Mexican Dive Equipment Rentals and "certifications"!

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mike gray - 08 Feb 2006 22:47 GMT

From scubadoc. If ya don't subscribe, yer nuts. which is too
bad because there's also lots of stuff there about psycho-drugs
and diving.

State Department Information Sheet Warns of Mexican Dive
Equipment Rentals and "certifications"!

Sandwiched in an extensive write up about US residents traveling
in Mexico is the following excerpt:

"Sports and aquatic equipment that you rent may not meet U.S.
safety standards nor be covered by any accident insurance. Scuba
diving equipment may be substandard or defective due to frequent
use. Inexperienced scuba divers in particular should beware of
dive shops that promise to "certify" you after a few hours'
instruction."

Related web pages on Scubadoc's Diving Medicine Online:
http://www.scuba-doc.com/travel.html
http://scuba-doc.com/htlscba.pdf
Disease Transmission Using Scuba Gear

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Dillon Pyron - 09 Feb 2006 00:30 GMT

> From scubadoc. If ya don't subscribe, yer nuts. which is too
>bad because there's also lots of stuff there about psycho-drugs
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>dive shops that promise to "certify" you after a few hours'
>instruction."

What safety standards?

A few hours, you mean like the Resort courses taught around the world?

>Related web pages on Scubadoc's Diving Medicine Online:
>http://www.scuba-doc.com/travel.html
>http://scuba-doc.com/htlscba.pdf
>Disease Transmission Using Scuba Gear

Signature

dillon

Could have been is in the past
Could be is in the future
There is only the now

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chilly - 09 Feb 2006 04:50 GMT

> >use. Inexperienced scuba divers in particular should beware of
> >dive shops that promise to "certify" you after a few hours'
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> A few hours, you mean like the Resort courses taught around the world?

Resort courses don't get you certification.

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Charlie Hammond - 09 Feb 2006 14:45 GMT

>Resort courses don't get you certification.

This ract is not emphasized by [most of] those who offer the
restort course; It can easily be missunderstood by participants.

Signature

Charlie Hammond -- Hewlett-Packard Company -- Ft Lauderdale FL USA
(hammond@not@peek.ssr.hp.com -- remove "@not" when replying)
All opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily my employer's.

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JOF - 09 Feb 2006 15:15 GMT

>>Resort courses don't get you certification.
>
>This ract is not emphasized by [most of] those who offer the
>restort course; It can easily be missunderstood by participants.

I can't speak for everyone but certainly the three times we did
resort courses in Cancun they made it eminently clear it was not a
cert and was good only for the duration of our stay and with the one
dive op only. That was a few years ago but in talking to folks by the
pool in recent years I don't think anything's changed.

JF

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Charlie Hammond - 09 Feb 2006 17:41 GMT

> I can't speak for everyone but certainly the three times we did
>resort courses in Cancun they made it eminently clear it was not a
>cert and was good only for the duration of our stay and with the one
>dive op only. That was a few years ago but in talking to folks by the
>pool in recent years I don't think anything's changed.

I've never been to Cancun, but my personal experience TAKING a resort
course was the same as you describe. And I has observed some resort
courses being done "right".

HOWEVER -- I have also observed resort courses that treat novices about
the same as certified divers after only a few minutes of "instruction" --
in at least once case with _NO_ pool or confined water practice.
O.K., they only treat them as certified for the rest of a vacation week,
but they do give an impression.

Signature

Charlie Hammond -- Hewlett-Packard Company -- Ft Lauderdale FL USA
(hammond@not@peek.ssr.hp.com -- remove "@not" when replying)
All opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily my employer's.

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