PADI in Cuba

[lcaller]

Hi All..

Right then I was pointed here to mainly help me get answer to this question.

So Hi and lets hope the first post doesn't turn into political bashing session.

Right then .. PADI & Cuba.. I want to go, people want to dive . I have written to PADI and they were very helpful and the email reply was almost instance so I assume it's not a new subject for them to deal with, but either way it was nice to get something back.

I'm told that due to the US Embargo of Cuba , that no American corporation can proceed in business for commercial gain there.

Fine that's them but what about me as a PADI professional ( UK Based ) and we have laws in Europe that stop me from being stopped working ( Restriction of trade act ) due to someone else's agenda or policies. I don't have a political agenda ( and I'm not spoiling for a fight with PADI US or UK ) I want to dive and teach people that want to be taught. I haven't got back from them yet as to what the consequence of going to Cuba would be ( most probably nothing ) , but you hear everything from " I'll be struck off " to " they'll do nothing ".. Has anyone got a clue about this ?

I DO NOT want to have to cross train to another standard as I'm about to finish my IDC.

thanks in advance

 

[MikeFerrara]

A while back they printed their rules in the journal.

I do know that I (being from the US) wasn't allowed to teach in Cuba as a PADI instructor. What I don't remember is whether of not all PADI instructors are barred from doing business in Cuba because PADI is a US company or if it was just US instructors.

 

[jroy017]

Well to answer you question I got certified OW in 1996 in CUba by two norwegian PADI instructors. Thay had a deal with the Cuban government and my card was issued through the european office in switzerland i think...

Actually in hindsight I really got a very good cert wich surpassed standards require.

 

[nwdiver2]

Canadian Instructors take PADI students to Cuba for check out dives all the time. There were PADI instructors working in Cuba and it worked as long as the students were from abroad, some European Instructors ran a course for Cubans and the sh** hit the fan ( I know instructors who left because of this some crossed over to NASDS Canada then SSI and NASDS sp. joined up and shot that system). Now Canadian Instructors take the student in and use the Canadian office for the certification, which is what they were doing before but now it is more suspect and less Instructors are doing it. It is great diving and a shame to lose it as an alternative Caribbean site for Canadian Instructors. I would think CMAS would have a presence but I haven’t seen them there.

On another point several Canadian mining executives and their entire families are barred from entering the US do to the fact the company Sherritt Gordon has an interest in a large Cuban nickel mine.

see the info from training bullitin 4qt 1999 inserted below

 

[Mako Mark]

PADI instructors are allowed to teach diving to Afgani Al Qaeda operatives that are being held without charge in Guantanamo bay. Weird huh?

 

[lcaller]

Guys thanks for all the help and replies i'll work out what to do next . My understanding of people being certified in Cuba and pic cards being issued through local offices ( in canada, or the Norway ) etc etc is where PADI get seriously upset and thats where the trouble happends if you get caught.

Guess i'll play it by ear.. Thanks again

I'll be back ;-)

 

[SubMariner]

Hi All..

Right then I was pointed here to mainly help me get answer to this question.

So Hi and lets hope the first post doesn't turn into political bashing session.

Right then .. PADI & Cuba.. I want to go, people want to dive . I have written to PADI and they were very helpful and the email reply was almost instance so I assume it's not a new subject for them to deal with, but either way it was nice to get something back.

I'm told that due to the US Embargo of Cuba , that no American corporation can proceed in business for commercial gain there.

Regardless of which LOA (Local Area Office) you are affiliated with, as a PADI member you are not allowed to run PADI courses in Cuba. Cuba may only be used as a geographical location for training dives for non-Cubans. IOW, if you are Canadian, British, etc., you can holiday there with your OW students, do their certification dives in Cuba, then put through the usual paperwork at your LOA when you get home.

Basically, if you want to retain your status as a PADI member, you are not allowed to run PADI courses in Cuba except as above.

Regards,

 

[sgtmnstr]

PADI instructors are allowed to teach diving to Afgani Al Qaeda operatives that are being held without charge in Guantanamo bay. Weird huh?

If ignorance is bliss, you must be in paradise with your 72 virgins, have you forgotten 9-11

 

[armyscuba]

PADI instructors are allowed to teach diving to Afgani Al Qaeda operatives that are being held without charge in Guantanamo bay. Weird huh?

Pathetic Quote and Not True...for the Record. I can't believe You wrote that...

 

[Kim]

I'm sorry - can someone tell me what the f**k scuba diving has to do with the political relationship between the US & Cuba - and for that matter what Castro has to do with Al Quaeda??? Unless we are talking about a terrorist underwater plot to infiltrate downtown Miami and blow up a sewage outlet (causing 100,000's of thousands of people to die of unmentionable causes) I'm seriously getting lost here.
Now - aircraft training is a different thing.......... but that has always been easier to get in the US than anywhere else on the planet - for anyone (if you have the money)