Got refused boat dives due to 12 month break

[flots am]

Not so in my case ... that "checkout dive" cost me a day of diving at an all-inclusive diving resort. We arrived about 40 minutes after they did the daily check-out dive

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have been all that annoyed if the DM wanted to see you do a few skills. The problem is that they required that you do a checkout dive but didn't let you do one.

That's a problem with the resort's scheduling, not a problem with wanting you to do a checkout dive.

flots.

 

[DevonDiver]

Weeellll...I have this friend, you see... (not me. He lives in Sacramento.) Anyway, this very nice fellow had been away from diving for maybe two years.

And we went for a dive. Quite honestly he was flawless, in buoyancy, skills, dive planning, predive checks, everything.

So this tells me a simple "12 months and you need a remedial course" thing is not based on real need.

BUT... you went for a dive.... with him.

In doing so, you checked-out his skill.

That's simply what a dive operator wants to do.... unless they manage to develop a super-psychic-dive-skills-predicting-machine.

 

[HansB]

I resumed diving last year after a 5 year break and only 30 or so dives logged. I figured it was riding a bike, I didn't need a refresher, but went ahead and took one anyway. Afterwards I was very thankful I did. I still remember the wave of panic that hit when I flooded my mask during the skills review at the deep end of the pool, it really drove the point home to me.

 

[BluewaterSail]

Weeellll...I have this friend, you see... (not me. He lives in Sacramento.) Anyway, this very nice fellow had been away from diving for maybe two years.

And we went for a dive. Quite honestly he was flawless, in buoyancy, skills, dive planning, predive checks, everything.



So this tells me a simple "12 months and you need a remedial course" thing is not based on real need.



I've never balked at a skills checkout dive. I also agree that those that squawk are usually the ones that need to go on a checkout dive. Such a dive, I believe, would be a better arbitrator of need for a refresher course. (I suspect that a refresher course is a hidden little profit center though, so money perhaps has a wee bit to do with this.)



Oh, my friend? He is certified as a Tech2 diver. Anther takeaway is that highly skilled, experienced divers will probably have far more durable skills, than someone with very little time in the water, whose skills would be more perishable.


All the best, James

I don't know the details, but the Israeli law requiring a refresh course if you haven't dove in 6 months (not a day, more like half an hour briefing then inwater skills check at the beginning of a dive) exempts people certified over a certain level. Certainly your tech diving friend is a different kettle of fish from a vacation only diver. So they account for that. Makes sense.

 

[alibi 2]

Everytime i go to cozumel i bring my current (written) dive log to show that i have current dives and to what depths...if i want to do advanced dives the shop i dive with requires i show current dives to the depths and conditions that i want to dive...even then they will review me each day before being allowed to do challanging dives...i think its about time that cruise ships, and resorts start requiring proof of diving for safety...one only has to look at the death and accident forum to see the results of divers that are out of touch with training...scuba is not like riding a bike ..if you don't stay current and active you lose your skills and are at risk of accident or injury and that not only puts you at danger but everyone around you..

 

[Kingpatzer]

Personally, any operator that lets someone into the water without doing some level of checkout dive is frankly setting themselves up for an eventual lawsuit that they will lose. More importantly, we have a duty to our customers to reasonably ensure their safety.

I'm glad to hear this is happening. I hope more and more operators follow this example.

 

[DandyDon]

Personally, any operator that lets someone into the water without doing some level of checkout dive is frankly setting themselves up for an eventual lawsuit that they will lose. More importantly, we have a duty to our customers to reasonably ensure their safety.

I'm glad to hear this is happening. I hope more and more operators follow this example.

I've never been required a check-out dive anywhere that I can remember, including around the US - and suing an Op in Mexico is virtually out of the question, IMO.

 

[freshie24]

You think 12 months is bad. I took the GF to Sandals Negril on vacation and had three cold water San Diego dives in the last week before leaving for Jamaica. The dives were in water down to 49 F with VERY limited visibility. Those three dives made EVERY dive in Jamaica look like a walk in the park.

I had my computer with me showing the dives but no log book. They said since I didn't have my log book, I would have to take a refresher course the next day and couldn't dive until the following day. The other option was to take my AOW with them. I didn't want to miss out on diving, so I took the AOW course with them.

The first dive (fish identification), I dove with the group. After observing the rest of the divers, and surfacing with over 2,000 psi from an AL 80, I wasn't mad anymore. These guys are use to taking VERY inexperienced divers and really shouldn't be taking ANY chances.

After the instructors realized they could actually get a full dive with me, they fought over who would take me out. Every dive after that was one on one with one of the instructors. I dive with a lot of guys in the 10,000+ club and one guy in the 60,000+ club. I don't consider myself a very experienced diver (105 dives before AOW certification, 40 dives after), so considering how the instructors acted, they must be use to some SERIOUS inexperience with their clients. I was mad at first, but in the end, I respected their decision to err on the side of safety.

In retrospect, the one on one dives put me in areas that they would have NEVER taken the group. The last two dives were wreck dives and by that time the instructor was comfortable enough with me to let me penetrate at over 100 ft.

I'm heading to Fiji in August and I can GUARANTEE that I will be bringing my log book this time.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

You think 12 months is bad. I took the GF to Sandals Negril on vacation and had three cold water San Diego dives in the last week before leaving for Jamaica. The dives were in water down to 49 F with VERY limited visibility. Those three dives made EVERY dive in Jamaica look like a walk in the park.

I had my computer with me showing the dives but no log book. They said since I didn't have my log book, I would have to take a refresher course the next day and couldn't dive until the following day. The other option was to take my AOW with them. I didn't want to miss out on diving, so I took the AOW course with them.

The first dive (fish identification), I dove with the group. After observing the rest of the divers, and surfacing with over 2,000 psi from an AL 80, I wasn't mad anymore. These guys are use to taking VERY inexperienced divers and really shouldn't be taking ANY chances.

After the instructors realized they could actually get a full dive with me, they fought over who would take me out. Every dive after that was one on one with one of the instructors. I dive with a lot of guys in the 10,000+ club and one guy in the 60,000+ club. I don't consider myself a very experienced diver (105 dives before AOW certification, 40 dives after), so considering how the instructors acted, they must be use to some SERIOUS inexperience with their clients. I was mad at first, but in the end, I respected their decision to err on the side of safety.

In retrospect, the one on one dives put me in areas that they would have NEVER taken the group. The last two dives were wreck dives and by that time the instructor was comfortable enough with me to let me penetrate at over 100 ft.

I'm heading to Fiji in August and I can GUARANTEE that I will be bringing my log book this time.

Your story reminds me of my friend Sparky. I met Sparky several years ago ... right after he completed OW at a dive shop down in Oregon. I took him on his first two post-OW dives. Sparky's a long-haul truck driver, and about two weeks later I got an email from him telling me he was in Florida and went out on a dive boat. He told me he was the most experienced diver on the boat.

I replied ... "But Sparky ... you only have eight dives!"

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[nimoh]

You think 12 months is bad. I took the GF to Sandals Negril on vacation and had three cold water San Diego dives in the last week before leaving for Jamaica. The dives were in water down to 49 F with VERY limited visibility. Those three dives made EVERY dive in Jamaica look like a walk in the park.

I had my computer with me showing the dives but no log book. They said since I didn't have my log book, I would have to take a refresher course the next day and couldn't dive until the following day. The other option was to take my AOW with them. I didn't want to miss out on diving, so I took the AOW course with them.

The first dive (fish identification), I dove with the group. After observing the rest of the divers, and surfacing with over 2,000 psi from an AL 80, I wasn't mad anymore. These guys are use to taking VERY inexperienced divers and really shouldn't be taking ANY chances.

After the instructors realized they could actually get a full dive with me, they fought over who would take me out. Every dive after that was one on one with one of the instructors. I dive with a lot of guys in the 10,000+ club and one guy in the 60,000+ club. I don't consider myself a very experienced diver (105 dives before AOW certification, 40 dives after), so considering how the instructors acted, they must be use to some SERIOUS inexperience with their clients. I was mad at first, but in the end, I respected their decision to err on the side of safety.

In retrospect, the one on one dives put me in areas that they would have NEVER taken the group. The last two dives were wreck dives and by that time the instructor was comfortable enough with me to let me penetrate at over 100 ft.

I'm heading to Fiji in August and I can GUARANTEE that I will be bringing my log book this time.

I find it funny that the operator doesn't accept a dive computers "log" function.

Anybody can write up a few log pages, but in order to fake a computer, you would have to give it to someone to dive with (or borrow one from a regular diver).