Required night dive certification

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BlueTrin

Scallops aficionado
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A dive shop requires me to have a night dive certification for night dives.

Is that pretty standard or are they just either covering themselves or using it for extra funds ?
 
Maybe their nighttime sites are considered advanced or the op is very safety conscious. I’ve never heard this before where I’ve been. Many places promote night dives such as Kona, Hawaii’s night manta dive and the black magic dive. May be standard with your dive op, but none I’ve heard of for recreational diving.
 
Yes, I've seen that as a restriction for night dives that have no bottom (e.g., BlackWater), or some currents, or weird entries/exits, or difficult navigation, or lights-out (Ostracods), etc. It is sometime stated as, "This should not be your first night dive. Please show us a certification or evidence of night experience."
 
PADI?

I could understand if it was a tricky dive and adding night on top of that could be enough that they want to know that you are not going to be task overloaded. It's hard to say if they are being safe or greedy without knowing all the details. Open ocean with unpredictable currents in a shipping channel on a new moon is a lot different then a protected cove with a full moon.
 
A dive shop requires me to have a night dive certification for night dives.

Is that pretty standard or are they just either covering themselves or using it for extra funds ?

I guess that falls under their shop, their rules. Never heard of it, but if you have already made night dives you might be able to talk your way around the rule. If they have a valid reason you need the cert, there may be other factors that make the training necessary, you might consider the training.

If they have no valid reason for requiring the cert, and you want to do the dive, you have to get the cert. My solution would be to get the training from a different shop, I have been called an ahole when reacting to stupidity. They get what they want, but don't profit from a capricious rule.


Bob
 
Went on a local dive shop organized trip to Devils Den back in 2010. In order to do the night dive at Devils Den (it's not really night, they just extinguish the lights), the dive shop owner/instructor required night dive certification which consisted of some basic instruction, reading a chapter about how much darker it is at night, and a few drills at the start of the dive. As I was pursuing my SSI AOW certification at the time I used it as one of the electives.

Typically when you see this sort of thing it's due to either liability concerns, getting more money out of divers, or a combination of both but it doesn't really matter why, does it? If you want to play you gotta pay.
 
Ah i think it’s probably because I told them it would be my first night dive.

They are SSI and it seems pretty easy diving here in Tenerife.

They are ok with me doing it as an adventure dive: so I would be only paying half the extra for the certification (25 euros more than a night dive alone), I may do this as I don’t get so many opportunities to do night dives :)
 
A dive shop requires me to have a night dive certification for night dives.

Is that pretty standard or are they just either covering themselves or using it for extra funds ?

From the shop's perspective part of it is "risk management", part of it is the sincere need to make sure they are doing what they can to ensure you're safe and having fun ... and I'm sure that part of it is that they can "help" you along in becoming a more rounded diver while at the same time gaining a customer in the process.

It's never just one thing.

Personally I absolutely love diving at night and that specialty was one of the most valuable I took early in my diving career. You may or may not get something valuable out of the course (I did) but I know for sure if you DON'T take it that you will not know what you don't know....

Keep in mind, it's precisely the people who don't know what they don't know who are the most likely to overestimate their abilities and perhaps overreach, getting themselves in trouble. This is a well known psychological effect. Diving is easy. Diving at night is easy too, but there ARE some "gotcha's" that you're going to want to learn the "easy way" and not the "hard way".

Just a thought.

R..
 
I can't add anything to what's already been said. However, I would tell you to take the course. It's fun and you learn things you wouldn't have thought of. Then again, that's me. I enjoy taking specialties. I remember when I got the boat diving specialty I was thinking, I've done a ton of boat dives what am I gonna learn. WOW!!! I learned a lot of things I would have never thought of.
 

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