Here are my experiences with the topics in this thread:
1. I was asked for a logbook on my first liveaboard trip and never again. The purpose was to get an idea of our diving abilities and assign buddies. Half the people did not have one--no problem.
2. I have had to do checkout dives on several leveaboard trips and on a few other occasions. In the famous Tina Watson case, the liveaboard waived its mandatory checkout dive in her case, and they were fined heavily for that after she died. My most recent case was on a liveaboard in Australia. After that dive we were divided into groups--those who could dive on their own and those who had to be with a divemaster.
3. When people cite local laws like this, I am wary of what is actually going to happen. Before my last trip to Australia (two years ago), our group was warned that the law required us to have a current medical form signed by physician. We were told that this would be strictly enforced. (Do a search on the ScuibaBoard Australia forum for such pronouncements.) Before going on the liveaboard, we took a day trip on a boat that must have had a hundred divers. On the way out to the reef, we were each interviewed one by one about our diving histories. When I handed over my copy of my medical form and physician signature, the guy did not know what to do with it. All I had to do was sign a single sentence to say I was healthy. He had to ask one of the more senior crew members what to do with a medical form, because he had never seen one. The exact same thing happened two days later on the liveaboard. All we needed to do was sign a statement saying we were healthy. They were quite confused about the fact that we had a medical form.
I think they stooged you re the medical form. Only time its required here is if you were doing a course of some sort, and I believe its now changed from requiring a dive doctor check for every course, to NOW filing in a form and if you highlight a problem, only then do you consult a dive doctor.
---------- Post added January 11th, 2016 at 08:04 AM ----------
Each time I had to do a checkout dive, it was related to a full package. It was either on a liveaboard or at the beginning of a dive week in a place like Bonaire (where I believe it is required by law). In each case I had paid a set fee for a week of diving, with no specific number of dives involved.
I have done many unofficial checkout dives for which I paid full freight. It was the first dive of a dive trip, and it was just another dive. Of course, the DM was watching everyone to see who could do what. That impacted what was done the rest of the week--which boats you go on for an operator with multiple boats, how much freedom you get on the rest of the dives, etc.
I think for most reasonably run LDS, they do a discrete checkout on your first dive which is usually a more easy dive. In the case of Truk Lagoon, unless they already know you, they will take you to one of the easier wrecks and do a dive whilst discretely watching all the divers. Once they have established your ability, they then set up the dives according to your ability, so some people may be put on different boats so divers of equal ability are diving together.
That's not to say if you all chose to dive together you cant. The will allow a group to stay together but may limit some of the wrecks you visit.
I have never been forced to pay for a special "check out dive", but understand LDS obligations to at least have an understanding of every divers ability in particular before engaging in any challenging dives.
I just object to mind numbing "You are all idiot divers with no ability until proven otherwise" As I have said previously, I think that's lazy enforcement, or a method to skim an additional check out/skill check dive at low cost so high profit for the LDS. A discrete no extra cost check dive is fine but an enforced skill check sucks.
As others have said I think my move would be a full instructor skill check on the DM/guide, a skill check on the captain and crew. The cheese cuts both ways, and anyway as the internet makes the world a very small place indeed, LDS should be careful not to burn their bridges to a point where they have no clientele.
