What is exact outcome of AOW courses?

[Germie]

Here is no law for diving, but people complaigned when I did as open water diver nightdives to 24m depth with another open water diver.
And I was refused to do an icedive because of no AOW (but I did as open water diver icedives without that people then).
So to stop these complaints, I did the AOW course (also because I needed it to start technical diving as I already knew during my OW course that I wanted to become a technical diver). At that time I had already 55 dives. So the AOW course was not very useful anymore. Compass was no secret anymore, and I showed the instructor the 24m in a lake, because he did not know a deep divesite not to far from our homes.

BUT, I had one of the best instructors I had in my life for courses. He told me what he had to tell me about for example that nobody swims straight, you always go to left or right if you don't correct. And we tested it. He also accepted my experience and we had good conversations. So yes, it was a padi instructor, he was not interested in deep diving or technical diving, but I wanted it and he respected my dream of becoming a technical diver. Even now after 15 years, sometimes we have contact.

A lot of things can be learned the autodidactical way. Maybe sometimes harder and not for everybody, but it can.
I have also learned myself the frogkick, the backkick, shooting an SMB, etc. Learning navigation was done by a friend who was already an experienced diver: He said to me you are the leader this dive. He did not correct me when we came up on the other side of the lake and had to swim back at surface. After that dive I never made that mistake again.

But even if the AOW course was just show what you already know, I had 5 good dives with that instructor. For me it was more a 'you are on the right way' than to learn new things. But also this can be good and make you a better diver. The instructor was more a coach like you have in other sports. Try to improve very small points and motivate people. I had for that 5 dives a great private coach.

This means, if people start to complaign about going deeper than 20m, doing a nightdive, etc as OW diver, then do the AOW course. Then people see you as a better diver, even if there has nothing changed. This is reality. And this can be a good, or maybe the best reason to do the AOW course. And then try to find a good coach for the course.

 

[nadwidny]

The outcome is that you get 4 or 5 additional dives, with the introduction of a few new skills, under the supervision of an instructor, along with a shiny new certification card.
That's what you get. If you are looking for something else, you will be back here on SB bad mouthing the AOW class.

The ancillary benefits are that you may meet more people in your area that are more serious about diving than the average OW student, and may decide what specialties interest you.

The owner of a dive shop I worked at many years ago called the AOW course "Pay me to take you diving". He loved when people would sign up. Big bucks, no whammies.

 

[TMHeimer]

My take on AOW is similar to that of taking specialty courses to get PADI Master Scuba Diver. The idea being that the best thing to do is to take specialty dives that either improve your actual diving or your safety. Such courses as photography, videography, fish and marine live ID, etc. really do neither. NAV, Wreck (if you dive wrecks-- and yes you must take the full course to do penetration), Night (if you dive nights), S & R (if you do that), Peak Perf. Buoyancy and of course Deep -- can improve diving and safety. But I think often the specialties offered depend on what's logical and convenient for the shop. But, you get the card anyway in case a charter boat asks for it. When I took it back in 2006 (no e learning....) I did all the Knowledge Reviews in the AOW manual. No knowledge is bad.

 

[bradlw]

This thread is talking PADI
but from what I can tell this is equal across the board of all the mainstream agencies.

I agree with others around the general sentiment that it's silly.
I wouldn't say that it's a waste of time exactly, but in some ways yes...and yes in some ways a money grab.

Beyond the general sentiment, though, the card does serve to show that you have a few dives after certification...and experience is almost always good
& Some of those dives are supervised by an instructor....and through that you're almost certain to get some advice, help, training, or just good nuggets of info. Nothing wrong with that

But boiling it down, what it seems to get you is a card that acts as a pass to be able to go out on charter boats to the more challenging recreational stuff...so in that regard alone, it has value

I started a conversation here a few weeks ago asking a similar question about taking the deep specialty in place of AOW. Still seems to me that overall that would be much more useful and would show that a diver is capable...
and in my opinion money would be better spent to get a full on deep DECO diver certification. This is what I'd like my kids to take if they want to continue with their training (yes, DECO, even if they don't have aspirations of doing DECO dives. I think it's a shame that they aren't taught basics of this stuff in OW class)
and to add on a formal or informal workshop to bolster their navigation skills (specialty card or not, don't care about that)

but it seems this would always want to be a semantic argument point for the charter operators... so even though you'll likely be trained to a more advanced level with the DECO deep (or even with just the full deep specialty), it still only makes sense and has value to get the AOW just to stop the questions.

 

[halocline]

I tend to think of AOW as kind of OW part 2, and in a world where there were more stringent standards for certifying divers, maybe the certification process would involve both courses taken sequentially. But of course it’s all about money; getting people certified inexpensively so they don’t have to commit a large sum to get started, and then selling add on training to the divers who want it. It’s not a bad model for getting more people involved and making money off them!

For the OP who is trying to decide whether to take AOW or not, I really believe it’s as simple as ‘do you want to’. IF the instruction is high quality, then you will benefit from the time spent with the instructor’s guidance. I believe you can choose your optional dives, you don’t have to do what the dive shop specifies, other than the deep and navigation dives.

As far as the dive shop requiring AOW for certain charters, they own the boat, they make the rules. You can argue as did the lawyer son of one poster on this thread. But in the end they make their own rules; it’s the same with some ridiculous shop policies for filling tanks that I’ve encountered. You can always choose to dive elsewhere. I was never once asked for any card other than my OW cert and my nitrox card, and that’s over 25 years diving. Once I started technical diving, then there’s more stringency; I often have to show my cave card when signing in at cave sites.

 

[tursiops]

in my opinion money would be better spent to get a full on deep DECO diver certification

Your opinion misses the need for satisfying the prerequisites prior to taking a DECO class.
Facts often trump opinions.

 

[lizardland]

I never really understood what AOW was or how the diver training industry workedwhen I started diving. I assumed learning to dive would be like every other bit of training I'd ever been through. You do basic training to gain the skills, you go away and use that, gain some experience, let what you've been taught bed in, learn how to apply it in the real world, get comfortable, start pushing your limits a little bit and then go back for the next stage of training.

So I approached diving the way I'd done everything else. I did OW and went away and dived most weekends. I can't remember how long it was between OW and AOW but it was probably about a year. I think I had in the region of 50-75 dives by this point and felt like it was time for the next stage of training. I remember being incredibly disappointed by AOW and really struggling to see the point of it. It just seemed like guided diving with a bit of token education thrown.

Which I suppose it is. It is really meant to be done as an extension to OW so that you get experience with more emphasis on diving and less on training. It's not really a standalone course and I don't know that I'd really consider it a certified training level in the same way that OW or RD are. It's a step on the path that you can't really avoid. If you know that in advance then fine but if you're assuming that it teaches you to do stuff you couldn't do before then I think it will only disappoint. Moral of the story, don't wait to do it like I did.

I think that's where organisations like BSAC have their strength. The various training levels are just that, you are actively getting taught progressively more advanced stuff and you have demonstrate a level of mastery to pass.

 

[ontdiver]

Diver education and experience go hand in hand, IMHO, and there is a risk of stove piping if there is not a reasonable amount of overlap between the two. My solo course a few years ago made a big difference in how I look at dive planning and redundancy. And before that a rescue course allowed me to help an insta-buddy in distress. I also took AOW many years ago but admit that at the time I had not got my head around the "value'.

 

[pelagic_one]

Lizardland: "You do basic training to gain the skills, you go away and use that, gain some experience, let what you've been taught bed in, learn how to apply it in the real world, get comfortable, start pushing your limits a little bit and then go back for the next stage of training."

I agree with this, after some training I succeed with some of it and struggle with the rest of it. Then I'm ready to ask key questions to resolve those problems and proceed with further instruction.

 

[Damselfish]

I think the only thing everyone might agree upon is that there are some things about PADI AOW that don’t quite make sense. Don’t drive yourself crazy looking for the logic here.

Theres the official rules and standards, which not everyone agrees on or applies per the book. And the rules of an operator or location, which are not necessarily the same.

Then theres the practical. To me the practical thing is to take someone’s AOW course. AOW will make most operators happy and avoid stupid hassles. (Ideally choose things for your optional dives that actually improve diving skills. Not fluff to just get in the required number.)

The other practical thing is to get Nitrox certified. If you can get a AOW class that has actual Nitrox certification rolled in so you get a twofer with that, that works.

Take a Rescue class. No one will require it, but it’s a good thing.

Then figure out where you want to go.