The Best Underwater Welding Schools & Courses
Below you’ll find the top qualified underwater welding schools in the world.
25. PDS Commercial Dive Center
Delta State, Nigeria
http://www.pdscommercialdivecentre.com/
Tel: +234 802 309 1806
As underwater welding is a very specialized job, you will need to have qualified as a commercial diver before you’re eligible for this course. However, once you start you’ll be impressed with how comprehensive the course actually is. Lasting 24 weeks, this isn’t a short course, but the dive school have thought of everything, even offering a variety of housing recommendations and meal plans for your use while you’re a student!
24. Canadian Working Divers Institute
Ontario, Canada
http://www.canadianworkingdivers.com/
Tel: 705-657-2766
Set in the stunning Canadian countryside, with Canadian Working Divers Institute offers an intense course which spans 12 weeks. Five students are allocated per tutor, meaning that you can get really personalized, relevant advice that’s tailored to you. As if that’s not enough, one of the most appealing aspects of this course is that it actually exceeds the necessary industry standards, meaning that you’ll learn above and beyond the basics that you need to become a professional underwater welder.
23. Minnesota Commercial Diver Training Center
Brainerd, Minnesota
http://mncdtc.com/home.html
Tel: 800-216-5521
You’ll have to be fast to bag yourself a spot at the MCDTC, because classes only run three times a year, and each class is limited to a maximum of 12 students. However, you’ll learn everything from the basic terminology right up to underwater welding techniques and applications, which covers everything you need to know! They also feature a list of job opportunities which will help you to get a foot in the workplace door once you’ve qualified.
22. XLT
Bibra Lake, Western Australia, Australia
http://www.xlt.com.au/Home
Tel: +61 8 9434 3774
XLT offer several different welding-related courses, including underwater welding. Lasting just a few weeks at most, this course will get you all set and ready to go faster than most (which is great if you’re in a hurry), but you’ll have to meet their minimum skill level requirements before you start. The fees and equipment don’t come cheap, but if you’re willing to pay then this is a fantastic opportunity to explore Australia while gaining a professional qualification.
21. Océanos Escuela de Buceo Profesional SL
Barcelona, Spain
http://www.oceanos-ebp.com/
Tel: 933 56 37 46
It won’t escape your notice that you’ll need at least a basic understanding of Spanish before you start out at this school. However, if you are able to understand, then you will be taught everything that you need to know about underwater cutting and welding (in both practical and theoretical terms) in a grand total of just 72 hours.
20. Norwegian School of Commercial Diving
Fagerstrand, Norway
http://www.nyd.no/other-diving-courses/welding/
Tel: +47 66 96 58 00
Lasting nine hours a day, six days a week for two weeks in a row, the Norwegian School of Commercial Diving puts on a pretty intensive underwater welding course. The course fees do include accommodation, though, so you’re getting good value for your money. After completing the comprehensive course content, you’ll be tested with both written and practical tests, ensuring that you really know your stuff before you qualify.
19. Centro Europeo di Formazione Professionale
Palermo, Italy
http://www.cedifop.it/INDEX.HTML
Tel: +39 329 5899362
Qualify to be a Level 2 IDSA Underwater Welder in Palermo, Italy. Twice a year they offer courses in both offshore and inshore diving, which is perfect if you’d prefer to do one over the other. An added bonus is that this school also runs a selection of ‘top up’ courses, which is great for keeping your skills and techniques fresh and up-to-date.
18. DiveWise
Antwerp, Belgium
http://divewise-tec.com/
Tel: +32 488 40 87 01
Based in Belgium, DiveWise trains divers in both dry and wet welding. To ensure high standards to begin with, if you already have dry welding experience then you’ll have to prove it by performing a small practical test. This school follows European Welding Federation guidelines, so before you apply, make sure that these are in-line with any requirements in your area or for any work you’re interested in.
17. The Underwater Centre
Fort William, Scotland, UK
http://www.theunderwatercentre.com/
Tel: +44 1397 703768
The Underwater Centre is a specialist in providing a range of professional commercial diving and ROV operating qualifications. Their Subsea Construction course covers underwater welding, burning, slinging and rigging. You can either choose to take this as a standalone course, or upgrade it to either a ‘Premium Industry Package’ or ‘Construction Career Package’, both of which combine numerous qualifications to leave you with an enviable, superior set of professional skills.
16. Professional Diving Academy
Argyll, Scotland, UK
http://www.professionaldivingacademy.com/
Tel: +44 1369 701701
Whatever your skill level, the Professional Diving Academy will have a course to suit you. They start out by offering commercial diving taster days for beginners, right the way through to highly specialized professional qualifications. Underwater welding is covered in both the ‘Underwater Welding and Burning Fabricator’ and the ‘Weldcraft – Pro Underwater Coded Welder’ courses, giving you the option to choose the course that most suits your desired career path.
15. Speciality Welds
West Yorkshire, UK
http://www.specialwelds.com/
Tel: +44 1274 879867
You don’t have to have any previous welding experience to enrol on the Coded Underwater Welder Training course at Speciality Welds, because both dry and wet welding techniques will be covered in the syllabus. It’s a full-time course lasting two weeks, meaning that you’ll receive a total of 80 hours of training. The course runs at several different locations around the world, so either choose the one closest to you, or the one that seems like the most exciting adventure!
14. Interdive
Devon, UK
http://www.interdive.co.uk/index.asp
Tel: +44 1752 558080
If you complete the Underwater Welding course at Interdive, you’ll leave with an internationally recognized qualification that meets both the British Standard (BS) and the American Welding Society (AWS) standards. The intense course lasts for three weeks, but the downside is that you’ll have to contact the center directly to enquire about course availability and prices, neither of which are published on the website.
13. DiveSafe International
Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada
http://www.divesafe.com/
Tel: 250-287-3837
DiveSafe International is one of the best-known schools in the diving industry. They offer a wide range of commercial and leisure diving courses, which, with additional training, can get you well on your way to becoming a professional underwater welder. You’ll get to learn in the stunning setting of British Columbia, Canada, making training all the more enjoyable!
12. South Central Louisiana Technical College
Morgan City, Louisiana
http://www.scl.edu/index.cfm?md=pagebuilder&tmp=home&pid=219
Usually, commercial diving qualifications only teach you how to dive safely, without giving you the chance to specialize or gain any relevant experience in the underwater welding industry. However, at the South Central Louisiana Technical College, part of the curriculum covers both topside welding and underwater welding. This will give you a total of 90 clock hours on these techniques alone, on top of all the other material that the course covers!
11. The Ocean Corporation
Houston, Texas
http://www.oceancorp.com
Tel: 800-321-0298
The name of this course says it all, really: Ultimate Diver Training. The Ocean Corporation doesn’t just teach you how to become a commercial diver – instead, they teach a wide range of skills that mean you can turn your hand to numerous different career paths. As well as surface and underwater welding, you’ll cover rigorous training in rigging, underwater nondestructive testing, and much more. At 30 weeks (that’s just under eight months) this is a long course, but you’ll cover a huge amount of ground in the process, coming out more than prepared for whatever commercial diving and underwater welding can throw at you.
10. Santa Barbara City College
Santa Barbara, California
http://www.sbcc.edu/marinediving/website
Tel: 800-965-0581 ext. 2429/2427
In just two semesters at Santa Barbara City College, you can complete a Marine Technology course. It covers everything from an introduction to marine welding right up to advanced underwater welding, as well as much more. You’ll have to provide most of your own diving equipment, but as it’s a community college the tuition fees are much cheaper than at many other establishments, making this an affordable option for many students.
9. Seneca College
Ontario, Canada
http://www.senecac.on.ca/fulltime/UWS.html
Tel: 416-491-5050 ext. 5022
In this intensive course based in Canada, you can study full-time for a period of 35 weeks. This is by no means a fast or easy option, but the standard of the training you’ll receive is exceptional. As well as underwater welding and cutting, the course covers modules such as oil rig inspection and repair. By the end, you’ll even gain a first aid qualification, which is a bonus that most other courses don’t offer!
8. National University Polytechnic Institute
San Diego, California
http://www.nupolytechnic.com
Tel: 800-432-3483
As an underwater welding student, you have two options from the National University Polytechnic Institute. If you’re already qualified in commercial diving then you can go straight into their underwater welding course, which teaches all the techniques associated with wet welding. However, underwater welding is actually a module that everyone covers as part of the commercial divers program. This means that if you have no experience in either field, then this could be the course for you as you’ll learn to dive and weld without having to pay for two separate courses!
7. International Diving Institute
N. Charleston, South Carolina
http://www.ididiver.com
Tel: 843-740-1124
If you’re already a qualified diver, then you can enrol on a Lloyd’s Register underwater welder course, which spans just ten days. You don’t even have to have any prior topside welding experience before you start, although it would be a definite advantage. Provided that you are already a qualified diver – and that you have all the appropriate equipment – you’ll end up paying less than $5,000 in tuition fees, making it a really affordable option.
6. Hydroweld UK
Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, UK
http://www.hydroweld.com
Tel: +44 121 378 1230
Hydroweld describe themselves as ‘the underwater welding specialists’, so you pretty much know you’ve come to the right place. They might have an office in the UK, but their training is currently taking place in Thailand – what better excuse is there for a holiday than to combine it with some professional training? The fees that you’ll pay will cover all your training and materials, but you will have to pay for travel, accommodation and food expenses yourself. Even still, it may work out to be a very reasonable option if you want to explore the world and gain a professional qualification at the same time.
5. Hydroweld USA
Weston, Florida
http://www.hydroweld.com
Tel: 954-385-5678
If you choose to study through Hydroweld USA’s center in Florida, you don’t even have to brave the elements. That’s because they’re home to an enormous indoor tank, which will give you the full underwater welding experience, without having to venture far and wide into lakes or seas. Provided that you’re already a qualified diver, this course comes in at under $5,000 and it lasts just ten days, so it won’t take much time or money to get you well on your way to becoming a professional underwater welder!
4. Holland College, Georgetown Centre
Prince Edward Island, Canada
http://www.hollandcollege.com
Tel: 902-652-2055
For a seriously in-depth, intense diving and underwater welding course, this is a great choice. If you choose to study through this Canadian school, you’ll be a full-time student for the space of a year. During this time, no less than 60 hours will be sent on underwater welding, including both classroom time learning the theory, and practical time putting your new skills to the test.
3. Divers Institute of Technology
Seattle, Washington
http://www.diversinstitute.com
Tel: 206-783-5542
The Divers Institute of Technology offers a seven-month long commercial divers course; month four focuses on underwater welding. You don’t have to have welding experience, because you’ll start by learning the techniques of topside welding. Within a matter of days you’ll transfer your skills underwater, into a large indoor tank so that your tutors can monitor your progress closely. However, by the third week of the program you’ll move to welding in an outdoor lake. This means that within a very short space of time you’ll gain a huge number of wet and dry welding skills, and you’ll have experience of working in a wide variety of environments.
2. Divers Academy International
Erial, New Jersey
http://www.diversacademy.com
Tel: 1-800-238-3483
The underwater diving and welding training which you can undertake at the Divers Academy International will give you both theoretical and practical experience in working in an underwater environment. This school is actually sponsored by Lincoln Electric so you’ll be using their equipment while you study. With the guarantee of having top of the range, good quality equipment at your disposal, this course gives you the best possible start on your underwater welding training journey.
1. CDA Technical Institute
Jacksonville, Florida
http://www.cda.edu
Tel: 904-766-7736
Without a shadow of a doubt, the Commercial Diving Academy has got to be one of the best diving schools in America – if not the entire world. This isn’t the course to start on a whim – it requires plenty of hard work, commitment and dedication. The days are long at ten hours each, and you’ll do physical training every day to make sure you’re fit enough to dive – and that’s on top of all the theory and practical skills that you’ll learn. This is a tough gig, but if you make it through, you’ll have an internationally recognized qualification with a hugely prestigious institute.
U.S.Navy?