CJ Bill
Registered
Hoepfully going on a training course in Marseilles next March and I'm wondering what the region is like for getting a couple of days of diving in. Any good shops/ centres that'd welcome a walk-in PADI diver?
Diving in the Marseilles region?
- Thread starter CJ Bill
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Ask your question there:
http://www.plongeur.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=89
The forum is in French, but it will be OK if you write in Enblish, a lot of people will be able to answer you.
From what I have heard, Marseille is a great diving area, but I have no personnal experience about it.
http://www.plongeur.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=89
The forum is in French, but it will be OK if you write in Enblish, a lot of people will be able to answer you.
From what I have heard, Marseille is a great diving area, but I have no personnal experience about it.
chrisch
Contributor
You will find PADI is not all that well known in France and they use the CMAS system. However, just a bit west of the city is the "Blue Coast" and you will find the centre below at Carry le Rouet very PADI friendly and they accept walk ins. They also have a good range of rental kit, accomodation and do nitrox at the same price as air.
http://www.aqua-evasion.com/
Make sure you have a medical certificate less than a year old - you need it for France.
Chris
http://www.aqua-evasion.com/
Make sure you have a medical certificate less than a year old - you need it for France.
Chris
OP
CJ Bill
Registered
Thanks, good to have some leads!
Scared Silly
Contributor
While living in France one of my more memorable wreck dives was off the coast of Toulon on the Denator. It is deep, around 40-50m. Some info can be found here:
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/france/francedive.html
Toulon is east of Marseilles by about an hour?? I can not remember exactly as was living to the east near Nice at the time.
Also I believe PADI and CMAS just signed an agreement of some sort to recgnize each other.
As for the medical, yup, and that you will need to buy a license as well. It is good for a year and also provides some insurance in case of a ride to a chamber. Double check on all this as it has been 10 since I dove there. Amusé vous.
http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/france/francedive.html
Toulon is east of Marseilles by about an hour?? I can not remember exactly as was living to the east near Nice at the time.
Also I believe PADI and CMAS just signed an agreement of some sort to recgnize each other.
As for the medical, yup, and that you will need to buy a license as well. It is good for a year and also provides some insurance in case of a ride to a chamber. Double check on all this as it has been 10 since I dove there. Amusé vous.
padi & cmas have an agreement on various levels, the entry level is just paperwork, for the rest it's like additional training... therefore not really interesting for you.
Just find a PADI dive center (www.padi.com) in the region and give it a shoot. I would say that the one in carry is pretty well known (haven't tried it). For the wrecks, there are loads down there, but don't be surprised if they ask you do to a check dive, at 6m for mask clearing etc... that's somewhat a procedure down there.
don't forget the medical as some stated... it's compulsory by law, therefore if you don't have it... you don't dive.
For the rest, don't be surprised either to see autonomous divers go down to 210 Ft on Air... that's quite a change from the PADI way of diving...
Loads of the wrecks are deep down there, but some of the sites are wonderful, i hope you'll get some nice dives and give us a good feedback on the area.
The licence is certainly not compulsory... don't let them buy you into that... it's just if you go in the "club" like an association that you have to do so. If you provide your DAN or other V&B insurance which is valid, you can dive without the club fee, there is no legal obligation to do so... just get into the real commercial dive center and not the "club" which normally by law should be restricted to "club participants" and not "people who come and go".
Enjoy your stay
Just find a PADI dive center (www.padi.com) in the region and give it a shoot. I would say that the one in carry is pretty well known (haven't tried it). For the wrecks, there are loads down there, but don't be surprised if they ask you do to a check dive, at 6m for mask clearing etc... that's somewhat a procedure down there.
don't forget the medical as some stated... it's compulsory by law, therefore if you don't have it... you don't dive.
For the rest, don't be surprised either to see autonomous divers go down to 210 Ft on Air... that's quite a change from the PADI way of diving...
Loads of the wrecks are deep down there, but some of the sites are wonderful, i hope you'll get some nice dives and give us a good feedback on the area. The licence is certainly not compulsory... don't let them buy you into that... it's just if you go in the "club" like an association that you have to do so. If you provide your DAN or other V&B insurance which is valid, you can dive without the club fee, there is no legal obligation to do so... just get into the real commercial dive center and not the "club" which normally by law should be restricted to "club participants" and not "people who come and go".
Enjoy your stay
chrisch
Contributor
Scared Silly:
The French accept PADI, but as a PADI diver you are CMAS 2 star at best. You are therefore limited to 40m and not able to dive the Donator. PADI also limits its divers to 40m.
Chris
Sorry to feel like Ranting... but i'll go for the PADI thing again .
Padi DOES NOT regulate Depth OUT OF TRAINING. it only regulates the training depth during classes. The rest is done by law. Therefore if someone wishes to go down to 50m to see the donator after his OWD training... no one will refuse it. It is common sense not to do so... but it is not Illegal as you state it.
I was able to dive the donator and am only a padi instructor, so he will perfectly be able to dive it. He will probably not be able to dive it in "autonomy" but guided and after 1 check dive at least this is absolutely possible. If i'm wrong please give me the law (arrêté 1998 relatif aux activités subaquatiques).
Moreover if he doesn't pass through a club, nothing is regulated in the diving activity... therefore he does "what he wants" basically, this is where there is a huge difference between the french system and the other systems around the world
. Padi DOES NOT regulate Depth OUT OF TRAINING. it only regulates the training depth during classes. The rest is done by law. Therefore if someone wishes to go down to 50m to see the donator after his OWD training... no one will refuse it. It is common sense not to do so... but it is not Illegal as you state it
. I was able to dive the donator and am only a padi instructor, so he will perfectly be able to dive it. He will probably not be able to dive it in "autonomy" but guided and after 1 check dive at least this is absolutely possible. If i'm wrong please give me the law
(arrêté 1998 relatif aux activités subaquatiques). Moreover if he doesn't pass through a club, nothing is regulated in the diving activity... therefore he does "what he wants" basically, this is where there is a huge difference between the french system and the other systems around the world
OP
CJ Bill
Registered
Again, thanks for more info. I'm hopefully going to be doing some IANTD training before I go and will be in France for three seperate training sessions so I'll see how it all goes.
Funny really, I was organising the training (with Gemalto, formerly Gemplus) and explaining to my manager why I needed it (need to be able to control USIM cards etc). He just said "Good diving round there then?".
Funny really, I was organising the training (with Gemalto, formerly Gemplus) and explaining to my manager why I needed it (need to be able to control USIM cards etc). He just said "Good diving round there then?".
Klezz
Registered
Hi CJ Bill
I use to dive in Marseille, in the center called "Atollplongee"
http://www.atollplongee.com/ info@atollplongee.com
it is located in Marseille and has such accomodations as rental kits, sleeping rooms and a restaurant.
It's both a CMAS and PADI center
There are a lot of nice dives in Marseille itself, I'm sure you'll enjoy it
Klezz
I use to dive in Marseille, in the center called "Atollplongee"
http://www.atollplongee.com/ info@atollplongee.com
it is located in Marseille and has such accomodations as rental kits, sleeping rooms and a restaurant.
It's both a CMAS and PADI center
There are a lot of nice dives in Marseille itself, I'm sure you'll enjoy it
Klezz
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