Scuba agencies in France

[Tomeck]

Split-off from: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/general-europe/230611-best-place-vacation-dive-europe.html

The choice is vast! If you would like to dive a lot, it's best to go to Spain, Italy, Croatia, Malta or Greece.

If you want to dive autonomous, you must avoid France, because the OW divers can never dive autonomous and to have to be accompanied by an instructor or a guide. If you are scuba master, it's possible to dive autonomous, but very limited for the depth up to 133 feet (20 meters).

 

[Air One]

If you want to dive autonomous, you must avoid France, because the OW divers can never dive autonomous and to have to be accompanied by an instructor or a guide. If you are scuba master, it's possible to dive autonomous, but very limited for the depth up to 133 feet (20 meters).

This is wrong of course.
A PADI French dive op wil do the same as the other padi dive op in the world.
Just avoid the CMAS exclusive dive centers.
Also the French law says that you must have a medical certificate saying that you're fit to dive.

Tom has a nevrotic trouble with France I think.
Something happened when he was really young maybe?
Could you lay down and tell us more about your childhood Tom? :doctor:

 

[Tomeck]

This is wrong of course.
A PADI French dive op wil do the same as the other padi dive op in the world.
Just avoid the CMAS exclusive dive centers.
Also the French law says that you must have a medical certificate saying that you're fit to dive.

Tom has a nevrotic trouble with France I think.
Something happened when he was really young maybe?
Could you lay down and tell us more about your childhood Tom? :doctor:

Your post is wrong. You cannot deny that the OW in France cannot dive autonomous, even with PADI. In France, dive shops PADI exclusive don't exist and it's mandatory that dive shops adhere to French association, because PADI is not recognized by the French government. :no

 

[Air One]

because PADI is not recognized by the French government.

Surprizing, there is a PADI dive center next door (40 km from here), they provide OW courses, advance, rescue, nitrox etc.. and they are outlaw !!!???!!!
Wait a minute, I just call the police !

Well, now : could you just lay down and...well, did you have a french teacher at school ?

 

[Tomeck]

Surprizing, there is a PADI dive center next door (40 km from here), they provide OW courses, advance, rescue, nitrox etc.. and they are outlaw !!!???!!!
Wait a minute, I just call the police !

Well, now : could you just lay down and...well, did you have a french teacher at school ?

There are courses, but they never could dive autonomous or very limited with rescue.


In France:

OWD and AOWD: Supervized by a monitor up to 66 feet (20 meters)
Rescue, Divemaster and Instructor: Autonomous up to 66 feet (20 meters) and supervized by a monitor up to 130 feet (40 meters)

 

[Air One]

In France:

OWD and AOWD: Supervized by a monitor up to 66 feet (20 meters)
Rescue, Divemaster and Instructor: Autonomous up to 66 feet (20 meters) and supervized by a monitor up to 130 feet (40 meters)

Here's the law :

Arrêté du 22 juin 98 modifié 2000

Where do they say in the " annexe 1 ", that a AOW is = level 1 FFESSM ?
Do you have a single example, just 1 décision by 1 single juge in France , sentencing a dive op for the reasons you was talking about ?

Show us the evidences please.

I don't now why you do this Tom? you probably had a very bad experience in France with a dive op ?
Swizerland is your country : talk about Swizerland, you know it pretty well.

 

[Tomeck]

Here's the law :

Arrêté du 22 juin 98 modifié 2000

Where do they say in the " annexe 1 ", that a AOW is = level 1 FFESSM ?
Do you have a single example, just 1 décision by 1 single juge in France , sentencing a dive op for the reasons you was talking about ?

Show us the evidences please.

I don't now why you do this Tom? you probably had a very bad experience in France with a dive op ?
Swizerland is your country : talk about Swizerland, you know it pretty well.

PADI, NAUI and SSI are forgotten of decree (Arrêté du 22 juin 98).

 

[Air One]

PADI, NAUI and SSI are forgotten of decree (Arrêté du 22 juin 98).

That's right, so , there is no problem.
I've got a trimix SSI cert witch is perfectly available in the SSI dive centers.
The main problem for PADI in France is that the PADI instructors can't work in France as such, they have to also have a BEES certification. This is working legislation, nothing to see with diving itself.
The fact is that if a PADI diver goes in an exclusive CMAS dive center in France, he wont be alowed to dive like he would like to.
So, if you are a PADI diver in France, avoid those dive op and choose the PADI dive centers.
You should try once again Tom.

 

[DuboisP]

it's mandatory that dive shops adhere to French association

completly false.

 

[chrisch]

...
I don't now why you do this Tom? ....

I think some (insecure) foreign PADI OWSI cannot come to terms with the fact that they are not trained to decompression dive and are therefore not recognised as instructors under CMAS.

Most of us find the French way of doing things a bit odd, but France is not alone. In the UK there is a stupid system of adhesive stickers for nitrox tanks that is incomprehensible and almost certainly against EU law. The Germans use M26 for nitrox and I'm sure there are other examples if you look.

The world economy is in recession and global warming threatens to make our retirement years miserable. Food prices are rising as is unemployment and fuel prices.

If the worst thing in your life is the small discrepancies between FFESSM and other European dive training agencies I am very jealous.

Chris