How to become an underwater welder

1. 1Finish high school and get fit to dive

   Time: 4 years (high school)Sources 2

   ADCI standards require commercial divers to be high school graduates or the equivalent and at least 18 to get a card. Before any diving under pressure, you need a medical exam by a physician qualified in commercial diver exams, repeated every year. The standards weigh heart and lung fitness heavily, so conditions such as asthma, heart disease or uncontrolled blood pressure can rule you out. Get a diving physical early.

2. 2Learn to weld

   Time: A few months to 1 year (recommended)Cost: $4,464/yr median public in-state tuitionSources 6, 7, 9

   Dive schools teach underwater cutting and welding, but the American Welding Society notes that most underwater welders start with welding experience on land. A welding certificate from a community college or technical school, plus time running stick welds in different positions, makes you more useful to a dive contractor and more likely to be picked for welding jobs once you are diving.

3. 3Complete an accredited commercial diving program

   Time: 625 hours or more (about 4 months full time)Cost: School tuition (varies)Sources 3, 4

   Choose a school whose program meets the ANSI/ACDE-01-2015 standard, which requires at least 625 hours of formal instruction. Training covers diving procedures and equipment, diving physics and physiology, emergency procedures, first aid, and underwater cutting and welding. Santa Barbara City College, for example, includes topside welding plus basic and advanced underwater cutting and welding. Recreational scuba certification does not qualify you.

4. 4Get your ADCI entry-level tender/diver card and CPR/first aid

   Time: At graduationCost: $75 card feeSources 3, 2, 5

   Graduates of ADCI member schools can apply for the Entry-Level Tender/Diver card with a photo and their school certificate. You also need current CPR and first aid certification. ADCI's standards treat a valid card for the right training level as proof that a diver has the training OSHA's dive team rules call for.

5. 5Work as a tender and move up to air diver

   Time: 1-2 years or moreCost: PaidSources 3

   New graduates usually start as tenders, handling divers' hoses and communications, maintaining gear and making shallower dives. To earn the ADCI Air Diver card, you need at least 100 field days and 30 working dives as a diver on surface-supplied systems. Many tenders travel for offshore or inland construction jobs and work long rotations. Ask supervisors for chances to weld and cut topside and on dives.

6. 6Qualify as an underwater welder

   Time: Per job or procedureCost: Usually employer-paidSources 1, 7

   Before you weld on a structure, the contractor has to show you can produce sound welds under AWS D3.6M, the underwater welding code. The code covers both wet and dry welding and sets three weld classes, A, B and O, each with its own qualification and inspection rules. The AWS describes the code as the source for qualification requirements, inspection criteria and acceptance standards.

Programs, tuition and graduates’ earnings

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard (most recent cohorts, released 2026-10-15). Scorecard groups programs by 4-digit field, so a row can include related programs. Tuition is the median published undergraduate tuition and fees of the colleges offering the program (shown only for undergraduate credentials); debt is the median of programs’ median federal loan debt at completion; earnings are the national median for the field and credential four years after completion.

Requirements differ by state. Check your state’s rules in the CareerOneStop License Finder (U.S. Department of Labor) before you enroll.

Welding by feel

Visibility underwater is often close to zero, so divers have to run a bead by touch, sound and muscle memory built on land.

Calm in confined, dark spaces

Panic at depth uses air fast and leads to mistakes, so divers must stay steady while working inside structures or under hulls.

Rigging

Moving heavy steel underwater means planning lifts, slings and lift bags so nothing swings into the diver.

Clear communication

The diver talks continuously with the supervisor and tender by radio, describing what they see and following instructions exactly.

Physical endurance

Divers wear heavy helmets and gear, work against current and cold, and must pass a demanding medical exam every year.

O*NET 31.0 rates these skills as most important for the occupation: active listening, critical thinking, speaking, reading comprehension, writing.

Training cost

$75–$4.5K

Before financial aid

Time

1-2 years or more to regular diving and welding work

Typical path

Median pay

$72,990

All US jobs: $50,980

Payback once qualified

Under 1 year

Pay above the all-jobs median vs. cost

Commercial diving school tuition is not included because it varies widely by school; check each program's published costs. Low: the $75 ADCI entry-level card fee alone. High: 1 year of welding certificate study at the College Scorecard median public in-state tuition of $4,464 plus the $75 card. Add dive school tuition, dive gear, medical exams, travel and living costs during training.

Rough guide only: ignores taxes, aid, interest and earnings given up during training. How we calculate it.

• Air diving supervisor

  Takes years of diving experience and an ADCI supervisor card; supervisors plan dives and are responsible for the crew's safety.

• Mixed-gas or saturation diver

  Requires additional training and ADCI cards for deeper offshore work, where divers live under pressure for long stretches.

• Welder$53,750 median

  Divers who want to stop diving can move to topside welding, fabrication or welding inspection with their existing qualifications.

• Construction manager$114,990 median

  Experienced divers can move into project management at marine construction firms, often after adding coursework in construction management.