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Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Tahoe Recovery Divers is a locally owned and run small business. We do one thing, and one thing only... recover your property. While other companies have access to divers, returning your items is not their priority, it's a side gig. Finding and returning your stuff is not only our main goal, it's our only goal.
Tahoe Recovery Divers has partnered up with Restoring the Lake Depths, a non-profit that specializes in super deep ROV exploration. While other companies claim to use ROVs, Restoring the Lake Depths is the only foundation around Lake Tahoe with the capability to dive extra deep. This partnership gives our company the extra ability to search the entire lake at any depth. Other recovery companies are limited to searchable areas directly near the shore. We are not.
The most common items lost in Lake Tahoe are cell phones, action cameras, and glasses. These are all relatively easy to spot underwater and can usually be retrieved quickly if the location is well documented. Factors that make the recovery more difficult are the size of the objects and the depths they're at. Keys, earrings, and rings can be difficult at any depth, but if the location is accurate the success rate increases exponentially.
Depending on conditions of the water, the size of the object, and the depth where it came to finally rest on the lakebed all determine the speed we can recover an object. If they are lost around piers or beaches and the location given to us is accurate, we can usually find common items within an hour.
Our divers are all advanced open water, dry suit, and altitude diving certified. Having a dry suit and being able to use air more efficiently allows our divers to maximize their bottom time and spend more time searching. Along with dry suits, we use the latest in underwater metal detectors which speeds up the process of finding phones, watches, and other jewelry.
While we can't guarantee the return of your belongings, we will do our best to keep trying. Many of the items we recover are found outside of the allotted timeframe. If we aren't successful during our initial search session, we will go back to the same spot and try again on our own time at not additional charge. We love finding your stuff just as much as you love getting it back.
There is an initial pre-service fee to get our divers geared up and over to your requested location. This fee includes an hour of our services; $100 for a dive up to 30 feet, or $150 for a dive up to 80 feet. If we are unsuccessful in recovering your item within the first hour, you have the option to extend this time for an extra fee. Any additional fees must be paid following completion of last dive.
We understand that not all searches are successful, so instead of charging a larger upfront one time fee, we broke up the price tomake it more affordable. Other companies will charge you a super expensive flat fee. You end up paying this fee whether they recover your property or not. By charging an additional fee for a successful recovery, it incentivises our divers, while limiting your expenses incase the recovery has failed.
We take requests every day of the week and tend to dive between 9am and 5pm. We offer same day services if you need your property found immediately, as well as after-hours from 5pm to 7pm. After 7pm visibility diminishes quickly and recovery becomes rare. We do make exceptions in special occassions.
WEATHER DISCLAIMER
All services are subject to safe weather and lake conditions. For the safety of our dive team, we may delay, reschedule, or cancel operations in the event of high winds, storms, poor visibility, or other hazardous conditions.
OPERATIONAL LIMITATIONS FOR SAFETY
For the safety of our dive team, all recovery operations are conducted at the discretion of our divers. We reserve the right to postpone, modify, or cancel any recovery if conditions are determined to be unsafe.