Completing Open Water dives through a tour/3rd party dive shop/internationally

[bokchoy]

I am new to diving - I am PADI Scuba Diver certified and recently completed my coursework for Open Water, but have yet to do the Open Water dive.
I am planning to fulfill my pool dives asap, as I will be traveling to the Caribbean next month (Cuba specifically) and hope to do some diving there. I was then hoping to use that to fulfill my open water dive requirement rather than doing it at home.

I don't have any way of contacting the dive shop ahead of time, so I'm just wondering in general how this typically works? If I'm looking to count the dive I do with them towards my certification, is this something I need to schedule with a dive shop ahead of time? i.e. would they have to set me up with a dive master and have me complete specific skill requirements in a structured way for it to count, or is it just a matter of them signing off in my log book?

 

[diversteve]

You may want to check but since Cuba is an U.S. embargoed nation, I don't think there is any PADI certification being done there currently - PADI being a US-based corporation.

https://www.padi.com/scuba/locate-a-padi-dive-shop/default.aspx

You might possibly be able to do referral dives thru an WRSTC afffiliated shop. I don't know if there are any of those in Cuba either. Your U.S. shop would have to give you the referral paperwork. WRSTC :: World Recreational Scuba Training Council

 

[Damselfish]

Aside from whether you can even do it in Cuba, it's not just go on any dives and have them signed off. Should be specific skills involved in the dives, and you'd need to arrive with the right paperwork. And it would have to be with an instructor, not a divemaster.

It's not something I would count on without prearrangment, even if it weren't Cuba. I wouldn't expect much problem in a major dive spot that was crawling with PADI shops and instructors. But in some places you might find they don't always have the right person available to get it done, especially if you have limited time.

 

[DiveMedMD]

PADI is not authorized in Cuba unfortunately. You can look here for the organization operating in Cuba: Main Page

According to some old SB posts, NAUI recognizes ACUC and PADI might....best to contact them.

 

[Quero]

Without taking into consideration that it's Cuba, which complicates things and may in fact make it impossible for you to do this, a general answer to your question is YES, it's normally possible to do your coursework and pool dives at home and complete your open water dives at a dive destination. In order to do this, you need what is known as REFERRAL documentation that charts the work you've completed and is officially signed off on by the instructor who has been working with you. The dive shop receiving the referral will then assess your readiness to continue and will complete the outstanding dives or other elements required for certification. It's important to highlight that you should not expect to just show up and ask for dives--you need to present your paperwork and have it accepted by the receiving shop in order to finish the course and become certified. In most cases students pre-arrange the Open Water Referral so that there is an instructor on hand ready to take the student on and so that the referring shop and the receiving shop can be in contact ahead of time. Often the referring shop will send the paperwork directly to the receiving shop by scanned electronic document or by fax. In that way, if there are any questions about what the student has completed, it's easy to get it sorted out ahead of time. For example a recent referral student of mine brought along his paperwork rather than having the shop send it directly to me, but since the instructor had forgotten to initial and sign off on parts of it even though the student had completed it, I needed to contact the instructor to have him redo the document and then send it to me. It would have been much simpler if I had received the documentation ahead of time, particularly since the student wasn't aware that there were missing signatures.

 

[bokchoy]

Thanks Quero/everyone - this is helpful. I got excited for a moment thinking I might be able to kill two birds with one stone and save some money on my training, but guess it's not really feasible :/
Thanks though!

 

[Panama Jones]

These guys in Veradero are SSI according to their website. I dove with them in the Bay of Pigs but don't know how they are for instruction.

BARRACUDA-Diving Centre Varadero Cuba-Diving

 

[Skittl1321]

If you don't go until next month, can you just get the checkout dives done in the Chicago area, and then be able to dive when you are there?

It won't be that fun of a checkout dive, but at least you'll be certified.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

About 2 years ago, this information was posted here on scuba board. It may be useful:
According to this website: http://www.cuba-diving.de/DIVE-CUBA/DIVING_PLACES_CUBA/CUBA-DIVING_WORLD/Dive_Courses_in_Cuba/hauptteil_dive_courses_in_cuba.html there are no PADI dive shops in Cuba. There are, however, PADI-affiliated instructors in Cayo Largo, Cayo Guillermo and Guardalavaca.
DivemasterDennis