Swiss tech giant Garmin is improving dive safety with a smart buoy that can track, monitor and communicate with those above and below the surface.

The Descent S1 buoy helps strengthen diver communications and enhances peace of mind for divers and crew. Using Garmin’s SubWave sonar networking, the buoy integrates seamlessly with Garmin dive computers to help crew members on the surface track and monitor up to eight divers, and exchange preset messages with those using a compatible dive computer and Descent T2 transceiver.

For increased situational awareness, connected divers can also see the distance and direction to the buoy and receive clear guidance to help them know where to surface.

“Garmin is focused on creating essential products designed to help keep divers safe,” said Susan Lyman, Garmin vice president. “The ground-breaking Descent S1 buoy adds game-changing communication, navigation and safety capabilities between divers and their surface crew, making it the next must-have piece of kit for dive teams, charter operations, instructors and more.”

Connected divers can see the distance and direction back to the buoy – whether it is tethered in place, on the anchor line of a boat or on the boat’s tag line during a drift dive – and use it to navigate back to the buoy.

When using a connected Descent dive computer, divers can tell those on the surface where they are, where they’re going, if they need to come up early and their remaining decompression time.

While beneath the surface, the buoy extends the range of diver-to-diver messaging capabilities. Divers with compatible Descent dive computers can exchange preset messages with one another up to 100m away.

After returning to the surface, divers can view underwater heatmaps on the Garmin Dive smart-device app to see where explorations took place.

Topside crews can track divers below the surface when using both the Descent S1 buoy and Garmin Dive app. They can track tank pressures, diver location and depth, and more when divers are equipped with a compatible dive computer and Descent T2 transceiver. Automatic alerts can also let topside crew members know when a diver’s tank pressure is low.

Topside crews can exchange preset messages with connected Descent dive computers underwater, allowing them to communicate with divers and send out a diver recall if the dive needs to be cut short. They can track the approximate range to each diver in the SubWave sonar network up to 100m away from the buoy.

See how the Descent S1 buoy can keep divers and topside crew connected at www.youtube.com/watch?v=F29kzyCDs8s.

The buoy (www.garmin.com/en-US/p/737720) weighs just under 1kg and has an IPX8 water rating to 10m. The rechargeable lithium battery provides up to 15 hours of battery life so it can be used during a typical weekend dive trip before needing to be recharged. To keep divers connected to their topside crew, the buoy uses wifi technology to connect to the Garmin Dive app, up to 60m away.

Available now, the buoy has a suggested retail price of $2500.

Some compatible dive computers can receive, but not send, messages. Conditions such as surface, waves, chop, objects and diver position can obstruct the signal and reduce range; for more details, visit www.garmin.com/subwave.

Garmin (www.garmin.com) is incorporated in Switzerland, and its principal subsidiaries are in the USA, Taiwan and UK.