Hi,
I guess most of you are tired by now of my battle with the
authorities. Nevertheless, I have promised to update you so I feel obliged
to send to the list the letter I sent to the ISDA. I don't know how much
influence it will have but I feel that now I have done all I could.
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Mr. Ran Levin
CEO
The Israeli Sport Diving Authority (ISDA)
Department of Science, Culture and Sport
Tel Aviv
Dear Sir;
Subject: 20 guided dives regulation and Eyal Sayag’s letter to the ISDA
About six weeks ago the diving community in Israel was informed that the
ISDA sent a new regulation to the diving clubs in Israel. This new
regulation stated that newly certified divers should dive 20-guided dives
before being allowed to rent equipment and dive on their own. The diving
community found out about this new regulation from the clubs and later, the
original letter was scanned and published on the Internet diving forums.
Later on another letter was published on the Internet. The second letter
was sent by Mr. Eyal Sayag, a member of the professional committee
consulting the ISDA, to the ISDA. In that letter, Mr. Sayag urged the ISDA
to legislate a new regulation demanding that all recreational diving in
Israel will be performed in club guided dives under the supervision of an
instructor or a DM. As Mr. Sayag’s letter contained very harsh statements
about the competence of newly certified divers as well as some wrong
information which indicated ignorance and no fact checking at best, I
tried to authenticate the letter. I was very surprised to find out that
the letter was authentic from an ISDA official as well as from one member
of the professional committee. I had a few informal conversations with
ISDA officials and with members of the professional committee and got the
impression that Sayag’s letter with the so-called facts, which he
presented, influenced the decision making of the 20-guided dives
regulation. I would like to ask the ISDA to reconsider this regulation and
to consult it with the professional committee for the following reasons:
In Mr. Sayag’s letter it is claimed (and I quote): “I mentioned
the fact that Israel is one of the very few countries in the world that
every newly certified diver can rent equipment or get his tanks filled the
day after his certification and dive alone or with a buddy wherever he
wishes. This negligence must be corrected immediately as we must try to
measure up to the international scuba diving community, which authorizes
recreational diving only through clubs that operate in the area, in guided
dives. For that matter it does not matter what is the certification level
of the diver …” … “…in countries like: U.S.A., Australia, Mexico, The
Caribbean Islands, Thailand, The Maldives, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi
Arabia. Any other diver is forbidden to dive on his own and he must dive
within a guided program …”
As I had the privilege of diving in some of the places Eyal Sayag mentioned
and I was never restricted to guided dives, I was surprised. In order to
verify this statement I published Sayag’s letter in an international
Internet forum and requested testimonies from divers all over the world. I
hereby attach 25 mails to my letter, sent to me by divers from all over the
world, who dived in almost all the locations Eyal Sayag mentioned. All of
them verified that in most of the places in the world, a newly certified
diver could rent equipment, get air fills and dive unattended by an
instructor or a DM.
As I mentioned before, I found out from several informal conversations with
members of the professional committee, that these uncorroborated and
actually wrong facts were considered when the 20-guided dives regulation
was formed. I have no doubt that the members of the committee believed Mr.
Sayag’s testimony thanks to his credentials (a PADI course director) and
did not think that this esteemed member of the committee would mislead
them. Even for this reason alone, the committee and the ISDA have a moral
obligation to reconsider the new regulation in light of the true
facts. The fact is that in most of the countries in the world, there is no
restriction on newly certified divers to rent equipment, get tank fills and
dive without the supervision of a DM or an instructor. As Mr. Sayag is a
member of the professional committee I hope that he gets my letter in order
to prevent him from repeating these wrong facts, which he presented as an
expert witness to a government agency.
Mr. Sayag states in his letter that the reasons to mandate guided
dives only are (and I quote):
<To prevent> Fatal accidents and deaths of divers who operate
independently.
I wish to remind you that every two months when the Committee is assembled
there are one or two deaths, which we discuss, that happen in Israel,
especially in Eilat. The last one was <name deleted for privacy> and <name
deleted for privacy>, …” … “… Their deaths could have been prevented if
they had taken a guided dive with the club.”
Two comments here: First, the names of the two deceased were misspelled and
I think that Mr. Sayag could have checked his facts to honor their
memory. Second, it is an outrage that Mr. Sayag mentioned <name deleted
for privacy> who was killed in a club guided dive as a proof that guided
dives could prevent deaths.
Abiding to the basic regulations of diving and equipment checking
before the dive by a professional guide, a divemaster or an instructor.
Guarding diving sites and preventing damage to important nature
resources …
Mr. Sayag’s statements that certified divers who operate independently were
likely to be killed in diving accidents were not competent to perform
equipment checks and posed a hazard to the marine environment, should alert
each and every one. Mr. Sayag is a PADI course director. He probably
certified many divers and is now certifying DM’s and instructors. His
letter raises concerns about his organization’s teaching standards. After
all a man’s testimony about his own actions is considered very
reliable. If his statements are true PADI’s standards should be examined
to find our whether certified divers meet the minimum requirements. Then
they would not be forced to dive only on guided dives.
Putting aside Mr. Sayag’s letter, if the ISDA had reached the conclusion
that newly certified divers were not able to dive unattended, at least in
their first 20 dives, it means that the certification programs are not
adequate. In such a case, the ISDA should make the certifying
organizations change their programs and add more training dives before
certification. The moment someone is certified, he should be responsible
for his actions.
I wish to conclude my letter with the words of Mr. David Strike from
Australia. Mr. Strike is diving since 1961, he had been a military diver,
(with the Royal Navy), an occupational diver, (working on the North Sea Gas
& Oil platforms). He holds recreational diving certifications with a
number of diver training organizations, including: B.S.A.C.; PADI (PADI
OWSI with Specialties; PADI Emeritus Instructor;) SSI (Instructor
Certifier); IANTD (Instructor); and ANDI (Instructor). Mr. Strike wrote:
“My own experience - and that of other seasoned recreational Diving
Instructors -is that an individual who continues to be cosseted by being
obliged to dive with an Instructor, (or suitably qualified Dive Guide)
after initial certification, will become reliant on that person for their
own well-being. The number of post-certification dives, in that sense,
become immaterial.”
Sincerely,
Kuty Weiss
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The letter was written in Hebrew and I know the translation is not as good
as the original (you'll have to take my word for it :-) ) but I think it
is accurate enough :-)
Thank you all for helping me.
Regards,
Kuty
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