Got refused boat dives due to 12 month break

[supergaijin]

There are scuba deaths every year. This year is no different. I don't see how either of your examples would provoke a dive operation to demand that divers have recent experience:

I think that divers dying is a perfect reason why some operators are becoming more cautious and frankly it's about time! Perhaps the amount of 'close calls' that we read about in the forums are also starting to resonate with operators in the area.

Keeping a notebook of your diving experience is simple. If you do not have a logbook, or any proof of being an active diver, or you haven't dived in an elapsed time, a simple demonstration that you can perform the minimum skills expected of a safe and conscientious diver is not much to ask.

 

[paulw]

All that being said, I fully support taking a pool refresher if you have not been down for a protracted period of time.

As an aside, what good is a cert card if you have to "re-certify" with every new operator?

R/S, db

I agree with both the above statements, if I had not dove in a while I would want to take a refresher course and as a mater of fact I was out of the water for several years and I re-took the OW class when I decided to start diving again. Now about the check out stuff, I have been ask to do a weight checkout in a couple of places but I have never been ask to demonstrate skills such as mask clearing and sharing air and I'm not sure how I would feel if I was told I had to. That would be like going to get a rental car and they said I had to do a driving test before I could have one, I don't think I would like it. I see both sides but still like "Rooster In Ohio" said we shouldn't have to "re-certify" at each place we want to dive.

 

[boulderjohn]

I think that divers dying is a perfect reason why some operators are becoming more cautious and frankly it's about time! Perhaps the amount of 'close calls' that we read about in the forums are also starting to resonate with operators in the area.

So can you tell me why those two specific cases cited are causing a step like this to be taken? Are shops going to require recent diving experience before a Discover Scuba class now? (Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?) Are shops saying, "Wow! There are a lot of cases of people dying because of contaminated air--we have better start requiring that the people who breathe our air have recent diving experience"?

I am quite sure that shops are being more careful about putting unsafe divers in the water with them, and I would not be surprised to learn that bad experiences with divers with rusty skills are part of that. On the other hand, I don't see incidents that have nothing to do with diver experience as a part of that impetus.

 

[Doc Harry]

Lesson Learned: Don't go more than 12 months without diving!

 

[LaMissJude]

I think it's not about this 2 specific examples, but more about this:

cayCompass.com :: Human error is cause of most dive accidents

Paragraph 8:
"Of the total number of dive fatalities analysed, 88 per cent were on the first dive of their vacation or trip"

Methinks (but cannot prove) that these fatalities didn't occur on a check dive.

I really think it is not hard for a diver to travel with a logbook.
Yes, people can fake it, or borrow it, or borrow a computer. It is not in their best interest, regarding safety, if this diver didn't dive for a while.

A diver can be really active, but when he shows up at a new place where the staff doesn't know him, it's not easy to take his words for the truth, without anything to prove his experience.
I've seen divers lying about their experience, their certification, their air consumption... And some had their own equipment.

An orientation dive (check dive) is not a test, it's just a way to regain confidence for the divers who didn't dive for a while and eventually to decide to take a refresher course.
For the active diver, it might seem a waste of time, but as I said before, if the diver can not prove his experience, how the dive center staff can know?
However, some local regulations require it, for the interest of keeping people safe.

 

[redacted]

I think it's not about this 2 specific examples, but more about this:


I really think it is not hard for a diver to travel with a logbook.
Yes, people can fake it, or borrow it, or borrow a computer. It is not in their best interest, regarding safety, if this diver didn't dive for a while.

A diver can be really active, but when he shows up at a new place where the staff doesn't know him, it's not easy to take his words for the truth, without anything to prove his experience.
I've seen divers lying about their experience, their certification, their air consumption... And some had their own equipment.

An orientation dive (check dive) is not a test, it's just a way to regain confidence for the divers who didn't dive for a while and eventually to decide to take a refresher course.
For the active diver, it might seem a waste of time, but as I said before, if the diver can not prove his experience, how the dive center staff can know?
However, some local regulations require it, for the interest of keeping people safe.

If a valid driver's license is enough for a rental car agency or car dealer, why should a dive op require anything more than a C-card?

As an active diver, I will avoid an op that thinks it is OK to require me to pack an extra 2 lb in my luggage that I have no need for. I don't mind a simple 1st dive or even a check-out dive (at no extra charge and with no undo delay). Surprising me with new requirements will cost the op $$$ (fees and/or tips).

 

[tomfcrist]

I wonder what they would have said if it was me trying to do this? For instance, if I go blow **** up in Afghanistan for 13 months, and want to dive on a cruise ship vacation when I return home.......Would they make ME take a refresher? Would they even ask an Instructor for a logbook?

 

[jmneill]

I agree with both the above statements, if I had not dove in a while I would want to take a refresher course and as a mater of fact I was out of the water for several years and I re-took the OW class when I decided to start diving again. Now about the check out stuff, I have been ask to doa weight checkout in a couple of places but I have never been ask to demonstrate skills such as mask clearing and sharing air and I'm not sure how I would feel if I was told I had to. That would be like going to get a rental car and they said I had to do a driving test before I could have one, I don't think I would like it. I see both sides but still like "Rooster In Ohio" said we shouldn't have to "re-certify" at each place we want to dive.

I agree. I think this should clearly be on a case by case basis. Should a guy that got his OW cert six years ago and tossed his c-card in a drawer that now finds himself wanting to do a dive on a cruise somewhere be required to do a refresher? Yes. Should a guy with a thousand dives under his belt that decided to take a year off be required a refresher? Def not IMO.
In my experience (I have been asked for a dive log on three occasions and don't have or use one) all it took was a prompt and confident response in regaurds to my recent, as well as general dive history, followed in the third case by a short conversation with the DM and we were off. (The third being a dive that also was supposed to require an AOW that I do not posess) .

 

[simskiscuba]

Lesson Learned: Don't go more than 12 months without diving!

There's the answer for me!

 

[Ayisha]

I suspect this may be because of a couple of dive accidents recently (one involving a cruise ship) and another actually in Cabo. You can read about these occurances here:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ac...on-about-discover-scuba-death-grand-turk.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/413185-fatality-cabo-san-lucas-march-3-a.html
[/LEFT]

As John said, neither of these accidents had to do with faded skills or lack of refreshers since one was not certified and the other was a regular, experienced diver.

I think if you had mentioned a couple of the Cozumel cruise ship divers who had perished in the last few years, among others, those would have a lot more to do with requiring recent experience or refreshers, and checking that dives are not beyond a diver's training or experience, especially in Cozumel.