Advanced open water question

[Bennno]

... and since TDI has designed their course around people transitioning,...

You don't really believe that, do you? TDI, IANTD and the rest of the gang saw that people were liking GUE Fundis... so they designed (aka copied) that course to get in on the action.

 

[tbone1004]

is that not what fundies was designed for? People wanting to make the transition into GUE? Were there other motivations for TDI to introduce the course? sure, but the course is targeted at the people looking to transition into a different style of diving than the one they likely learned in OW.

Jay's comment sums it up, AOW will not teach you anything significant over OW if you stay with the same instructor, it isn't designed to, but if you need it for other courses in the future or to get on a boat, then you need it. If you are planning on technical training in the future of any kind, then I still recommend not taking it and going straight to intro to tech. AOW is not a requirement for this course, from any agency except for PADI. ItT will give you all of the skills and much more that most AOW courses will give you, and saves you time and money by not having to put another dollar in....

 

[tursiops]

AOW was spun out of the regular OW course to increase profits for dive shops and instructors, while allowing a watered down OW course to get more people certified in less time, is what it is.

People keep saying this, and it keeps being refuted with facts. I won't bother providing them again.

 

[RhodeDiver]

So what is the value of the Intro to Tech? its not required to move onto more advanced tech courses and as it has been said its most likely to be taught by new instructors so who knows if the quality will be there. Seems like just a way TDI wants to make more money.

 

[Hawkwood]

People keep saying this, and it keeps being refuted with facts. I won't bother providing them again.

Yeah, but why let the facts stand in the way of a good axe to grind?

 

[tbone1004]

the comment about first course to teach is that most tech only instructors won't teach any recreational courses, i.e. Steve Lewis, because he's one of the best in the area the OP is in, doesn't teach recreational courses, so the first course you can take with him is Intro to Tech. And Intro to Tech is an unofficial requirement for future courses unless you have everything squared away coming in, which the vast majority don't, so that is the course where you learn buoyancy/trim/propulsion and streamline equipment configs.

 

[seeker242]

So I am just reading what courses are all available for diving and trying to think of what stuff I want down the road my obvious next step would be advanced open water first. Reading about the course I noticed you take navigation and peak buoyancy and two electives.

For the two electives you can choose deep diving and wreck diving, ect. are these the specialty courses or like an "into to" kind of thing?

I'm doing PADI AOW now. Deep and Underwater Navigation are required, then you can choose 3 other electives. The dives don't count as the "specialty course" themselves, but they can be credited towards it. For example, PADI wreck specialty course requires 4 wreck dives and the accompanying instruction. If you do AOW and choose wreck as one of the electives, you will complete one of those wreck specialty course dives during AOW. Then to complete the wreck specialty, you enroll in it and only have to do 3 dives, instead of 4, to complete it. The reverse is also true. If you complete the wreck specialty course first, one of those dives can be credited towards AOW.

 

[victorzamora]

One thing to consider is that AOW is a ticket to do some dives you wouldn't be allowed to do otherwise. Especially if you're going through Dan's Dive Shop, AOW might be certainly worth it. Talk to Matt, tell him your goals, and figure out a plan. Having said that: There are some dive boats that require AOW to get on the boat. For that reason alone, I suggest AOW training if there are any of those dives in your area and/or future. Nitrox training was probably the most "useful" to me in terms of granting you access to things.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Personally unless your OW class includes rescue skills I'd do Rescue before AOW and strongly encourage my students to do so. It increases your situational awareness, reinforces team skills, and gives you more confidence.

AOW will give you access to dives and sites with potentially more risk and more severe consequences. I want the student to have rescue skills first. I will actually do a rescue skills workshop for students that have not taken ow with me. My OW class does include a number of rescue skills and AOW adds more.

If they take rescue first and get another 10 or 20 dives they are much better prepped for AOW. Of course my AOW class, like some others taught by people on the board, is not a taste or tour of advanced dives. It's all new skills, new knowledge, and has minimum entry and exit requirements beyond what the agency wants.

 

[Bob DBF]

So I am just reading what courses are all available for diving and trying to think of what stuff I want down the road my obvious next step would be advanced open water first. Reading about the course I noticed you take navigation and peak buoyancy and two electives.

For the two electives you can choose deep diving and wreck diving, ect. are these the speciality courses or like an "into to" kind of thing?

Talk to the instructor about what dives are available. As others have said, deep and navigation are required however other dives may be limited by conditions, such as no current to do a drift dive, and so on. In addition the instructor may decide, like mine, that peak performance buoyancy is required as well.

My suggestions are compleating the whole AOW manual in order to have basic knowledge of all sorts of dives should be exposed to the conditions at a future date. And choose dives that will enhance your diving skills in the water, rather than say boat diving which you can pick up from the book and discussing with others on your first boat trip.

As others have said, AOW is required on some boats, so get it or be careful to find out what your charter requires before you buy a seat. I think that after OW, diving and picking up AOW, Rescue, Nitrox, and Deep can make you a better diver regardless of what other goals, if any, you per sue after that.


Bob