Contrary to belief, there are laws about dive certifications

[Simon-]

I was shocked to find out today, that diving is actually mandated in a federal law in the UAE.

To all those who say "there's no law that says you have to be certified". don't come here to dive


Federal Law No. (23) of the year 1999, ARTICLE (51) Whoever exercises the diving hobby shall: a) hold an approved diving license, b) abide by the rules, regulations and others issued by the competent bodies. c) Clarify the diving place with the international banner (Alfa) for determining the diving area. d) Guarantee the devices fitness he/she uses for exercising diving. e) Hold a navigation license from the competent authority.

ARTICLE (52) It is forbidden for diving hobbyists to: 1) Pick off coral reefs. 2) Pick off ruins and dispose of them personally. 3) Pick off ship wreckages or dispose of them for personal purposes. 4) Dive individually. 5) Use fishing guns while using diving equipment (compressed oxygen). 6) Dive in banned waters, prohibited areas, near military constructions or vivid marine constructions and castles.

 

[CT-Rich]

I was shocked to find out today, that diving is actually mandated in a federal law in the UAE.

To all those who say "there's no law that says you have to be certified". don't come here to dive


Federal Law No. (23) of the year 1999, ARTICLE (51) Whoever exercises the diving hobby shall: a) hold an approved diving license, b) abide by the rules, regulations and others issued by the competent bodies. c) Clarify the diving place with the international banner (Alfa) for determining the diving area. d) Guarantee the devices fitness he/she uses for exercising diving. e) Hold a navigation license from the competent authority.

this is agood point. Many of the people on SCUBA board are Americans and don't have laws governing diving. We have a higher authority... Insurance companies, we are ruled by the liability insurance of the people that run charters, rent gear and fill tanks.... Hell hath no fury like an adjuster scorned....

 

[HowardE]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Some posts discussing Sharia laws have been moved to The Pub where this kind of discussion is allowed. This portion of the discussion (not regarding religious or political aspects of the original post) will be in the Basic Scuba Forum... Please keep the posts on topic.

Thanks

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[OldNSalty]

Solo diving is illegal? Which prince do I write so that can complain about this? Actually there is some stuff in the law that isn't bad at all.

 

[chrpai]

BTW, how is this a "basic scuba" topic? Isn't this a regional topic?

 

[HowardE]

BTW, how is this a "basic scuba" topic? Isn't this a regional topic?

It's a discussion, and it's basic. Instead of posting off topic commentary, you can report the post if you feel there is need to move the topic.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Yes, of course there are a number of countries and localities that have laws relating to diving. When people on SB invariably chime in that "a certification is not the same thing as a license" and "there are no dive police," they are usually referring to the United States of America. I believe Australia has some laws, such as a requirement of a dive physical exam. Even in America, we have laws relating to things like the use of dive flags and behavior in marine reserves. I sometimes see non-American posters here referring to a "license," and I am not about to try to "correct" them since I am not familiar with the law where they dive. What they have very well may be a license of sorts.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I don't recall ever seeing a post that stated "there's no law that says you have to be certified". Perhaps they're out there, but I haven't seen them. I thought it was common knowledge that some countries do regulate by law certain aspects of diving. UAE is clearly one of those.

Most posts about this topic are US focused where there are no (that I'm aware of) federal laws regulating scuba. There almost certainly are state or other local laws that apply in certain areas.

while using diving equipment (compressed oxygen) ... clearly the law wasn't written by a diver.

 

[Searcaigh]

I was shocked to find out today, that diving is actually mandated in a federal law in the UAE.

To all those who say "there's no law that says you have to be certified". don't come here to dive


Federal Law No. (23) of the year 1999, ARTICLE (51) Whoever exercises the diving hobby shall: a) hold an approved diving license, b) abide by the rules, regulations and others issued by the competent bodies. c) Clarify the diving place with the international banner (Alfa) for determining the diving area. d) Guarantee the devices fitness he/she uses for exercising diving. e) Hold a navigation license from the competent authority.

ARTICLE (52) It is forbidden for diving hobbyists to: 1) Pick off coral reefs. 2) Pick off ruins and dispose of them personally. 3) Pick off ship wreckages or dispose of them for personal purposes. 4) Dive individually. 5) Use fishing guns while using diving equipment (compressed oxygen). 6) Dive in banned waters, prohibited areas, near military constructions or vivid marine constructions and castles.

Hi Simon, interesting post.

51-e Does this refer to the person in charge of the boat? I doubt any boat driver has a licence for navigation.

52-4 What if you have a Solo diving licence?

52-5 Locals frequently do this, saw some getting ready last month at Car Cemetery after we surfaced.

52-6 I think the latter part got lost in translation

 

[Divin'Papaw]

52-5 Locals frequently do this, saw some getting ready last month at Car Cemetery after we surfaced.

Perhaps they were diving compressed air or maybe nitrox. In that case, they'd be OK. The law, or at least the english translation, seems to limit the banned activity to spear fishing using compressed oxygen.