Is certification necessary??

[knotsmart]

Hello all.. Ive been scrolling through threads and learning a lot. Its really enough to make your head spin. I haven't seen the answer to one basic question.. do you have to get certified to go diving?? aside from the most basic answer which is to be trained in this activity so you don't kill yourself or others that you might happen to be with.. let me reiterate, I know it would be foolish to dive without proper training..obviously.. if you wished to get a job and get paid for diving then you need a little piece of paper saying that you qualify for the job.. leaving that aside.. here is my situation
I intend on diving off my own boat with my own gear
don't intend on doing it professionally, only for fun
so..
-is there a law that says I cant dive without a cert?? similar to the concept of you cant drive without a DL??
-can the coast guard or state police pull up and give you a ticket if youre diving without a cert?
-whats with all these certs anyway? open water, advanced ow, rescue, divemaster.. if you don't need your little piece of paper for a job why is it necessary? If I only have a basic open water cert does that mean im not allowed to go to certain depths??
I understand that the certs prove that you've achieved a level of knowledge.. but other than yourself whom do need to prove it to?
lets say hypothetically my dive instructor friend taught me everything he knows and we've been on 100 dives off the back of my boat..but I don't even have a basic OW cert . is there a negative consequence??
oh, I should include that I do know that your tanks have to have a valid hydro, but other than that I haven't seen any other regulations

thanks for letting me pick your brain(s)
Jason

 

[hroark2112]

No problem.

Buy a compressor too. You might not be able to get fills.

 

[BRT]

In the USA there are no scuba police, at least none that can arrest you.

 

[FinnMom]

I also wonder if an insurance company might use it as reason to not pay if you make a claim for anything that happened while diving. They could claim that a course might have better taught you how to not to fall victim to all sorts of misfortunes, therefore you are entitled to a lower claim payout, or none.
If you are diving with someone and something goes wrong, this might also make you an attactive target for a lawsuit -same reasoning.


No law whatsoever requires the paper of you, but most instructors of advanced classes, shops filling tanks, boats taking out divers, etc. use the existence of a cert as proof that you know what you are doing. By having checked your cert they cover their own risk by having shown due diligence.

 

[hroark2112]

Your hypothetical friend could be in hot water too.

 

[chrisch]

...
lets say hypothetically my dive instructor friend taught me everything he knows...

Then he might as well certify that he has passed the knowledge on to you. You certainly don't need formal training or certification to dive in any legal sense. Also if you have this, that or the other certification card it doesn't "qualify" you or entitle you to dive to a certain depth or use a particular gas mix. The idea of formal training schemes is to pass on to you the practical skills and knowledge that has proven over time to be effective at keeping you "safe" in the water. The instructor or training organisation can also require that certain parts of the training are repeated if you do not show sufficient understanding or aptitude to undertake the task (in their opinion). As you rightly say to go and dive without the correct training and resultant competence is a "bad idea". That being the case it is the most obvious route for someone wishing to dive safely to undertake a recognised training program delivered by a person that has been tested by a recognised training organisation. Such training will offer "certification" to show the diver has had the training and undertaken it successfully. It is pretty hard to comprehend any set of circumstances that do not result in this end. If the instructor is recognised by a training organisation s/he will almost certainly be prevented by that organisation from training you (or anyone else) without issuing the certification. The side issue of payment is not the important point, the point is the instructor's relationship with his/her certifying agency. Therefore the situation you describe suggests being trained by someone not themselves "certified" to teach others. If you are not a trained diver can you honestly tell whether or not such a person is able or competent to teach you?

The purpose of certification is to remove this ambiguity and replace it with known constants. As we also live in a world of money it usually (but not always) means paying for the training and the agency fees for the certificate. There are a number of amateur organisations that train "for free" so to speak, but the diver is normally expected to pay at least the instructors' costs.

I think (I am not 100% sure) that Spain requires you to have formal training, but most European countries do not and the USA does not. Your insurance companies (life, boat etc.) will almost certainly use the lack of certification to avoid paying out, but they are not the law.

 

[Jax]

lets say hypothetically my dive instructor friend taught me everything he knows and we've been on 100 dives off the back of my boat..but I don't even have a basic OW cert . is there a negative consequence??
oh, I should include that I do know that your tanks have to have a valid hydro, but other than that I haven't seen any other regulations

thanks for letting me pick your brain(s)
Jason

No way this side of hell would I dive with that instructor, simply because he is so stupid to have dived with you, without you in training and not certified, and opened himself to all kinds of legal liability and wrongful death.

No, you don't have to be certified. Just don't lie to anyone else and leave them in the **itty position of being your buddy.

 

[tursiops]

No problem.

Buy a compressor too. You might not be able to get fills.

Exactly.
And you may as well get an old tank too, no need for hydros or VIS. It is just you that will see it, after all. And they rarely blow up, so the odds are in your favor.
Don't bother with a computer, just don't stay down longer than your tank allows you to....make sure your tank is not too big, and the odds will still be OK.
And I wouldn't bother with a depth gauge, or a SPG, either; what difference does it make? If it gets hard to breath, just rocket to the surface. Just don't hold your breath.
Oh, and you don't need an alternate/octopus, either...no buddy to give it to.
You'll probably be OK.
If you are not, come on here and tell us about it. There is a nice sub-forum for just this.

 

[decompression]

You can parachute without training as well........[emoji56]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[knotical]

In Quebec, and perhaps a few other places, it’s illegal to scuba without certification. Most other places it’s inconvenient. The industry self-polices and you’d find it difficult if not impossible to dive at most dive resorts for example. And just more difficult to get air or equipment elsewhere, such as your situation.

---------- Post added November 22nd, 2015 at 07:26 AM ----------

... I understand that the certs prove that you've achieved a level of knowledge. ...

and skill. Hard to get that from books and the internet.