Volunteer Dive Program
Join the ranks of the New York Aquarium Dive Team!
Between tending to our animal habitats, interacting with our visitors, and assisting the keepers with various tasks that might require underwater support, we do over two thousand dives a year.
- Directly contribute to the mission of the Wildlife Conservation Society.
- Help save wildlife and wild places.
- Educate and inform our visitors about the underwater world we love as divers.
- Learn about marine wildlife and ecosystems.
- Gain more experience and more training as a diver.
- Go diving, every other week, all year round.
You can do all of those things at the same time as a volunteer member of the New York Aquarium Dive Team!
General Requirements
- Able to commit to working one full day, 8am–5pm, every other week for at least the next year.
- Volunteers must be at least 21 years of age.
- Certified scuba diver from an internationally recognized agency, rescue diver certification preferred.
- Minimum of 25 logged dives including at least 3 logged in the past 12 months.
- Ready to work collaboratively with a diverse group of divers from all over the tri-state area.
Orientation & Onboarding
Orientations are generally scheduled in the early spring each year, followed by in-person onboarding sessions in which divers learn the basic procedures of safe aquarium diving and participate in a checkout dive to check buoyancy and basic dive skills. All prospective volunteers must also undergo a background screening. Following onboarding and a successful checkout dive, divers are scheduled to start with one of our biweekly dive teams, which come in every Saturday and Sunday as well as alternating Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
To be added to the email list for our next orientation, please email the aquarium dive staff email at NYADiveTeam@wcs.org
Document Requirements
The following documents are required for all volunteer divers at NYA:
- NYA Dive Medical form
- Volunteer Diver Release and Agreement
- Quiz covering volunteer diver handbook
- Photocopy of highest level dive certification card
- Photocopy of last 25 dive log pages or all pages
Forms:
PLEASE DIRECT ANY QUESTIONS TO THE DIVE SAFETY OFFICER AT NYADiveTeam@wcs.org
