Background check on stuff who train or service you

If you consider booking either scuba diving package or snorkeling tour through a resort or facility operator, you should ask yourself some questions and get answers whether they really care for your safety both beneath and above the water, especially if you are a novice fan of these water sports. Are they capable of providing training for their clients that would be adequate to ensure the whole vacation and recreation will by but comfort and enjoyment?

All companies proclaim they are providing excellent quality tours matching what they advertize. Particularly this has to do with the instruction and certification of the recreational divers they cater to. Do they have good record with authorities or institutions that inspect their facilities in their turn, if any?

To be able to confirm that the resort's safety record might be estimated as satisfactory, you have to see what they say about personnel they hire, and especially what captains they employ. I would say you may rely only if you see big enough boats navigated by the captains that are certified and licensed by the US Coast Guard.

Dive boats that transport more than 6-7 passengers should also be routinely inspected and re-certified by the Coast Guard.

Finally ask a question whether all their stuff working with people are required to submit to at least some sort of pre-employment background check and any sort of of drug screening while in course of performing their work responsibilities on workplace. You may be surprised, but on one site offering divemaster internships I read once the following notice: "Slackers, whiners, drug addicts, need not apply!" Which means that incidents of the sort do happen in the industry. At other forum I read about a dive master (won't tell the name of the resort) who was "a retarded ex-drug addict with his body covered all in cartoon tattoos", and who did not pay any attention to safety at all.