AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye Divers Certification on Ambergris Caye

None dive without proof of certification.
Unless a person can produce documentation of being a Certified Diver you will not be allowed to dive.
Read it and weep!
Call it Tough Love.
PADI has a site http://www.padi.com/scuba/ dive check that can search for your certification, but the site doesn't go back to the 70's so divers
bring your cards.Its much easier to locate records from home before you travel.
Your options are to take a SCUBA Certification course.
Wanta make us smile, tell us your an old Navy SEAL or a friend of Jacques Cousteau but don't have a card, like we've never heard that before :-)

Elbert do you offer a "Resort" course, I cant remember the exact name. I've had some inquiries about it and have been meaning to ask; it's the one where youre depth limited and accompanied by an instructor.

Yes, Nowadays that's called DSD 'Discover SCUBA Diving'.
Its the most popular course we have. They dive in Hol Chan the same day of the pool session.
Its officially a 40foot limit but at Hol Chan unless you bring a shovel it's 28.

Right-o, Thanks. I'll include it in our info package.

I have on occasion permitted people to dive without a cert card, when I believed their story and it was backed up by seeing them set up their gear and then in the water. There's no law (here or anywhere) that you have to have a cert card to dive, it's just common practice. I can tell within a few minutes whether someone is a diver or not.

Sadly there's no way of endorsing a cert card for medical issues, as would happen with a driver's licence (in Britain, at any rate). I had someone do a week's diving with me some time back, and only after his diving had finished did he let drop that he was an insulin-injecting diabetic. This is potentially a very dangerous condition, as anyone who injects insulin can have a hypo under water, with a high chance of drowning. Had I known I would probably still have let him dive, but I would have ensured he was joined at the hip to an instructor.

Its a liability thing here at our shop , just don't want to loose the licences over some one who isn't concerned enough to have a card.
A story of the origin of cards was told to me by Alex Brylske. He said that the California Highway patrol started it because they got tired of people hurting themselves and their subsequent rescue by the department.
They discovered compressed air cylinders where governed by the DOT and in order to get a tank and drive it on a state highway you first had to get a permit from the department to transport compressed air cylinders to the dive site by passing a test and get a card.
It grew from there.
Early SCUBA books where full of information about transporting tanks safely.

Fair comment Elbert, but there's no licence at stake. Maybe a commercial arrangement with PADI, but that's all. I know the operators'/instructors insurance offered by (or on behalf of) PADI is quite restrictive, but not all insurance is like that. My DAN Europe insurance specifically stated that dive cards and indeed certification was not required as a condition of insurance. All that was required was that an informed and responsible decision had been made. DAN Americas has never offered this insurance and DAN Europe insurance is not available to someone who doesn't live (at least part of the time) in Europe.

Interesting history of cards in the USA - you must tell me more some time over a beer. I think the British/European history is somewhat different, though it may not be.

I am sure that Elbert is referring to the tour guide licenses. If you take uncertified divers out and there is a major accident, illness or death the shop may be held liable and risk losings it's trade license and maybe its standing within the dive community. And the tour guides lose their livelihood if their license is suspended or revoked.

Nothing wrong with having a set of rules and guidelines - and sticking to them.

This helps highlight the reason why Whatever Sands Dive Shop has an excellent reputation.