C - card question

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993guy

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Location
St. Augustine, FL
# of dives
100 - 199
I just got back into diving after being out for about 20 yrs. I was originally certified in '83 [PADI (international) OW & AOW] and dove for several years after that, back when you were rarely asked for your C-card and log books were optional. I did take a refresher course that included 4 spring dives but turned down the option to get a new card (Basic only I think) as I still have my original OW & AOW cards.

Now it's quite different. Went on a dive shop sponsored 3 tank boat dive and they asked for my cert. card.

I'm curious, I'm prone to misplacing stuff so I don't like carrying something I can't replace, if I took a pic of the C-cards on my phone would a shop/boat accept the pic as proof of cert.? Is knowing the Student Number enough or do you normally have to produce the card until they know you?

I'm certain not all shops follow the same procedure but what is the recommendation of those who dive multiple locations?

Thanks,
Bill
 
Hi Bill,
If diving with PADI, SSI or NAUI, you should be in the database freely available online to any pros. All you need to give a dive shop with an Internet connection is your name as it appears on the card and your DOB.
I believe PADI has computerized all certs and included them in the database even when they are 30 yrs old.
You can also get an eCard from PADI to keep a digital copy with you at all times on your phone or laptop.
Trust this helps
 
Everyone wants to see your certification cards now. Either for their insurance protection and to drive training business.

I doubt if many shops would take a pic as proof of certification.

I am going to several Caribbean places next summer and every shop and shack has a website that says "Must present your Certification Card to dive."
 
Why can't you show a pic on your phone? I have carried photo-copies in my mask case as emergency backup. Most cards have your pic on it, so what's not to accept?
 
Hi Bill,
If diving with PADI, SSI or NAUI, you should be in the database freely available online to any pros. All you need to give a dive shop with an Internet connection is your name as it appears on the card and your DOB.
I believe PADI has computerized all certs and included them in the database even when they are 30 yrs old.
You can also get an eCard from PADI to keep a digital copy with you at all times on your phone or laptop.
Trust this helps
i called PADI a few months ago and they couldn't find me in the system, I wonder if getting my cert. in the Philippines in '83 might be a problem. I'll most likely call them again and see if they'll let me scan my cards, email the scans to them to enter them in the system.

I'm getting Enriched Air Cert. This week, will that get me a new cert. in the system?
 
My GUESS would be that if you are diving in the USA or Canada at a typical dive op and can show that you are in the database of those agencies mentioned, you'd be OK. Elsewhere, I don't know. PADI is worldwide, so maybe you could do that with them if you were in Thailand. I would tend to agree that some places (anywhere) may not accept anything on a phone, or anything xeroxed. There could easily be a situation where (especially in the boonies), you are trying to get on a boat and there is no easy access to a computer for them. Safest thing to do IMO would be to make sure your old card is in the database, and if possible get some kind of new card. I took a charter at a well known place last winter and filled out the usual forms, using my PADI DM number. I still had to produce the card at the dock, though I probably could've gotten the Capt. to find the PADI database on his phone or somewhere.
 
PADI now has electronic C cards. There's a growing number of PADI instructors that no longer give a plastic physical C-card.
Partly a Go Green initiative.

You should be able to pull it up on your smart phone from the PADI website.
Just need your First, Last name, and DOB.
 
Just carry the card, or pay the bucks for an eCard. (You CAN replace a lost card, assuming you are are indeed in the database, which is worth verifying.) If you're in the database a shop should be able to look you up if really needed, but they're not expecting to have to look everyone up, and you can't count on it. (Rare is the place anymore without an internet connection, but they can still go down or be flaky, and if you're checking in on a boat it might not be an option.) Some places may accept a picture of your cCard, but I wouldn't rely on that as plan A.

Since you have OW and AOW, maybe carry them in different places if that makes you feel better. I leave one of my cards in with the dive gear in the save-a-dive stuff, in case I forget or lose my usual one.
 
It has been my experience when traveling that while the dive forms you fill out ask about certification a minority of operations actually ask to see the cards. This has been true in the Caribbean as well as Indonesia, Malaysia.
 
One note about the older PADI certs. There was a fire or some other disaster at PADI HQ in the early 80's (so I'm told) and most of the records were destroyed. My OW cert dates to '79 and I wasn't in their database. After taking AOW a few years ago, all is well for me.
 

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