Specialties required? Dive club dilemma

I have recently started a dive club with substantial help from this board. Thank you! We are currently facing a bit of a dilemma. Some feel that we should not allow divers to, for instant, join in the club dive using a drysuit, if they are not drysuit certified. The shop that sponsors us has some concerns of liability. However, it seems to me that if we say no one can dive off a boat without the boat specialty, or do a night dive without the night dive specialty, we will kill off rather then encourage our diving community. I am all for getting advanced training, but most if us are on limited budgets and feel we need to spread out getting specialties so we can do some diving.
Please share thoughts in this. Are the specialties "required" before doing those dives or are try simply and additional resource? Do any if you have experience how other clubs have dealt with this? Thank you again!

The only limits I see in dive clubs around here in the Great Lakes, are depth and technical limits. On a 120 ft cold water wreck nobody wants to see your drysuit cert.

A charter operator may have an AOW or adv/nitrox-deco or trimix requirement, though. Makes sense to me.

Too restrictive and you'll lose folks IMO. Lots of divers here get mentored for dry suits, you'd have few on the dive if it were a requirement.

For our club in Sydney, dive certifications (other than the basic open water) mean nothing. It does not matter if someone joins who has a deep tech certification, they cannot come out on a deep dive until they have done a shallower boat dive. As far as we are concerned, if a diver comes on shore dives, then boat dives to (say) 18 metres (60 feet) and proves they are a competent diver, then we will take them on dives to 27 metres (90 feet). If the tech diver cannot show they are competent at 18 m, then they do not get to come on a deeper dive till they do. This is how we have done it for 40 years.

Make it a social club, people show up and people dive, if people kill themselves with stupidity then that is their problem. Don't make anything a guided tour or some sort of official thing where the club is "in charge". With diving off a boat its captains discretion as always as its his butt on the line if anyone's and the clubs policies are irrelevant.

C-Cards are no guarantee of competence.
Have an experienced club member keep an eye on new members, they will quickly identify the ones who have inflated their abilities.
Then it's a matter of diplomatically extracating them from a situation where they could injure someone else. To be honest if they kill themselves it's mostly their problem.

Maybe include a free pool session for new members including kit if they don't alread own it. That will give you a chance to evaluate them.

Is that shop concerned about liability or trying to sell a few more courses?
And which liability would that be?

As a diver, I would stay away from a club like that. Three of my OW course dives were boat dives and you'd make me take a boat diving specialty?

I think you shouldn't ask for a card but for proof of experience in that kind of dive / with a certain type of equipment and have an easy evaluation dive for all new members.

It sounds like the shop is not sponsoring you but trying to run you. Shop run clubs sucked in the cases where I have been personally involved as an individual member with them. A shop sponsered club keeps it's nose out of the clubs rules and business and simply offers gear discounts to members, maybe a place to meet, and a way to attract new members by referring students. The liability thing sounds like total bull crap. They have no liability on a club activity. You make all new members sign a waiver that they dive at their own risk. Will it keep you from getting sued if someone gets hurt on club dive? No, only a reform of the legal system will do that along with more awareness of each divers personal responsibility. I was in a club that a shop started and they were fine with taking my dues. Then I offered discounts on classes to club members. They stopped sending me the newsletter, took me off the email list, and never refunded my money. I would never join a club where a sponsoring shop set any of the rules for that club or had a say in them.

I am the president of our local dive club, and we have recently completed a major bylaws revisions involving extensive consultation with our legal advisor. One thing that comes up constantly, is that a dive club should never be in the business of vetting divers skills and abilities. This apparently vastly increases the club's liability, since you are in a sense certifying some divers to do some dives and not others.

For boat dives, the answer is easy – the captain is the one who determines whether or not he will take someone on a dive trip. For shore dives it's a bit more complicated, but I would advise you against doing things like providing buddies, renting equipment for divers, or setting requirements beyond a basic certification card.

Remember, you are running a social club. You're not Dive professionals and you do not have that kind of liability insurance.

Our club has few rules, for diving you need AOW or equivalent as most sites are deeper than the OW limits. A lot of people get PADI Rescue and BSAC Dive leader as the two together are mutually compatible. People are encouraged to get their Nitrox cert and also get the Nitrox blenders course as we blend our own gas. We also encourage people to become a BSAC boat handler (as we have 2 boats) and mentor people to take the lead in becoming Dive marshals - running the dive day. New member are buddy teamed with people experience in the local sites.

Generally BSAC members are the more experienced as they join from other clubs PADI people generally have got their cert on vacation at some time and being where we are with warm waters - want to resume their diving. This is nothing to do with the quality of the agencies rather than just the way it seems to pan out.

At the end of the day our dive rules are simple. Max depth is to your certification level (which is also your insured depth with Dan and others) You must have insurance a dive computer and a DSMB. Surface at 50 bar or 50 minutes ( 60 minutes on some dives) And enjoy yourselves

I think the Technical and CCR divers have a few more - like only diving in pink lycra - but they are a strange bunch anyway :loopy:

So you want to be the first scuba police? My club uses standard (generic) waivers for divers at club sponsered events. Basically "I understand if I kill myself you ain't responsible". More than that you are way overstepping.