Forgot your dive card? How to prove your certification for diving in Egypt

Yes, if you can show your certification another way. A plastic card is only one form of proof. A digital card, an online record the dive centre can check, or a verification letter from your agency all show the same thing: that you are trained to the level you say.

What matters is that the dive centre can confirm your level before you get in the water. Your level decides which dives you can join. So sort out your proof before your holiday, or at the latest the evening before your first dive.

At 71 Guardians our daily boat takes certified divers with Open Water or higher, from PADI, SSI or an equivalent agency. On the guided 2-dive day trip page we ask you to bring your certification card (or e-card) and your logbook.

Open your agency's app or website and show the digital card. Here is what each agency's own pages say.

Tip: download the card before you fly. Hotel and boat Wi-Fi is not something to rely on, and the PADI eCard only works offline once it has been downloaded.

Your certification level, and how recently you last dived. The card shows what you are trained for. Your logbook or dive computer shows how much you have dived and when.

• Certification card or e-card: confirms your level, for example Open Water or Advanced Open Water.
• Logbook or dive computer log: shows your number of dives and your last dive date. A paper logbook, an app log or a computer history all help.
• Specialty cards: bring your Nitrox card if you want to dive on Nitrox.

With us, if it has been more than a year since your last dive, your first dive of the day is an easy check dive with your guide, at no extra cost. If you'd like more time to refresh your skills first, the PADI ReActivate / Scuba Refresher is from €70.

Contact the dive centre or agency that certified you; they can find your record. Work through these steps in order.

1. Check the app. Sign in to the PADI App, MySSI, the SDI TDI ERDI PFI app or MyBSAC. Your card may already be there.
2. Run the agency search. SSI's Find Certification and the SDI/TDI Certification Search work with your name and date of birth. The CMAS Portal has a certification search too.
3. Ask the dive centre to look you up. PADI says its dive centres and resorts can look up PADI records online. A dive professional can also run the SDI/TDI search and send the verification letter on.
4. Contact whoever certified you. PADI's FAQ points you to the centre or instructor who certified you, then PADI customer service for your region. CMAS cards come from national federations, so a lost CMAS card goes back to the federation that issued it.

Older records may not be online. SSI says certifications issued before 2007 may not appear in its database and need adding by hand. SDI/TDI says records from before 2009 may not appear; use its Request Certification button or contact headquarters. Start early if you learned to dive a long time ago.

Order it through your agency's website or app, or through a dive centre of that agency. A digital card is the quickest.

• PADI: order online with your name and date of birth. You can only order for yourself online; for someone else, go through a PADI dive shop. Physical cards are printed and mailed within two business days but can take two weeks or more to arrive. PADI's pages differ on the eCard: one says instant download, its help FAQ says within 24 hours. PADI certifications processed after 10 January 2023 come with an eCard as standard.
• SSI: log in to your profile and go to Training, Certifications, Order replacement card, or ask an SSI Training Center to print one. SSI only replaces SSI certifications, not other agencies' cards.
• SDI, TDI, ERDI, PFI: run the Certification Search, pick the certification and choose the replacement card option. Your digital card stays in the app meanwhile. They can only replace their own agencies' cards.
• CMAS: contact the national federation that issued your card. CMAS does not issue cards directly.
• BSAC: order a physical card through the BSAC shop; the digital card in MyBSAC is there already.

Not sure which agency you trained with, or how they compare? See PADI vs SSI vs SDI.

Some sites are deep, current-swept or far offshore, so a certification level alone is not enough. Logged dives show the experience behind the card.

Our Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone liveaboard is an advanced route with deep walls and strong currents. We ask for Advanced Open Water or 50+ logged dives. If you have the dives but not the card, your logbook is your proof, so bring it. For what the route is like, read Brothers, Daedalus & Elphinstone: what to expect.

Not there yet? The PADI Advanced Open Water course is from €320, and SSI and SDI Advanced from €290, all-inclusive. See depth limits by certification for what each level allows.

Keep two kinds of proof: the digital card downloaded on your phone, and a second copy elsewhere. A printed verification letter or the plastic card in your dive bag both work.

• Digital card downloaded in the app before you travel
• Plastic card, or a printed verification letter (SDI/TDI offer a PDF)
• Logbook, or your dive computer with its log
• Nitrox card, if you dive on Nitrox
• Your dive insurance details

The full list is in our packing list for a Red Sea dive holiday, and dive insurance: what it covers explains the cover worth having.