Coast Guard personnel were to continue searching overnight Thursday and Friday morning for a missing 52-year-old scuba diver off Makaha.

Firefighters, however, suspended their part of the search for Harold “JJ” Jackson at sundown Thursday.

The effort so far has turned up only a scoop net as the search continued for a third full day.

Fire and Coast Guard personnel scoured the ocean and shoreline Thursday for Jackson, who left Waianae Boat Harbor with a group of divers at 8:15 p.m. Monday in a 19-foot boat.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Melissa McKenzie said several factors such as age, health condition, swimming and diving experience, and current and weather conditions are used to determine the time frame for search efforts. She said Jackson was equipped with a buoyance control device, which could be used for emergency flotation.

Crews have since searched 5,200 square miles. The Coast Guard has launched two patrol boats and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter. The Honolulu Fire Department has deployed a dive boat and personal watercraft.

Officials from Ocean Safety joined search efforts Tuesday morning and have been using a rescue watercraft manned by two lifeguards.

Jackson, wearing a black wet suit and scuba gear, was last seen in the area of the underwater caves off Makaha Beach Park.

He has been described as an experienced diver and underwater shell collector with 30 years of experience.