Advanced Open Water

[dumpsterDiver]

I can see that AWO gives you more time with an instructor - and if he/she is good you will get some new knowledge out f the course probably no matter how long you've been diving...and yes, as with any class about anything you will get out what you put in...having said that the tiny little cynical voice in my head says maybe PADI wants everyone to take AOW so they can try and "sell" their other courses....of course you can look at it like getting a taste of other classes without having to sign up for them....what if you signed up for wreck diver did the first dive and hated it? Two sides of he coin I suppose - how do you want to look at it?
We are signed up for our AOW - but have no choice of classes - doing what can be done at the lake we're going to which is fine - we'll have to do a night dive even though we've already taken and passed the night diver course.

LOL.. an AOW will provide knowledge regardless of how long you have been diving? I am a huge supporter of AOW classes and I think they should be taken ASAP, because the earliest dives are most dangerous and getting a few more dives under your belt with an instructor is a very good idea, if you can afford it.

However, if you have been diving for many years and maybe read a manual or something along the way, the typical AOW course may well be completely worthless with respect to knowledge and skills - you might need the card to be allowed on a boat doing advanced dives.. but it is not necessarily gonna help an experienced diver who has been mentored by good divers.

 

[Bigd2722]

Personally, I thought the book was interesting and provided a few items of information. The dives were fun. I took AOW early in my career. I have a friend (over 1,000 dives) who only took it after being denied a dive in Key Biscayne. He didn't feel like he gained anything except the card.

 

[kwat34]

Personally, I thought the book was interesting and provided a few items of information. The dives were fun. I took AOW early in my career. I have a friend (over 1,000 dives) who only took it after being denied a dive in Key Biscayne. He didn't feel like he gained anything except the card.

The only dive I have left is navigation which I will be doing in a few hours. So far the biggest thing for me was when I did the deep dive and realized it was no different than if I was at 60 feet. I do feel like the book was written for a young child because of the way it is written.

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[mdv50524]

I thought my AOW was worth it. I got a huge boost of confidence from the deep dive as well as the Nav dive. The other dives we did gave me a good taste of what other types of diving I may enjoy, it is just too bad that in the area we train in there is not any opportunity for to do the drift dive. Overall I recommend the course and think the confidence and experience gained is worth the price of the course.

 

[boulderjohn]

I do feel like the book was written for a young child because of the way it is written.

Young children can take the course, and they are not going to make up two sets of books, one for the young children and one for the adults. They have to word the the explanations of the concepts at a level all possible (non-handicapped) students can understand. It is not easy to do that.

BTW, newspaper articles are typically written at the 5th grade reading level.

 

[RustyFalcon]

I feel like the PADI AOW book is a pretty easy read and good for referring back to as needed. The dives were fun... I really enjoyed the search and recovery dive since it involved more than just 'breathing underwater'. Deep was anticlimatic since I had already been diving with my instructor around Panama City Beach to 70-80ish feet. Night was interesting but mostly like swimming in pea soup due to all the green algae off Pensacola Beach. Need to finish my PPB Adventure dive soon so I can get the card. Really doing AOW to 'get more dives' and so if the question comes up on a trip I don't get limited by the dive operator. NITROX next I think, then maybe Rescue Diver next year.

 

[FinnMom]

I did't think the book was too much written for kids on non-theory types. It was a fast read but still interesting enough. My daughter took PADI AOWD on our liveaboard a few years back and I read pretty much the whole book during a long layover on the way home.

 

[Diver0001]

BTW, newspaper articles are typically written at the 5th grade reading level.

They have to be or politicians wouldn't be able to understand it.

I just got done doing another advanced. This time around the student had naturally outstanding buoyancy control but really took away something from the other dives. To him it was about getting new experiences and in particular the skills with respect to navigation were new to him.

R..

 

[dmaziuk]

Personally, if I could re-write standards, I wouldn't be telling divers to go to 30+ metres with less than 50 dives....

If I could rewrite the standards, there'd be a specialty deep dive course I could take with OW cert and an entrance exam/dive with the instructor.

 

[cmrangel]

I think that most of the basic items you learn on AOW should be part of OW to start with. I did Nav, Boat, Deep, Night, and Buoyancy. I think the things I learned on every one of them will be useful for the rest of my diving life. It made a significant difference in my comfort/anxiety levels by having that additional experience and knowledge. I actually went on about 5 or so dives in between my OW and my AOW and that also worked well for me. It allowed me to get enough experience with just being underwater that I could focus on what was being taught in the following AOW dives.