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Louma

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Messages
334
Reaction score
11
Location
Back in NJ after 8 years in FL
# of dives
2500 - 4999
A friend recently asked me to see if I can come up with an answer to the following:

The aquarium where he works is going to open it up to divers. Similar to Disney’s Dive Quest, but only 2 divers and a DM per day. They have a lot of sharks in the tank and the management has decided (in their wisdom) that only people with 25 dives, or over, are qualified enough to make this dive. They feel that a diver with 25+ dives will have good buoyancy and not be flaying his arms about attracting the sharks attention. They are getting calls now and some divers “lost” their log book, or have only 21 dives, have 25 dives but haven’t been in the water in 5 years, etc.

This dive will cost $275.00 so the aquarium wants the money, but the phone is being manned and the booking done by a non diver. It is felt that this non diver would not have enough knowledge to ask qualifying questions (I feel that a “cheat sheet” with a series of questions and ½ hour of training would do the job, but they want to explore a different approach). That approach: What one question could be asked a diver that when answered would prove that he has the experience for this dive?
 
Approximately what percentage of your house/garage is taken up with scuba equipment just lying around?

(More than 25% gets to dive in the tank. :eyebrow: )
 
Not sure I'd go with do you own your own gear. Too easy to say yes. Besides, if the aquarium folks are smart, they will only allow aquarium owned gear in the tank to prevent contaminants entering the environment.

Cert cards have certification dates and numbers on them. Here's what I would suggest:

1. Ask for the highest level of cert card number and dive company it's through (NAUI, PADI, SSI, etc). This should be provided no less than 30 days in advance.
2. Contact that company to verify the dive information such as date issued, courses they have on file that were taken, etc.

For example: a diver calls and wants to schedule the dive. Diver provides you a dive rating of SSI Master Diver and the cert number. Well, with a cheat sheet, the phone operator would already know that the Master diver will have over 50 dives to complete the course so this diver would be accepted once the cert number is verified for liability reasons.

Or: diver calls, provides a rating of PADI Rescue diver. PADI has no record for this diver above OW. Dive could be refused and non-refundable deposit held for false claim of documented training.

This will not validate the number of dives, but it may be the best option for verifying diver certs for liability reasons. Just a little tip here, but if the require a non-refundable deposit, this will cover the costs of contacting these agencies should a diver not be certified or attempt to lie about training.
 
Ron Brandt:
Will that be on your American Express? :)

Do you own your own gear?

Ron
:lol: LMAO!
 
'You will have to do a check out dive sir/madam. This would include hovering 5'' above the bottom for 2 minutes without touching the bottom/going to the surface. It will also include clearing your mask and finning without silting up. Would that be a problem?'

Answer: Uhm.... I dont know...... => No dive
Answer: Uhm... sure=> book check out dive... if they fail, no dive, keep the deposit


It totally depends what the goal of the Aquarium is: is it just to make money? then you will have to tone in these requirements. If it is something else, you can add some requirements......
 
sorry for the late reply but i had to check with a few sources.... to get ALL your questions answered

contact Dick Blankfein. He’s the DSO of the NY Aquarium and the membership director of a profession organization for aquariums doing exactly what your friend is looking to do rblankfein@wcs.org
 
I have an aquarium local to me in the UK which allows shark dives, however you don't need good bouyancy because you have to be overweighted and you only kneel on the bottom - no fins allowed.

In fact you don't even need to be qualified all instruction can be provided.
 
Sounds like a liability hot potato! Meekal has the right idea... if the dive community gets behind this and lets the word out that this is a well-run opportunity, good. If they begin saying, "the staff is as bad as the boat crew in Open Water," then it'll be another expensive thrill waiting for the lawsuit to shut it down.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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