Checkout Dive Etiquette/Protocol

[boulderjohn]

This post will add nothing of value to the discussion, but some might be amused by it.

Bob Bailey (NWGratefuldiver) posted a story of a required checkout dive he had to do, I think in Roatan, but I could be wrong. Due to some kind of transportation problem, he arrived late, after the required checkout dives were done, and he was told he had to miss the entire day of diving because of that. It did not matter that he was an instructor--he had to prove he could do the skills. He was pissed.

They got an instructor somewhere to do his checkout dive with him, which was really a pool/shallow water basic skills test. The instructor knelt in front of him and demonstrated the skills (mask clear, etc.) and then had him do the skills himself. Bob did the skills, but he did them while hovering in mid water in horizontal trim.

Not acceptable! He had to get down on his knees and prove he could do those skills the right way, damn it!

 

[Pressurehead]

Did a 'check out dive ' early last year, they did not know me 'from are bar of soap'.
It was test [of sorts, it was a set up !], 2 of us doing the check out dive [very fit young dude, I suspect a divemaster in training], I insisted on my buddy check not the 'hit and miss' one the group before did.
Anyway, my buddy had his cylinder turned on less then half a turn, SPG hose under the jacket BCD, weight belt wrong way round and enough weight for us both, alt reg in a position hard to get to for a start.
Was I p$$*d off, told the [so called] Divemaster so, told this person they had the personality of a rock and just as smart.
Don't underestimate the grumpy old diver, the only card I showed them was Nitrox 2 card.
Dived the charter anyway as I had paid for it online.
Hint: She was training to be Superlicious Suba Instructor or is that Superlicious Systems International
Edit: Typed this year was last year, duh.
Post script: This in the tropical North," no names no court martial".

 

[Damselfish]

They got an instructor somewhere to do his checkout dive with him, which was really a pool/shallow water basic skills test. The instructor knelt in front of him and demonstrated the skills (mask clear, etc.) and then had him do the skills himself. Bob did the skills, but he did them while hovering in mid water in horizontal trim.

Not acceptable! He had to get down on his knees and prove he could do those skills the right way, damn it!

This happened to me on the required checkout dive at Cocoview on Roatan. I was quite surprised, and a bit annoyed.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I had an OW student fly me to Puerto Rico in January 10 years ago to do his checkouts because he didn't want to wait for the water to become liquid in PA to do them. Our first dive (which was his first OW dive) was from a boat out of Fajardo and we were told it would be a shallow dive to check everyone out. The DM watched us set up our gear on the way out and we were the last two to enter the water. Before we hit 30 feet I had put one of the other diver's tanks back in their BC and tightened it, with my student next to me keeping his hand on their arm to give them some confidence and to keep them from swimming away from me until I was done. I looked up to see the DM signal to us that he was taking the group in this direction. We could do whatever we wanted.
That was our checkout. The rest of that day and the next we only saw the group on the boat before we splashed and at the end of the dives.
Before that, I went on a shop trip to Bonaire where we were told a checkout was mandatory. No problem. We enjoyed hovering around the DM doing skills and playing. Turning sideways to do them, upside down, etc.