Got refused boat dives due to 12 month break

[supergaijin]

I have no complaints about a checkout dive but denying service at the last minute or requiring an expensive ($100+) refresher with no assessment of skills other than time since last dive is not acceptable. The real shame in this case is the cruise line could have easily done an in pool assessment and tune-up if necessary.

Find other cruise lines and other dive ops.

Some countries require a check-dive by law- it is up to the DC to decide whether the guest should pay for it or not. I think that if it is properly done, then it is money and time well spent.

Dive centers run a service for divers but if you can't provide proof that you are a diver- not just a guy that knows how to swim underwater, they are under no obligation to take you. If people intend to dive on vacation, it only makes sense to research, have their license and logbook and the onus is on the individual to meet the requirements of the area where they intend to dive.

 

[NewbaScuba]

Every shop I've been diving with, i've been told that they require a check out dive, but have never actually done a check out.
Sometimes I would like one. Others I could care less. That being said, If I was to spend a few thousand dollars on a dive vacation for my buddy and I, and the dive shop we elected to use said we couldn't do it without paying a hundred to two hundred dollars on a refresher course, I'd tell them to keep it, and go to another shop.
And without lying, I will tell you, a new dive would end up in my book before reaching the next shop to avoid the same issue.

I would expect that this happens often enough already in places that require recent dives. It would only become more prevalent.

I wouldn't be doing this out of spite, I'd do it because I know what my personal capabilities are. It all goes back to taking personal responsibility.

 

[supergaijin]

And without lying, I will tell you, a new dive would end up in my book before reaching the next shop to avoid the same issue.

I wouldn't be doing this out of spite, I'd do it because I know what my personal capabilities are. It all goes back to taking personal responsibility.

You lying about your experience is not taking personal responsibility in any shape or form. What's so hard about having a notebook signed and dated by a DC? Logbooks don't need pictures of turtles or penguins on them to be effective.

 

[redacted]

The way I see it, once a shop accepts $$ then there is an obligation as long as the diver meets the established contracted requirements (established up front in a conspicuous manner). If a shop requires a log book then make that clear. If they require dives in a specified time frame or a checkout dive make that clear also so the customer can make decisions based on competing shops requirements.

Don't have a website or send me an email that tells me all about your operation and then introduce new requirements when I show up to dive. Don't make it a scam.

Some countries require a check-dive by law- it is up to the DC to decide whether the guest should pay for it or not. I think that if it is properly done, then it is money and time well spent.

Dive centers run a service for divers but if you can't provide proof that you are a diver- not just a guy that knows how to swim underwater, they are under no obligation to take you. If people intend to dive on vacation, it only makes sense to research, have their license and logbook and the onus is on the individual to meet the requirements of the area where they intend to dive.

 

[nimoh]

I went diving in Bonne Terre, MO recently and they have a policy that every diver must do a skills check (clear mask, share air...) before continuing on the first dive. It didn't bother me at all doing it, since they were up front about it. All it did was change the first dive from a 60 minute dive into a 50 minute dive.

However, if they hadn't been up front about the policy, I still would have done the skills check, and done the dive, but I would have been irritated.

 

[flots am]

Every shop I've been diving with, i've been told that they require a check out dive, but have never actually done a check out.
Sometimes I would like one.

That's actually an awesome point! There's no "down side" to a checkout dive.

Divers that have their skills nailed will take (maybe) 5 minutes to demonstrate all the skills, divers that need work will find out quickly and have a chance for a "tune up" instead of their first dive, which will make them much happier in the water.

The only divers I've seen who get their shorts all twisted over doing a checkout dive, are those that have problems with one or more skills and just hope they'll never need to use them, and these are exactly the divers that a checkout dive would catch and hopefully save from themselves.

flots.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

The only divers I've seen who get their shorts all twisted over doing a checkout dive, are those that have problems with one or more skills and just hope they'll never need to use them, and these are exactly the divers that a checkout dive would catch and hopefully save from themselves.

Not so in my case ... that "checkout dive" cost me a day of diving at an all-inclusive diving resort. We arrived about 40 minutes after they did the daily check-out dive ... because the resort bus driver who was supposed to pick us up at the airport was more than an hour late ... and so we spent the entire day watching people going diving while we had to wait until the next day's check-out dive before we'd be allowed in the water. I even offered to pay a DM extra to take us out and do our checkout dive and they wouldn't do it.

I was p!ssed ... I don't mind following house rules, but when I'm paying a daily fee for an all-inclusive dive package, I expect to get the services I paid for.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[DevonDiver]

Every shop I've been diving with, i've been told that they require a check out dive, but have never actually done a check out.
Sometimes I would like one. Others I could care less. That being said, If I was to spend a few thousand dollars on a dive vacation for my buddy and I, and the dive shop we elected to use said we couldn't do it without paying a hundred to two hundred dollars on a refresher course, I'd tell them to keep it, and go to another shop.
And without lying, I will tell you, a new dive would end up in my book before reaching the next shop to avoid the same issue.

I would expect that this happens often enough already in places that require recent dives. It would only become more prevalent.

I wouldn't be doing this out of spite, I'd do it because I know what my personal capabilities are. It all goes back to taking personal responsibility.

Champion attitude sport! Nice to know you know better than the experienced pros who DO take responsibility for you, and the poor shmuck that gets paired with you.

Glad you're pulling the wool over people's eyes with the falsified log... must be funny when pros look at your ponderous capability underwater and then struggle to reconcile that against the phenomenal experience you have logged.

In a decade as a dive pro...I've never seen a fake log book before... and never been deceived by a cheapskate who'd BS their way into ean unsafe dive just to skimp on the cost of a quick skill refresher. You're my hero... a regular champion of the people, I am sure.....

 

[fdog]

Weeellll...I have this friend, you see... (not me. He lives in Sacramento.) Anyway, this very nice fellow had been away from diving for maybe two years.

And we went for a dive. Quite honestly he was flawless, in buoyancy, skills, dive planning, predive checks, everything.



So this tells me a simple "12 months and you need a remedial course" thing is not based on real need.



I've never balked at a skills checkout dive. I also agree that those that squawk are usually the ones that need to go on a checkout dive. Such a dive, I believe, would be a better arbitrator of need for a refresher course. (I suspect that a refresher course is a hidden little profit center though, so money perhaps has a wee bit to do with this.)



Oh, my friend? He is certified as a Tech2 diver. Anther takeaway is that highly skilled, experienced divers will probably have far more durable skills, than someone with very little time in the water, whose skills would be more perishable.


All the best, James

 

[TMHeimer]

I've enjoyed following the thread--Good advice from many, comparisons of dive ops, other debates. To simplify, I would ask the OP: Did you (were you able to) check out the diving situation/checkout day etc. before booking the cruise? Regardless of your dive experience/confidence, etc. it would seem this would be possible nowadays. If not, you either book a different cruise or go in not knowing the dive situation. I have found about half a dozen ops in the Carib. that permit shell collecting, thus I would never find me in a place where I couldn't. Internet, e mails, phone calls (if not too costly). As well, I wouldn't want to spend half a day waiting around then doing skills to prove I could do them while paying for a costly vacation--unless I knew about it and the total price was so good that I still would take the deal. If it's 10 minutes in the water doing that it wouldn't matter.