No Morning Dive After Flight the Day Before with ProDive Mexico?!?

[lv2dive]

I don't have a problem with their general policy, seems smart to me bc I have been on too many charters in NC (and other places) with people running out of gas or erroring out their computer/going into deco and somebody else figuring it out for them ten minutes later on the boat.

The last cattle boat dive I did was in the Bahamas, I was planning on diving three days but after the first it just wasn't fun so i bagged the rest. I like diving with people I know or people who have been somewhat vetted by the captain, met some of my fav dive buddies that way.

Anyhoo, in this instance, looks like the op was willing to make a policy exception but the OP didn't want to the play. I think the Op dodged the bullet, to be honest.

With regards to not taking a Nitrox card - that's just weird. I had friend who went to a shop who would NOT take a Trimix card for Nitrox. If I remember correctly, he wrote himself a temp Nitrox card to solve the problem since he was an instructor. SMH at nonsensical rules.

 

[divingjd]

So, the OP appears to have had a chip on his shoulder, but if you go back to the transcript, ProDive said its normal policy was for people to dive in the afternoon the first day. Yes, they offered to try to get the OP on a morning dive and yes, the OP did not cooperate. I still don't know of any other dive op that has this policy. The expressed reasons for it are good, but other safe and reputable dive ops find a way to get divers out in the morning. That would make the difference for me.

 

[ggunn]

Whew. Such a long exposition.

Cutting through the noise here's what I got. ProDive doesn't want to take someone out on what might turn out to be an advanced dive when they have never laid eyes on him before. It has nothing to do with when he was last on an airplane. If I ran a dive op I would do the same. A cert card for an advanced skill isn't always a good indicator of proficiency, as we all know. Neither is a logbook full of scribbled notes. I'd be willing to bet if the OP were a return customer we wouldn't be having this discussion.

 

[boulderjohn]

I had friend who went to a shop who would NOT take a Trimix card for Nitrox.

Maybe we are talking about the same person, but in the case I know, when the shop refused to give him a nitrox fill with his trimix card, he asked if they would give him trimix instead. When they said they would, he asked for trimix with 0% helium. At that point the shop realized how stupid they were being and gave in.

 

[lv2dive]

Was it a cave instructor from Gainesville trying to get fills in the keys? Lol

Maybe we are talking about the same person, but in the case I know, when the shop refused to give him a nitrox fill with his trimix card, he asked if they would give him trimix instead. When they said they would, he asked for trimix with 0% helium. At that point the shop realized how stupid they were being and gave in.

 

[stuartv]

A prerequisite for nitrox training is OW cert.

Um, you can't get a Nitrox card without an OW card.

False.

I already said this, but here's a link to the page. The PDF of the actual course standards is linked at the bottom of the page. Feel free to read them, if you don't believe me. I don't know about any other agency, but the SDI prerequisite for Nitrox is to be enrolled in an OW course or have OW or Jr OW - which is also notable. A person with Nitrox could only be certed as Jr OW. Even if they got Jr OW a long time ago, that and a Nitrox card doesn't mean they have OW. If they are only enrolled for OW, there is nothing that says the person has to do the Nitrox course even with the same instructor or shop that they are doing OW with, much less that they have to complete OW before the Nitrox card can be issued.

Computer Nitrox Diver Course | SDI | TDI | ERDI

Do I think it has ever happened? No. Probably not. But, as a dive charter operator (if I were one), would I feel I was meeting my legal (and insurance) obligations if I accepted a Nitrox card as proof of any kind of other certification? No.

You feel free to make whatever assumptions you want about what other C cards a person has based on seeing a Nitrox card. As I said in the beginning, I would never assume that anyone would take my Nitrox card (or any other C card that doesn't require any dives) as proof of any certification to dive. When I go to sign in at a dive operator, I take my AN card and my DP card. The AN card actually does require dives, but I still take the DP card, just to make sure there are no problems.

 

[Mitch H.]

It could be just me, but that seems like a pretty clear explanation of why. And never a statement that it's a REQUIREMENT. It seems pretty clear (to me) that they will make an exception to what they PREFER if you give them the info to let them know that you (and your buddies) are indeed qualified to do the morning deep dives.

Again it could just be me, but this comes across as someone who wants special treatment because they are a freshly minted DM and maybe the next thing to be revealed was going to be that at least one of the other divers in the group does not have sufficient experience to satisfy ProDive that they would be okay to take on the morning deep dive (when judging just based on credentials). Maybe the OP wanted to be able to take a not-experienced-enough diver on the deep dive on the basis that the OP is a DM and should be able to do what he wants? But he quickly realized he wasn't going to slide that one past ProDive, so he cut them off and moved on?

I'm not very experienced as a diver. I have been out on at least 10 different charters, with at least 5 different operators around the country and in Mexico where "advanced" was required. I have never yet had a problem getting approved in advance to go on these charters. All without lying about my experience and without having to go on any "checkout" dives first. It has seemed to me that honesty, courtesy, and a good attitude have always gotten me "there".

I absolutely don't expect any kind of treatment different from anyone else. This would be the third time we have attempted to book our dives with them. EVERY time we ask specific questions, we get answers like "sounds good" to a direct question. I'm sure that led to my frustration. I'm not sure if it's a communication issue or not but it is consistent. Before we paid over $2k for our dives for the week, we wanted to make sure there were no surprises. There was no offer of a 10 am checkout dive as has been suggested.

To clarify, I will swim my 800m snorkel this weekend to finish my DM. All I have to do is not quit to pass with enough points. My certification at the time we are there will be DM.

 

[redacted]

False.

I already said this, but here's a link to the page. The PDF of the actual course standards is linked at the bottom of the page. Feel free to read them, if you don't believe me. I don't know about any other agency, but the SDI prerequisite for Nitrox is to be enrolled in an OW course or have OW or Jr OW - which is also notable. A person with Nitrox could only be certed as Jr OW. Even if they got Jr OW a long time ago, that and a Nitrox card doesn't mean they have OW. If they are only enrolled for OW, there is nothing that says the person has to do the Nitrox course even with the same instructor or shop that they are doing OW with, much less that they have to complete OW before the Nitrox card can be issued.

Computer Nitrox Diver Course | SDI | TDI | ERDI

Do I think it has ever happened? No. Probably not. But, as a dive charter operator (if I were one), would I feel I was meeting my legal (and insurance) obligations if I accepted a Nitrox card as proof of any kind of other certification? No.

You feel free to make whatever assumptions you want about what other C cards a person has based on seeing a Nitrox card. As I said in the beginning, I would never assume that anyone would take my Nitrox card (or any other C card that doesn't require any dives) as proof of any certification to dive. When I go to sign in at a dive operator, I take my AN card and my DP card. The AN card actually does require dives, but I still take the DP card, just to make sure there are no problems.

A noble defense of idiocy. I was 68 at the time and did not bring my jr. OW card.

 

[Mitch H.]

So, what did this response mean? "Coralie: Hi, sounds good"

Bottom line:. It looks like four divers are going to the Allegro for a week of diving and some other dive op will get the $2k they will be spending!!!

Nailed it. This is exactly what led to my frustration. My THIRD time to ask a question to get a non-response.

 

[Mitch H.]

How does that relate to this incident???

I suspect Mitch had heard about prodive policy and reacted poorly as soon as he realized a run-around had started. It looks like there is only one Cozumeldive op that has such a policy; and it is costing them some business.

BTW, I may be a little biased. This is the same op that presented me a medical questionnaire in spanish, no comprende, and would not accept my nitrox cert card because I was diving air.

It is like a scuba diving barber school.

Yes, I read of this policy somewhere. I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure it was here on SB.