Judging a Diver's Certifications
Determining a scuba diver's qualifications
Many times as a scuba diver you are tasked with determining if another diver is a safe diver. This article covers three key points to help you make that determination.
Many times the question “How as a Dive Operator|Insta-Buddy|Dive Site operator do you determine someone’s dive qualifications?” is asked on scuba forums. This is a critical question to answer when faced with either allowing someone on an advanced dive such as the Spiegel Grove, Andrea Doria or high current drift dive or allowing someone to become your buddy and be dependent on them for possibly saving your life.
Determining a diver’s qualification level unfortunately is more than just looking at what certification cards they carry. Everyone who has been diving for any length of time has heard the stories (or actually seen it first hand) where a supposedly dive master or even instructor level certified diver has poor buddy skills, no clue on buoyancy control and is in fact a dangerous diver and buddy. On the other hand, there are also stories of the new divers who have great skills and are a joy to dive with. It is truly a conundrum to determine the true level of a divers competence just from their collection of certification cards.
The things to watch for to determine a divers true abilities fall into three general categories:
- Listen when they talk; if they brag too much watch out, likewise if they are reluctant to talk about experience when asked that can also be a warning.
- Note the quality and condition of their gear, well used and well maintained gear is a sign of a good diver. Completely new gear that they don’t know how to set up is a dead giveaway of a poor diver.
- Comfort getting into and waiting in the water. If a diver can’t handle a backward roll into the water or a giant stride is beyond them, then they probably haven’t dove much. If a diver calmly waits for the rest of the group without bicycling and thrashing about on the surface then they probably have good skills.
Of course other things such as obvious over or under weighting for the conditions, inability to assemble or recognize gear (confusion of DIN or A-frame primaries for instance) or not knowing about gas mixtures (even if they aren’t qualified to use them) are also indicators the diver may not be as experienced as they are letting on. For example if they believe Nitrox will make their car go faster then they may not really be an instructor. Another indicator is the impossible dive claim: depths, times or multiple dives that would more than likely landed them either in the morgue or in a chamber probably indicate the person is not a real dive master.
Of course the ultimate test is to do a quick check out dive with them, but then many divers will resent this especially if they are renting tanks. As a dive operator or dive site operator requiring a first-timer with your operation to do a checkout dive is probably a good idea although I guarantee you will catch all sorts of grief from divers who believe their attitude should speak for itself as far as their qualification level. If you do require a checkout dive it should be with your tanks and free of cost.
Generally listening to your gut instinct will be the best advice, your subconscious will pick up on clues your conscious mind may ignore and will warn you. Remember that you have no obligation to dive with someone or allow them to put you or your business in jeopardy. Usually those who are incompetent don’t realize they are incompetent and in fact believe they are competent. As a diver you are ultimately responsible for your safety, this includes not allowing unsafe divers to jeopardize your safety or the safety of your operation.
