Hiding your certification level

[ItsBruce]

Hey, this is fun!

Here's one (it might be made up, but it isn't):

400Lb diver with a beet red face (not my buddy, but talking to me):
Hey, do you get dizzy when you surface?

Me: No. Do you?

Him: Yeah, I feel like I'm going to pass out sometimes.

Me: You should probably skip the dive and see a doctor. Passing out underwater can kill you.

Him: Naaa. I'll be OK.

So.... Any liability there? Not my buddy and I told him to not dive, but he's a certified diver and can make his own decisions, and I'm only there as a tourist.

Terry

I won't say whether there is liability. What I will say is that I would not take the case against you, even on an hourly fee basis.

 

[ItsBruce]

What about on a dive (cruise ship, for example) that says "Requires OW and a dive within the past 6 months"?

If I show my OW card and a logbook as requested, am I lying?

Terry

It is not lying per se. But, it gives a lawyer the opportunity to argue that it is. Note: telling the cruise ship that you qualify for the dive and telling the dive op are arguably different (and as far as cruise ship personnel, showing an instructor's card and not an OW card might be sufficient to book the dive).

 

[Buccaneer]

No matter how you stretch it, it's not a lie. If you are asked for your highest c-card, I could see your point. I've never been asked for my highest c-card. Even then, what is "highest?" If someone has an instructor card and a tri mix card, I might just think the tri mix card is the highest.

I always fall back on the point that I always dive nitrox on charters. Therefore, I present my nitrox card when asked. I think it is reasonable that you only take one card with you on vacation. The one that is needed for the dive you are doing.

 

[Web Monkey]

I won't say whether there is liability. What I will say is that I would not take the case against you, even on an hourly fee basis.

Thanks!

It's mostly just curiosity. It's nice to know if I'm sticking my neck way out, letting someone know they were about to do something that's more risky than they might have thought.

Terry

 

[boulderjohn]

OK, trying to bring things together...

I think we have established that there is no real risk to showing an instructor card while on vacation. The benefits have been shown as well.

So what is the benefit of not showing your instructor card in comparison to the benefits of showing it?

I know I have asked this about 5 times before, but so far no one has addressed the issue. It seems to me that the very real benefits vastly outweigh the negligible or even imaginary risks, but so far no one else has made that comparison.

 

[luckydays]

Well I think a huge benefit of not showing the card WHILE ON VACATION is well obvious. You are on vacation. Why get roped into talking about work, when you are on vacation. Inevitably someone will ask you to look over their gear, check out their trip, offer a tip. Why would you want to be bothered by all that on vacation. I am sure it is worse for a dive instructor on a dive boat than it is for a lawyer or doctor or any other professional who is on vacation.

I can tell you that I get asked all the time for a professional opinion while not at work. Mostly I tell people I am a counselor (not a lie but not the complete truth) and they think I am a psychologist. Its ok by me, no one asks me about their legal messes.

So back to your question, keep your profession to yourself while you are participating in the dive to avoid having a remote chance of creating a relationship with the dive buddies on the boat (even if it was never your intention to do so) and so you can relax on your vacation.

 

[boulderjohn]

Well I think a huge benefit of not showing the card WHILE ON VACATION is well obvious. You are on vacation. Why get roped into talking about work, when you are on vacation. Inevitably someone will ask you to look over their gear, check out their trip, offer a tip. Why would you want to be bothered by all that on vacation. I am sure it is worse for a dive instructor on a dive boat than it is for a lawyer or doctor or any other professional who is on vacation.

[Sigh]

OK, I get the drift.

The fact that for page after page we established that what is mentioned in the above quote pretty much never happens doesn't matter. We just keep harping on our prejudices, all evidence to the contrary. I apologize for trying to bring a dose of reality into this imagine-fest.

Go on folks, keep on hiding from the boogeyman. In the meantime, I will keep showing my card and getting all the benefits that have been given to me every single time I have done so.

 

[luckydays]

I am sorry but I am confused. You asked why not to offer up your instructor card, and I told you that you will save yourself from giving away free advise to people while you are on vacation. If they want help with gear or trim or other help with diving they should pay you and take a class from you. Why be bothered with the questions.

I know that I get asked for advice from people all the time when they find out that I am a lawyer, I would think that it would be just as bad if not worse for someone else on a dive boat who works in the dive industry.

My main reason for not telling people what I do for a living while on vacation is because I am trying to escape from my work. Otherwise I am still working and I should be making money if I am thinking about work. The benefit for me is so I can have peace and quiet and no stress from my work while on vacation.

Maybe that is not a benefit to you, but you can't discount it as a valid reason for not disclosing what your profession is while on vacation. Maybe as a dive instructor you or others like to talk about your job all the time, even when you are not working. I know that I dont- at least not all the time.

 

[marinediva]

I have had a number of negative experiences when showing my Instructor card whilst in Far Nth Qld, all I wanted to do was enjoy a day on the reef with a DM friend. Instead twice it turned into what seemed like a major drama for the working staff. The one other occasion (seems I had not learnt my lesson) involved the filling of a tank, which in Aust, most dive shops will ask to see a card, I showed my Instructor card and because my tank was out of date, for its ANNUAL hydro by two days refused to fill it, not to worry I went down the road and got a fill by another shop after showing my rescue card, and a warning, they would not be able to do it again, until Hyrdo done.

In saying this, I have traveled in other parts of Australia and never found a problem.

My opinion of the incidents in Nth Qld is they actually thought we were from a competitor and doing research on the way they ran their business, which I have been told happens.

 

[cappyjon431]

[Sigh]
I will keep showing my card and getting all the benefits that have been given to me every single time I have done so.

I literally would not be where I am today if I had not presented my instructor card when I came down to Bocas a couple of years ago. My wife and I had only come down to Panama for a dive vacation and to perhaps look at retirement property. We had no intention of buying a business.

I showed my instructor card to the staff member when we checked in at the shop. Ten days later (on our last day of diving)the owner of the shop approached me and asked if I might be interested in buying the shop (since I had been an instructor for many years). His heart was no longer in the business and he was willing to let the shop go for substantially less than its value. I have only owned the shop for 16 months, but it has been an awesome experience, one that I would never have had the opportunity to enjoy if I hadn't shown my instructor card.

Granted the owner would have sold the shop to an OW diver if they had expressed interest, but he would never have approached me if I had not shown my instructor card.