It's an ISO term. Seen here: Reasons to choose PADI for your scuba certification and training | PADIWhat is this? I've never heard of it, and it is not mentioned by PADI in its materials. ...
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It's an ISO term. Seen here: Reasons to choose PADI for your scuba certification and training | PADIWhat is this? I've never heard of it, and it is not mentioned by PADI in its materials. ...
As a general statement, what you apparently read is simply not true - you have read a lot of nonsense. AOW can be a great experience. It can also be a poor experience, and much of the difference depends on the instructor. Now, moving immediately from an OW certification into an AOW course may not always be the best approach, as several have said. I find that the students who appear to gain the most from my AOW courses are often those who have logged 30- 50 dives, as they are generally more likely to be 'prepared learners'. That doesn't mean that a new OW diver cannot benefit from AOW - they can. Rather, The diver who has gained a level of comfort, confidence, and fluidity with the skills they acquired in OW is a bit more likely to use the AOW experience to refine and polish skills, and come away with an enhanced sense of self-awareness. But, AOW training is most definitely NOT 'just deceptive marketing', when provided in a competent, professional manner.I am eager to advance my qualifications as I have ambitions to increase my ability and reach greater depths in due time.. . . Naturally I thought I would next complete an Advanced Open Water course but have read that the name is just deceptive marketing.
By diving as much as you can within the limits of your current training, to broaden your base of experience. I know, that sounds like a pat answer, but it is fundamentally true. The broadening of exposure usually comes through a combination of a) simply engaging in more dives where you have the opportunity to experience new challenges, and b) pursing additional training, where you expand your limits in a structured manner. The additional diving provides the opportunity for you to a) expose yourself gradually to more diverse diving environments, in terms of temperature, visibility, currents, etc., AND b) use every dive as a training dive. That doesn't mean that every dive isn't a 'fun' dive. Instead, think about doing something as part of every dive that involves practicing what you have already learned, improving the skills you have already acquired. One simple example - on every dive practice holding your safety stop at precisely 15 feet for a full 3 minutes, without variation in depth, without finning or sculling. Before every dive, pick some skill - e.g. flooding / removing / replacing / clearing your mask - that you will practice at some point in the dive. Advance your qualifications by improving your basic skills, to the point that they are second nature, that you can do them without thinking, at the same time you are swimming neutrally buoyant.What is the best way to continue to advance my qualification with the aim of diving to greater depths as soon as is safely possible?
I would not call AOW deceptive marketing (which is often kind of redundant.)
It's an ISO term. Seen here: Reasons to choose PADI for your scuba certification and training | PADI
"Advanced Open Water" simply means "Advanced Beginner."
And there is none for Rescue....I find it slightly amusing that there's no ISO Title for AOW!
We know that the first 20 dives are the most dangerous for a diver.