ACUC question?

[Gino1]

Hi,
We could do with some advise.
We did a PADI referral course in the UK (were told PADI had recently been established in Cuba) and then went to Cuba. There we were told there were no PADI instructors, so not to waste the opportunity we did our 4 'open water' dives with an ACUC instructor. He completed our log books and since our return to the UK we are faced with a certain amount of confusion from our PADI school as to what to do.

Please advise

 

[Walter]

Did the Cuban instructor certify you? If not, you need to complete 4 check out dives with a PADI instructor to complete your course.

 

[Gino1]

Hi Walter,
We did all the stuff over the 4 dives in Cuba which we did back in the pool in (UK). He also signed it off in our dive logs.
Will it be best to contact ACUC to see if we can get the the qualification for 'level 1' agreed through them?

 

[Walter]

You can try. I'm not all that familiar with ACUC standards, but I doubt they'll accept PADI pool and classroom for their certification. I know PADI requires checkouts with a PADI instructor. The easiest way to get certified is to make checkout dives with a PADI instructor. I'm not sure, but I think you have about 6 months after your class to complete the checkout dives. It's not a big deal, you want to get certified so you can dive. So the next 4 dives have to be with a PADI instructor, just do it and get your card.

 

[Gino1]

thanks for your reply Walter,
It might be the easiest way to get it all done. I have written an email to ACUC - will see what their response is.

Regards

 

[Wheelerg]

Did you ever get a response Gino?

 

[scubadiver888]

ACUC is part of the WRSTC (World Recreational Scuba Training Council). This is the same standard that PADI is part of. ACUC is widely recognized here in Canada and in Europe but it is not in the USA. You might want to talk to the shop in the UK which gave you the referral. If you completed the checkout dives in Cuba and the ACUC instructor signed off on it, it should allow you to get an ACUC certified card. I think when it comes to doing a WRSTC referral, the instructor who completed the certification is the agency which issues the card.

An ACUC card should be fine. If you go diving in the USA and they don't recognize it, you can just point out it is part of the WRSTC and recognized as the same as PADI. If you REALLY want a PADI card then you might have to get a PADI instructor to do your checkout dives. Maybe having a ACUC card will be sufficient for the UK shop to issue you a PADI card but you'd have to pay the cost of the paperwork (PIC).

 

[tursiops]

Maybe having a ACUC card will be sufficient for the UK shop to issue you a PADI card .

Not if they hold to PADI standards.

 

[abnfrog]

do yourself a favor get the padi card (or any other recognized agency ) i didn't renew (quite) my acuc advanced owsi rating after they didnt take action over one of their course directors blatant disregard of s+p that resulted in the death of a student . neither europe OR canada operations seem to care .just my 2 cents

 

[Littlerayray]

I haven't had a problem with acuc I am certified through them and it really all depends on the instructors
We have many people with padi certs that come to my lds to take the course with us mind you the pool sessions that we do are intense and you don't move on to the next drill until you can perform the current drill properly we don't rush people through our course and have on average 3 assistant teachers in the pool and the instructor we average about 2 students per assistant and then the instructor has 2 students we do small classes and ensure that all skills can be performed without a hitch