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The Donegal Bay Sub Aqua Club Search & Recovery Unit are based in Donegal Town with members located throughout the South West of the Region & Donegal.

The Unit was formed over 32 years ago, giving people of all ages the opportunity to become Scuba Divers initially on a recreational basis. Few years later, members of the Unit trained under the National Diving Association, Comhairle Fo-Thuinn (CFT) to become Search & Recovery Divers. This Unit has been run on a voluntary basis, members using their own equipment and time supporting other emergency services such as Garda Underwater Unit, Irish Coast Guard & the RNLI.

The DBSAC S&R are trained/re-trained twice yearly under the guidance of CFT in accordance with the Agreement signed by the Minister of the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport representing the Irish Coast Guard & CFT. Our members can be called on at any stage to recover missing persons from rivers/lakes/sea. To carry out this task the divers need good quality & reliable boat & trailer to take to locations as required.

Donegal Bay Sub Aqua Club (DBSAC) was established in March 1988, by a small group of keen swimmers mainly from Donegal Town, and who completed a short snorkelling course, organised by a local qualified diver and who after a “try-a-dive” were “hooked” and hence the seeds to form a club were sown. From the earliest days the Club has gone from strength to strength with members trained and qualified in all diving and instructor grades. The Club has maintained a steady membership over the past 30 + years.

In addition to diving, one of the greatest achievements was the building of a Club House in Killymard (outside Donegal Town) in 1994, this was a total voluntary effort and great credit is due to the members at that time. . In addition there are training/meeting room and a number of store rooms.

Donegal bay Sub Aqua Club also provide a fully trained community based volunteer Search and Recovery Unit, should they be needed in the times of water based tragedies.