Diving France?

[Tomeck]

Great to have your testimony !
let's go to the facts and forget scuttlebutt
So what about insurance and medicals ?
have you been asked to fill in any kind of a medical self assesment form or to go through a medical certificate ?

Encoreplus2 imported a post 'zenplongee' in the French-speaking forum to show that the diving in France is positive.

This thread: Forums plongee Plongeur.com - Encore une histoire de plongeurs Padi americains dans nos eaux. Sorry it's in French.

He asks about the medical certificate, because an English resident told on this French-speaking forum that he had a problem with French dive shops which accept the medical certificate only in French, and he must find a physician who speak French.

Pseudo 'zenplongee' in French means Zen diving.

 

[encoreplus2]

Encoreplus2 imported a post 'zenplongee' in the French-speaking forum to show that the diving in France is positive.

Oh no ! The squealing pinguin is back again
please tom, if you don't know WHY I do something, don't try to guess, just ask or read.

This post was quoted as it only because it was stating facts.
Not positive facts but facts.
Just trying to eliminate prejudice, while some are restlessly gossiping on both sides of the ocean.

This thread: Forums plongee Plongeur.com - Encore une histoire de plongeurs Padi americains dans nos eaux. Sorry it's in French.

.
Nothing worth being sorry :cool2:
Is there anything wrong about Scubaboard members writing in english ?
are you expecting english to be used on the french board ?
why don't you translate, like I did on the french board ?

So any testimony of your stays in France is welcome and will be forwarded to the froggies.

 

[washow88]

I am really confused now.
I am planning to visit Nice in April and I would like to go diving for a day or two.
La Poseidon dive center stated on their website that ªëedical certificate of no contra indication of scuba diving (less than 1 year) except for "Discover Scuba". This certificate may be in French or in English and is mandatory by French laws regarding scuba diving.
Can I obtain the form in the USA and get my doctor to sign it?
Where can I find the medical certificate?

 

[Tomeck]

I am really confused now.
I am planning to visit Nice in April and I would like to go diving for a day or two.
La Poseidon dive center stated on their website that ªëedical certificate of no contra indication of scuba diving (less than 1 year) except for "Discover Scuba". This certificate may be in French or in English and is mandatory by French laws regarding scuba diving.
Can I obtain the form in the USA and get my doctor to sign it?
Where can I find the medical certificate?

It is possible, I was in France and I could bring a medical certificate in English from another country (Switzerland). But it depends of dive shops, it is a good idea you ask La Poseidon dive center about medical certificate by e-mail, he will help you.

 

[annlaur]

Here's the "official" medical certificate of the FFESSM.

http://medicale.ffessm.fr/telech/Annexe_02.pdf

You can just print out and have your regular doctor fill it up, sign and stamp it.

Here's a quick translation of the front page :

"I, doctor..........

certify

- that I am aware of the counter-indications to practice scuba-diving established by the FFESSM Health Commission and listed on the following page

- that I have examined today
Mr. or Ms. ................
Birthdate .................
Address ...................

and that he/she doesn't have any counter-indication to practice diving as of today and as far I can tell.

Done in.............. (city and country) On................. (date) "

Doctor's signature and stamp are mandatory

The second page is a list of medical conditions that can prevent you from diving safely. I'm sure you can find the equivalent in English on the web or in your local SDS

 

[altaskier]

I am really confused now.

I can't blame you, given the discussion on this thread...

I don't know anything about the ins and outs of the French certification system. All I can say is that when I had only 20 dives in my log, and only PADI OW certification, I found myself in Porquerolles for a scientific conference. I contacted the dive shop there in advance by email, and they said sure, I could dive with them. I and another person were accompanied by a dive leader on some shallower dives while others on the boat did some deeper (40 m) dives. So maybe I missed out on the chance to get to some deep wrecks, but I had a great time and really enjoyed the experience. I'm sure I filled out some form beforehand but it was not traumatic.

So go for it!

 

[annlaur]

As far as I know, a PADI OW or AOW will be considered as a FFESSM level 1 (or CMAS*) diver. Meaning you'll dive under the supervision of the dive shop (dive director on board and level 4 FFESSM diver leading the dive) and be limited to 20 meters (60 ft).

Which is what the French dive ops call "plongee encadree" (supervised dives). Those are very common here with French divers so you shouldn't have any problem finding a dive op that will take you (unless it's off season from november to april and on a weekday).

About the depth limitation, it is somewhat flexible. If all conditions are good, if the "divemaster" sees that all the divers under his supervision have good skills and that there is something worth checking a few meters further down, he will take you there.

If you're really skilled and trained and have the right attitude, maybe a shop will "cut corners" after you've done a few dives with them and take you to a wreck at 100 ft but I wouldn't count on that. Should anything happen to you, they'd be in major trouble (insurance, liability...)

If I were you, I'd look up the dive ops in the area of your interest thru the Internet (google "club de plongee" + name of the town) and send them an email. Most French are not famous for our English-speaking skills but if you write very basic sentences, they'll probably understand you. On the Mediterranean coast, they're used to working with foreigners.

Let me know if you need help. I can do the translation for you or make phone calls.

 

[zenplongee]

Havent checked with you folks in a while, but see the PADI vs FFESSM debate lives on! Would reiiterate that my actual experiences (2004, 2008) were really great,... the people and the dives. Some of the comments, especially on the French web chat pages recently, seemed a bit less welcoming. Wow...what was that?
Someone asked which medical clearance form I used. It is the PADI standard medical clearance form. While planning our trip (France, Greece or Egypt) I was speaking with some dive shops in Greece, they suggested that form and I understood (incorrectly apparently) that it was an EU standard to accept this form, among others. Anyway, worked fine in France in my experiences. That PADI medical clearance form is actually an RSTC standard form for PADI, NAUI, SSI, and I belive also CMAS-America. The content looks about identical to the form described below (incl pages of contraindications)
Anyway, the diving on the wrecks, and out at Port Cros was wonderful. Glad I wasnt reading Scubaboard at the time or tilted in favor of Greece instead. (Ok, will do Greece next time...). Hope at the end of the day, all those on this chat are on board with the idea that it's really still all about the diving and the people. France is blessed with a beautiful coast above and below the waterline!

 

[Peter Buzzacott]

Bonjour
I arrived in France three weeks ago to start a new job and I plan to go diving. It is snowing a blizzard accross France so there is no rush, but I am in Brest where it is mild and the locals are diving every weekend still, so I have asked to join the local club. I was a PADI Instructor a few years ago, issued over 500 certifications, and I have some other certs including NAUI Trimix II.
Today I passed my French diving medical, which for some reason was totally free. In fact, on the way back to work I found a ten Euro note on the footpath so in Australia I would have paid $100-150 for a dive medical there but here I got back to work after lunch with more money than I went out with.
Next apparently they need to work out what I am equivalent to, (I think the same as we commonly do elsewhere in the world).
So, tonight I Googled FFESSM and then I read this thread, and I thought maybe the next guy who Googles FFESSM might also end up here so I should prospectively describe my experience trying to dive France.
We will see.
I was told maybe I might be limited by the equivalency system, which is constrained by their insurance, in the same way as when even famous French divers Eric and Francis Le Guen came to Australia in the 80s for cave diving, and needed to undergoe supervised check-out dives before being permitted to dive Cocklebiddy Cave with CDAA insurance. 30 years on Francis is still producing dive DVDs and writing articles for diving magazines; he is awesome, but he will still need some more check out dives if he comes back to Australia for cave diving, because of the insurance rules.
In my experience, about a dozen countries, this is pretty normal so far. If no-one needs insurance, like you're not on a boat or in a cave or being guided, you can knock yourself out at the beach, but if you want someone else to make you welcome then they need to know your next-of-kin isn't going to kick the family out of their house in some settlement if you do something stupid.
So, I will jump through the hoops and let you know how it goes. Can I go deep, will I need guiding...?
Stay tuned
Peter
PS: Today I didn't have to drop my pants and cough. I wonder now if that's been an Australian joke, making me do that every year?

 

[Peter Buzzacott]

Okay, my two years in France are up and I made 125 dives, the great majority here in France, many of them with the local dive club but also in the caves down south. Initially I was rated equivalent to N1, so I could be guided to 18m max, but then I was invited to sit a rescue diver refresher and after that an N3 C-card arrived in the post and I was rated autonomous to 60m. The cards cost me 12€ each, that's all.

Sure, there was a process and my PADI/TDI etc certs weren't immediately recognised for membership of the club but I've had similar experiences in North Carolina and I adopt the same attitude there; jump through the hoops, get certified and go diving.

The French cave diving community recognised my cave-diver certs and there were absolutely no hurdles. I just showed-up and dived French caves (which are awesome). But, if you are visiting France and looking to wreck dive then my advice would be to start organising your dives well in advance. The diving is certainly worth it and I made many good friends here, I could not have been made more welcome.

Au revoir Brest
Peter