AOW vs OW

[jasondcrawford]

Hey everyone, I've got a quick question pertaining to Advanced Open Water certification. I've now been diving for about 18 months with about 50 dives under my belt. I've done night dives, wreck dives, wall dives, dove in North Carolina for a week (115 ft, big waves, big currents, big critters!) and am trying to figure out this AOW thing.

Since I'm already doing all the things AOW 'certifies' me to do, is it still worth the money to get it? I might be missing something, but it seems like a waste of cash at this point, but I'm open to hearing everyone out. Thanks in advance!

Sidenote: None of my dives were done without taking safety into account. Anytime I thought I might be pushing my experience level, I had an instructor or local DM as my buddy.

 

[Joe-Diver]

 

[DeepBound]

Hey everyone, I've got a quick question pertaining to Advanced Open Water certification. I've now been diving for about 18 months with about 50 dives under my belt. I've done night dives, wreck dives, wall dives, dove in North Carolina for a week (115 ft, big waves, big currents, big critters!) and am trying to figure out this AOW thing.

Since I'm already doing all the things AOW 'certifies' me to do, is it still worth the money to get it? I might be missing something, but it seems like a waste of cash at this point, but I'm open to hearing everyone out. Thanks in advance!

Sidenote: None of my dives were done without taking safety into account. Anytime I thought I might be pushing my experience level, I had an instructor or local DM as my buddy.

Some charters won't let you do dives > 60ft deep without the AOW card.

I think the AOW book is worth reading. I'm not sure you'll get much out of the dives compared to reading the book. Do you understand how to plan your dive for deep dives to make sure you have enough gas to get you and your buddy back to the surface? Can you navigate well? Those are things you learn.

 

[Walter]

Since I'm already doing all the things AOW 'certifies' me to do, is it still worth the money to get it?

AOW doesn't certify you to do anything. Some charters require it to take you on some dives. Interestingly enough, AOW does not qualify one to make those dives.

 

[Jimmer]

Like other's have said sometimes you just need to show the card, either for a charter, or to progress onto Rescue diver certification or something similar.

 

[jasondcrawford]

Some charters won't let you do dives > 60ft deep without the AOW card.

Are these common? I've come across a few that wanted to see my log book, which I can understand, but didn't require the card.

 

[fisherdvm]

I'd say, you are more qualified and competent than the AOW card. But you might want to get it anyway, just to please some folks who wants to see a card.

I picked up a bunch of old PADI specialty videos for cheap on ebay. Watching them reiterated some safety rules, etc... I wouldn't want to pay for the specialty cards though.... What's the point, really.

 

[zen_man]

Hey everyone, I've got a quick question pertaining to Advanced Open Water certification.

A quick question that could turn this thread into 100+ posts in a heartbeat!

Some charters won't let you do dives > 60ft deep without the AOW card.

This is pretty much what you will get out of it. It sounds like you won't get too much out of the dives depending on the instructor. But hey! You would still get some dives in!:14:

Just my 2 psi

:zen:

 

[rollerboi]

Sidenote: None of my dives were done without taking safety into account. Anytime I thought I might be pushing my experience level, I had an instructor or local DM as my buddy.

Why don't you talk to a few of these guys you dove with, see if they can work something out to help you get your AOW card? I don't know if your dives will qualify for the requisite "adventure dives" towards AOW, but if you've got the experience it'd suck to be restricted from a dive site because you don't have the card.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I had about 60 dives when I took a PADI AOW class. Like you, my dive experiences had ranged from dive boats in tropical locales to shore diving in my backyard. I was expecting to learn more about deep diving and navigation. In addition to learning those things, I ended up benefiting from the class in two unexpected ways:
(1) I was introduced to Scripps Canyon -- a local dive site here in the San Diego area with a spectacular wall. It was a memorable dive with all of the colorful nudibranchs and a camouflaged angel shark in the shallows.
(2) I made some really good friends during the class. My girlfriend and I still go diving with 2 of the other students and 2 of the divemasters who helped with the class.
Class instruction was clear and thorough. We demonstrated all of the same OW skills in the one pool session. In that respect, it was a very good refresher course.
More importantly, we established great friendships within our class. Of course, I can't promise you that you'll have the same experience. If you do decide to take the class, I would begin it with an open mind. Dive safe and have fun...