SDI: Advanced Adventure vs Advanced Scuba

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stuartv

Seeking the Light
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I am just about done with my OW cert and starting to contemplate a plan for what to do after that.

I am taking the Computer Nitrox class next week, so that will be done.

Looking at the SDI website and also reading some of the threads posted here, I have to say that it is pretty confusing to have an Advanced Adventure Diver course and also an Advanced Scuba Diver Development Program. It seems most other agencies have an Advanced Open Water cert, which seems to pretty much correspond to the SDI Advanced Scuba Diver. But, it is obvious that many people confuse getting their Advanced Adventure Diver cert with being being equivalent to, say, a PADI AOW cert.

Anyway, after reading all I can, I still have some basic questions:

0) ASDDP is the equivalent of PADI AOW, and AAD is not, correct? Or is it the other way around?

0.5) I have read that some dives (e.g. at certain resorts or through certain dive boat ops) require an Advanced cert before they'll let you go on it. If I stick with SDI, does that mean they require me to have AAD or ASDDP?

1) ASDDP says: "Complete four SDI Specialty Diver courses or equivalent; only 1 course without dives, may be credited towards the SDI Advanced Diver development program, with the exception of SDI Computer Nitrox"

The exception part of that sentence is very confusing. Computer Nitrox is a course without dives. So, does the exception clause mean that it counts as a specialty and I could still take one more specialty course without a dive as credit towards ASDDP? Or does it mean that Nitrox doesn't count for any of the specialties required for ASDDP at all? So, even with Nitrox, I still need 4 additional specialty courses - one of which could be a course without dives?

1.5) What other courses are there that don't require dives? With winter setting in, taking some non-diving courses might be something to do in the next 3 or 4 months.

2) If I take the Advanced Adventure Diver course, does that count as a specialty towards ASDDP?

3) AAD requires Deep and Underwater Nav to be part of the course plus 3 electives. If AAD itself counts as 1 specialty and then I take the actual Deep Diving specialty, does it still count as a 2nd specialty towards ASDDP?

4) If I know that I want to take the actual specialty courses for Deep, Nav, Buoyancy, and Night, then is there any reason at all to take the Advanced Adventure Diver course? I asked my OW instructor about this and he said that Deep requires 3 dives and the Deep dive included in the AAD course would count as one. But, the SDI website says Deep just includes 2 dives. And maybe I misinterpreted what he was telling me and maybe he just meant that the Deep dive as part of AAD would count towards the required dives in the Deep specialty, so it was not a waste of time/money to do AAD.

AAW seems kind of like the Discovery Dive I did last year, before signing up to do OW certification this year. It was nice as a way to try it out, but ultimately, a bit of a waste of money as I already KNEW that I wanted to go through OW certification. AAW seems similar in being a way to try some different things out without committing to them. But, if you know you want to do those full specialties anyway, then sampling them via AAW seems like a waste of time and money.

5) Do I have to actually take an ASDDP course to get that? Or can I just take the number of specialties required, as individual classes, and then, when I'm done with them, and I have the required number of logged dives, just go present my log book and certs to get my ASDDP card?

6) If a shop offers an actual ASDDP course, is that just a way of getting a package deal on all 4 of the specialty courses that you want? So maybe saving some money? Would it also possibly allow you to combine requirements to cut down on the total number of dives you have to do with the instructor? For example: If Deep requires 2 dives and Nav requires 2 dives, the instructor could combine them so that you did your 2 deep dives and, while doing them, you also did the required skills for Nav, so you did 2 actual dives in total, but met the requirements for both specialties? Is that allowed? Or do the required training dives for each specialty have to be done without combining in any other skills for other specialties?

I don't want to cut corners on my education. But, I have a very limited budget for diving. So, if it's allowable to, say pick 4 specialties that have a combined requirement of (for example) 8 training dives, and the instructor can combine some from some different specialties so that I only had to do, say, 6 actual dives to cover everything, thus saving me having to pay the instructor to go with me for those extra 2 dives, that would help me to be able to take more classes. And allow me to do more dives on my own.

Thanks for clearing up anything you can.
 
Looking at the SDI website and also reading some of the threads posted here, I have to say that it is pretty confusing to have an Advanced Adventure Diver course and also an Advanced Scuba Diver Development Program. It seems most other agencies have an Advanced Open Water cert, which seems to pretty much correspond to the SDI Advanced Scuba Diver. But, it is obvious that many people confuse getting their Advanced Adventure Diver cert with being being equivalent to, say, a PADI AOW cert.

It looks to me that the Advanced Adventure Diver = PADI AOW and that the Advanced Scuba Diver Development Program = PADI Master Scuba Diver
 
It looks to me that the Advanced Adventure Diver = PADI AOW and that the Advanced Scuba Diver Development Program = PADI Master Scuba Diver

Yes, that is correct.
 
Thanks for clearing that up. But I'm still not sure whether I should bother with the Advanced Adventure course, or if I should just go directly to the specialties I'm interested in.
 
The advanced course gives you a taste of the specialty courses, usually the first dive of those specialties. The specialty courses go in depth. The advance course is useful in that it shows that you've been exposed to certain specialties, certainly if tourist diving they like to see that cert before taking you on an "advanced" dive. However, if you are only interested in some of the specialties and not others, you can take the specialty courses. See my pm for some info.
 
Thanks for clearing that up. But I'm still not sure whether I should bother with the Advanced Adventure course, or if I should just go directly to the specialties I'm interested in.

If you go to the specialties, take the Deep Diver which will trump the AOW and give you a "recommended" depth of 130' rather than the 100' of AOW. This is, of course, if you want to go on deeper dives.


Bob
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That's my point, people, by and large, are not taught that diving can be deadly, they are taught how safe it is, and they are not equipped with the skills, taught and trained to the level required to be useful in an emergency.
 
If you go to the specialties, take the Deep Diver which will trump the AOW and give you a "recommended" depth of 130' rather than the 100' of AOW. This is, of course, if you want to go on deeper dives.


Bob
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Roger that. Deep is the #1 on my list that I want to take.

But, I'm taking Nitrox next week, so I'll have that done. And my LDS is offering a special on Advanced Buoyancy Control right now, so I will take that ASAP.

Deep will be as soon as I can.
 
Thanks for clearing that up. But I'm still not sure whether I should bother with the Advanced Adventure course, or if I should just go directly to the specialties I'm interested in.

https://www.tdisdi.com/sdi/get-certified/advanced-adventure-diver/

Directly from the website about Advanced Adventure Diver
SDI:
This course is intended to introduce you to each of the five specialties selected; not complete comprehension of the chosen specialty. One dive from each of the chosen specialties may apply towards the completion of a specialty certification.

You want to take the Advanced Course. SDI seems to follow a similar path as SSI where you need 4 specialties plus 24 dives to earn an Advanced Certificate. See what the difference in pricing is for the Advanced Course, some shops offer a discount if you sign up to take the 4 specialties all at once w/ an "Advanced Course", some just offer the same total price as if you had taken them individually. In the end the 4 specialties aren't really important, because you will take more than four if you are really serious about diving.

Besides Nitrox, I recommend Night and Navigation. If you have acceptable buoyancy and trim then Wreck, Search & Recovery, Rescue would be next up on the list. Have the instructors critique in the water to determine if your buoyancy and trim are acceptable for those courses, you don't to be perfect, but you will get a lot more out of those classes if you have better form and control. If they say you do not have good enough buoyancy control then you will need to do more fun dives and/or think about taking the buoyancy class. I personally loathe the buoyancy class as I believe buoyancy should be taught on every dive regardless, but I can also see how it might help some people.
 
Thanks, Cpt. I had already read that part of the website. That's how I came to have some of the questions I asked.

I guess part of what I want to know now is, if I want to do a tourist dive where they require Advanced certification, will they accept me if I have Deep, Buoyancy, and Nitrox certs, but not the Advanced Adventure Diver? Or do I need to have the actual Advanced Adventure Diver?

I guess maybe it will probably be a case by case deal depending on the dive operator and the dive specifics.
 
Thanks, Cpt. I had already read that part of the website. That's how I came to have some of the questions I asked.

I guess part of what I want to know now is, if I want to do a tourist dive where they require Advanced certification, will they accept me if I have Deep, Buoyancy, and Nitrox certs, but not the Advanced Adventure Diver? Or do I need to have the actual Advanced Adventure Diver?

I guess maybe it will probably be a case by case deal depending on the dive operator and the dive specifics.

Advanced Adventurer Diver is nothing. It is a gimmick to allow shops to make money by letting people "try out " the specialties. The adventurer card is nothing and would not be accepted at "advanced cert only" dives. By actually completing 4 specialties +24 dives and getting your Advanced cert you are automatically an "advanced adventurer diver".
 

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