C-Card Recognition: Myth or Fact?

[knotical]

I've occasionally gotten a quizzical look when I've shown my Rescue card from WASE/NASI, but I've never been turned down because of it. There was one time the look was particularly quizzical, so to avoid a hassle I pulled out my PADI AOW card, and the look went away.

He probably read NAZI instead of NASI and that woulda made me look "quizzical" too

I'm familiar with WASI / NASE ( http://naseworldwide.org/ ), but not WASE / NASI. Presumably typo.

 

[BRT]

Our experience has been that they want us to write down a cert # on the liability release form. They really don't want to see the card. Someone was going to card me for nitrox but about the time they asked I was hooking up my own analyzer to the tank and they decided I was ok. Kind of amusing because the shop owner tried to impress me with his knowledge of nitrox and it was obvious he had no clue. The most important card always has a 12 digit number and is embossed.

 

[scubadada]

At one time in the distant past, a Scuba Diver was trained to a level equal to or higher than an OW diver today, and an OW diver would have been advanced diver training, at the time. With the new courses moving students through, and selling up the next class, there isn't much time for SCUBA history today.


Bob
-------------------
I may be old, but I'm not dead yet.

My 1970 LA County Underwater Unit Basic Skin and Scuba Diving certification contained many of the elements of my PADI AOW and Rescue courses.

Good diving, Craig

 

[drbill]

I voted Yes, I have been denied but actually I was only asked to do check out dives before being allowed to dive with several operators. These shops, mostly PADI, did not recognize my Los Angeles County certification card. I even had one PADI instructor from L.A. not know what my LAC card represented. I finally met a PADI instructor in Cairns before diving the Great Barrier Reef who not only recognized my LAC card, he referred to it as a museum piece (it is from the 1960s). He agreed to give me a PADI AOW card (upon completion of the required dives) for just the cost of materials.

The only times I remember not being asked to see my c-card were shore air fills or boat trips with operators that knew me or knew of me. I still had to put the certification number on the waiver forms.

 

[Romantic]

I have not dove all that much (Mexico, Cayman, & FL) but I have never been asked to show my card or even my teenager's C-Cards. We always show up with our own gear so I guess they just assume we are certified.

 

[scubadada]

As opposed to many respondents, I have always, or nearly always, been ask to show my C-card. This includes when filling out a liability release that includes certification agency and number. I'm always very surprised when folks say they are routinely not asked to show proof of appropriate certification

 

[Tigerman]

As opposed to many respondents, I have always, or nearly always, been ask to show my C-card. This includes when filling out a liability release that includes certification agency and number. I'm always very surprised when folks say they are routinely not asked to show proof of appropriate certification

Do you dive in the caribbean? Cause that seems to be where a lot of the "never been asked" divers tend to be diving...

 

[James R]

One Op employee didn't think a Tec c-card w/100% o2 rating was good enough for Nitrox...he was overridden by his boss. Aside from that, no issues

 

[scubadada]

Do you dive in the caribbean? Cause that seems to be where a lot of the "never been asked" divers tend to be diving...

Bonaire, Cozumel, Curacao, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Turks & Caicos. How about you, a long way from Norway?

 

[Storker]

The dry suit cert requirements are maybe what pisses me off more. Not all agencies have that as specialty, it can even be used from OW (it's done like that in cold places) and it's perfectly fine for someone to have a dry suit and use it properly without going through formal training.

Which probably is the reason why I've heard about ops around here who are just fine renting a drysuit to someone with a domestic OW (or equivalent) cert, but require either a dry suit specialty card or a logbook documenting DS dives before they're willing to rent a DS to someone with a C-card issued abroad