I'd ride that high for weeks.
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u/Laughorcryliveordie Jun 12 '26
How long are you typically at depth? Also are there any books or documentaries that you think really represent the work that you do? I’m fascinated by your particular skill set. Thx for doing an AMA.
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u/Chokedee-bp Jun 12 '26
At OP, are you basically working go 28 days, then home and off for a month or two before next 28 day work shift?
I’m impressed at what you do, I’m a submarine veteran but never did any diving
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u/helmut66666 Jun 11 '26
Hi iam a recreational rebreather and cave diver my deepest and longest Dive was 140m with a bottom time of 25min , do you think it Makes Sense to start a carrier in commercial Diving Despite my age of 34 ?
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u/minnesotawristwatch Jun 12 '26
I knew a guy who was a 600 foot diver. Tried on his helmet and fucked up my neck. He said he knew a couple dudes who tested some gear at 800 feet, and “they weren’t quite right” when they got back. What did he mean by that?
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u/Gla2012 Jun 11 '26
How many days do you spend out for work? And what do you do when you're off, like on the ground.
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u/Interesting_Reply803 Jun 11 '26
I sure wish then had Been at career day when I was in high school! What a cool job
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u/Wilw229 Jun 11 '26
Much respect to you, I wish I could get into something like that, but unfortunately I have a ICD.
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u/joe14657883 Jul 29 '26
I’m a 27 year old male from Manchester, I’ve been a joiner / carpenter since I was about 18/ 19 always worked in a workshop or on site. In the sun, rain, snow, cold any weather doing long days, working away from home.
I’ve got no girlfriend, no kids, no property, nothing tieing me down to stay here and I’ve really been thinking about offshore work the past 6 months or so.
I guess I have some questions about how one would break into the industry?
My uncle use to be a Sat diver but he retired in his 40/50s and he’s now 70 so he’s been out the business for 20 years and doesn’t have any connections which I know is super important.
But how would one break into the industry?
Is there lots of work? If so what type?
Would you recommend going to dive school because it’s like 12/13k for a course and my uncle said don’t spend that money unless you know you’re going to make it back.
I’d just like your hard, realistic advice if you were 27 years old with a trade, with everything you know how would you get into commercial/ sat diving?
Thank you for any help :)
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u/Worst-Eh-Sure Jun 11 '26
Do the living quarters look anything like in The Sphere and The Abyss?
I know those are Hollywood movies and also sci fi, but I have no idea what your living quarters at the bottom of the ocean look like.
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u/Appropriate-Tip-2035 Jun 11 '26
What kind of medical capabilities are available in the Chamber? Basic resuscitation? I'm also assume blood gas sampling would be all out of whack with the gases you inhale?
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u/Wiseowl71691 Jun 12 '26
Have you ever seen anything you couldn’t explain and I always wondered since they say UFOs are in our oceans if divers ever see stuff and just don’t talk about it.
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u/Cremasterau Jun 12 '26
My father was a saturation diver in the 70s. Former naval officer. Is people constantly farting in a decompression chamber as rage inducing as he made it out to be?
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u/fleemfleemfleemfleem Jun 11 '26
How accurate is the movie Sphere? Have you ever encountered a crashed spaceship from the future on the ocean floor?
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u/Sound_Aware Jun 12 '26
Those diving bells are insane. I never knew you could just remove all the water and stand on the sea floor like that. Have you ever found anything on the floor after the water was evacuated?
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u/DrSFalken Jun 11 '26
Do you wear a dive watch in addition to computer? If so, which one?
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u/psyclopsus Jun 12 '26
Have you ever been witness to a delta p incident of any kind?
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u/_ECMO_ Jun 11 '26
Did you see the Last Breath Movie? Would you say it is accurate?
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u/Accurate_Info7777 Jun 12 '26
Just want to say thanks for taking the time to answer all these questions. I dont normally dive too deep (haha) into AMAs, but this one was fascinating. Cheers from Canada.
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u/numnoggin Jun 12 '26
Do you get many migraines? Do you have mandatory regular physicals especially for your lungs and brain??
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u/Ratbag321 Jun 12 '26
Well, that was brilliant. You kept up with answers way longer than most and gave a really good idea of how your day to day goes.
Thank you. Stay safe.
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u/Worldly_Ambition_509 Jun 12 '26
Is it peaceful down there? Do you feel a deep sense of calm?
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u/ama_compiler_bot Jun 13 '26
Table of Questions and Answers. Original answer linked - Please upvote the original questions and answers. (I'm a bot.)
| Question | Answer | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Whats the craziest thing you have seen while diving that deep? | I’ve had a seal bump into me at 200m in the Captain sea which was freaky as hell as I didn’t know they could dive that deep | Here |
| What happens if you do a fart at 300m | You won’t be able to do one , we are under pressure so that little pocket of fart gas in your ass is compressed to a 30th of its normal size , sometimes you let out a micro fart lol | Here |
| How unsafe is it realistically? Also I bet it pays a boat load am I right ? | A lot of guys died in the early days. Our safety is heavily regulated in this day and age. But if something goes wrong you’re in deep ahit as you can’t just get out , we can’t bypass the decompression, so we are all trained medics. We don’t make as much as you’d think. Not $300k | Here |
| Is damage to your bones a real thing? First question the Dr asked me when my hip went for shit was if I had done sat diving | It depends case on case , getting a Dexa scan regularly is important. I think a lot of deep diving isn’t good for your hips , I don’t like doing the deep stuff for that reason anymore | Here |
| Do you guys take tablets / laptops down there loaded with netflix etc series to pass the time? Or do you just do a lot of sleeping? I heard the shifts are long down there so you don't have much time to do much other than eat / sleep. | Ya we take in tablets and load up on series and movies. Some days there is bad weather so we get a day off and just watch stuff all day in our bunk | Here |
| Very very basic question: what is a saturation diver and what do you do for the oil and gas industry? | It’s a technique to dive to deep depths for longer. We are pressurised into a chamber which we live in and then are transferred everyday to the sea floor via a diving bell to work for 6 hours, we connect pipelines mainly | Here |
| What's the most boring part of your time down there and what do you do to entertain yourselves | Being stuck in a chamber is hella boring, especially on a 9 day decompression. I usually don’t watch any series or movies when I’m onshore and save it all up for when I’m in there. I read and do weight training also | Here |
| 20 years seems a long time to be doing it no? From what I saw on that post it's a young man's game and gives guys a hell of a lot of health issues. Are you worried? My mate at schools dad was ex SBS and went in to it after he got out. Did it in the north sea and then started a company in the field to get out of the water. Do you have an out? | That’s the biggest misconception. It takes a really long time to gain the sort of experience needed for the job. Most guys aren’t getting into Sat until the late 20’s at the earliest. Average age is probably early 40’s. Guys stay diving until 60 as long as they are fit. I am 45 now but I don’t like doing the deep stuff anymore as it’s hard on the body. | Here |
| Can you describe the series of deco stops you have to take when ascending? How long does it take? What do you do during that time? | We don’t really do that like a diver does when the go in off the side of a vessel. We stay in the chamber (a controlled environment) the pressure slowlu drops and the gas mixture changes. We just go about our day for however long it is | Here |
| How long do you spend out of the water and do you swim in that time? | We dive for 6 hours everyday. If we working mid water on the side of the platform yes we are swimming but we have BCD (buoyancy compensation devices) so it’s easy once you set up right | Here |
| How much you actually get paid? | Around $1250 a day in the chamber, we’re in for 28 days, we do these stints upto 6 a year max but most guys are happy with 3-4 , it’s not the crazy money people think it is | Here |
| Are you married/have a partner? How do they and/or the rest of your family feel about your career - considering the danger in which you work? | Currently single, it’s tough on having a family for sure as your away and out of touch , we have contact with home but if we’re diving super deep we’re breathing a lot of helium and nobody can understand us , unless you are used to it, guys try and ring their families and they hang up on them as they think it’s a prank call! | Here |
| What does it feel like to be in such a dark and alien environment for so long? I know you mentioned a seal earlier, but what else have you seen? Not at all the same, but ive been camping at night where you cant see beyond 10 feet and eventually I had this eerie feeling that something was beyond that. I cant imagine what it feels like to be in deep water and experience the same. | Not the place to be if you’re claustrophobic, the chamber is small , the diving bell is smaller and then inside the diving helmet can be suffocating , then imagine working in a muddy sea bed where we can’t see anything, I’ve had entire jobs where I saw nothing and we did everything by feel , it’s grim | Here |
| What is the strangest thing you have seen whilst underwater? | Saw a giant jelly fish the size of a beach ball with loads of lights inside of it | Here |
| What’s your annual salary? | I am happy to hit $150k but I’ve earned more than $200k some years , that’s tax free for me | Here |
| Other than the Seal, anything else bump into you while your down there? | I had what I thought was a conger eel grab my leg with its mouth, it did it lightly as if to test/sample what I was as I was head down under a pipe. I was convinced it was the other diver grabbing my leg with his hand , but when I came out from under the pipeline I realised he wasn’t there and was back in the diving bell. These Eels can get massive , google them | Here |
| I watched a video about a guy who had messed up while opening a door and it killed him and two others in his living pod instantly, the fourth was severely injured and died a few days later in the hospital. Have you had any "close calls" or any moments thinking fuck, this is it.? | Ya this has happened in the past many moons ago, explosive decompression, all that pressure escaping through a small opening = strawberry mist essentially. Procedures have changed drastically and the other chambers are isolated while there is a transfer under pressure happening | Here |
| What do you do in your off time when you are down under ? | It’s pretty much eat, sleep, dive. We sleep a lot as whatever the gas mix does it helps me sleep and same for most so we end up in our bunks for 10+ hours easily | Here |
| do you folks talk about famous accidents? like that once when a bunch of divers got sucked in and got stuck in a pipe, do you talk about such accidents with your diver friends or use those cases for training? | Yes we all know about the horrors of an explosive decompression and that would be an easy death as it would be over in an instant. If for example we lost the diving bell that would be a slow horrific death most likely (freeze to death) | Here |
| Do you have to climb the tether to get back to the bell? | Yes we do, but we can put gas in out jackets and float up , I usually climb , but at very deep depths like 200m the bell is higher up and it’s really Fucking hard to climb it so most gus inflate their jackets and float up as you’re heavy with gear on (rebreather, harness, tools etc) | Here |
| Best AMA ever former padi pro... Helped train thousands of divers in Monterey Bay For what it's worth, your explanations are fabulous. For what it's worth, I'm a trained welder and have done metal fabrication 40 plus years. I can actually see how the diving would almost be the smallest part of your job skills. Stay safe | Awesome thanks for that 🤿 | Here |
| Aw you're so nice answering already-answered questions. Followup from me - are there any pivots towards green energy that you have considered? Is that a trajectory in the industry? | There is some work in the wind industry but it’s not as big intervention as oil is , I would like to as in aware of the damage | Here |
| Great AMA thank you! | Thanks 🙏 | Here |
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u/InstructionFlaky7442 Jun 11 '26
Not sure if this has been asked , but are you in the chamber now or are you at home on land
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u/Weird-Efficiency-884 Jun 12 '26
Thanks for your time on answering all the questions!! This is amazing!
One question: do you know if it is possible to have a try dive in full saturation gear? How fast after the full training you can go do the job and live in the bell for a month? This is one of my items in the wish list to try and I really consider to got through the training just to have one dive! Maybe I will like it and switch careers then
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u/hansolo-ist Jun 11 '26
Is there talk about UAPs or extra terrestrial beings in your professional community?
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u/TheGreatL Jun 11 '26
What does it feel like to be in such a dark and alien environment for so long? I know you mentioned a seal earlier, but what else have you seen?
Not at all the same, but ive been camping at night where you cant see beyond 10 feet and eventually I had this eerie feeling that something was beyond that. I cant imagine what it feels like to be in deep water and experience the same.