Two divers rescued three kilometres off Tasmania's East Coast

The 24-year-old woman and 25-year-old man from Howrah were dropped 250m offshore at Alligator Rock about 10.15am Saturday, and authorities were notified about 11.55am after the pair did not surface as planned at 11am.

READ MORE: Speaker of the House visits schools around Tasmania for civics education program

Inspector Colin Riley said "an extreme amount" of resources were deployed in the search, and the two divers were found safe and well having drifted far from the shore.

"The search co-ordinator established a drift pattern," Inspector Riley said.

"Once that pattern was searched, the two divers were located two nautical miles or 3.6km offshore.

"Both the divers were taken back, they were checked by paramedics and they're in good health and good spirit."

READ MORE: Northern Tasmanians face some of the highest out-of-pocket medical costs in the country

Inspector Riley said it was an "extremely positive outcome" and praised the efforts of the flotilla of civilian and government agency vessels that helped the police search.

The inspector said weather conditions at the time were "reasonable" and several other divers were in the water, however the rescued pair encountered unforeseen difficulties.

READ MORE: 'Mini Woolies' school supermarket is supporting students with disabilities

"What we know now is that when they entered the water at 10.15, they could only remain underwater for five minutes for a technical reason," Inspector Riley said.

"They remained on the surface and they drifted for four hours.

"They did what they had to do to survive. They didn't panic ... they stayed together and they kept their spirits up and they just focused on remaining above water."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: