AOW cert at Dive Paradise- Worth it??

[scubalaux]

My boyfriend and I are going to Cozumel in Feb (thanks to everyone who replied to my last post and helped us figure out where to go!!) and are thinking about taking the Advanced Open Water with Dive Paradise. I am wondering if anyone has taken this course down there and if it is worth the money and time. We are only going to be in Coz for 6 days and with 2-3 days taken up by the course, we want to know that it will satisfy our need for adventure in case we dont have time for many free dives. If anyone knows more about the course and our options, please let me know!

Thanks!
Sarah

 

[vondo]

Unless you seek something better out, AOW is generally just five dives with an instructor and they aren't a lot different from recreational dives. I did my AOW in Thailand and the only dive that was "work" was the navigation dive. There is a little reading for each dive that can be done on the beach.

So you really just have to ask what you want out of AOW. If you just want the card, don't worry about being on vacation. If you want an intensive course to make you a better diver (and Dive Paradise may offer that, I don't know) then I'm not sure I would do it on vacation. But AOW is typically not nearly as intensive on bookwork or skills as basic OW is.

 

[pidgiepoo]

Our 15 year old grandson just got his AOW in Cozumel this past summer. He did all of the book work here at home so he did not have to do it while on vacation. His instructor just went over everything on the boat, and took his chapter reviews for his file. He was able to use his SI for studying/discussions,and the rest of the vacation time he could do what he wanted. We only had to pay for the dives and the individual instructor fee. Was worth it for him, and he really got a super course(actually better than we did when we took ours). You can PM me if you have questions or want further details.

 

[deborahdelamar]

As Vondo said, it depends on what you want to get out of your diving vacation. If you need the card because some ops restrict your diving due to OW only or if you want to go further with dive education, I would say go for it. If not, you can hire an instructor as private dive master to help you with the specific skills you want to work on and this would be a cheaper option -- plus you'd have private diving away from the group, which is kinda neat to do.

All too often, I see students here take AOW as formula: Deep, night, navigation, boat and drift. Down here, the boat and drift courses are freebies -- the DM's will help you with those if you ask. Night is about the same. If you really want to get something out of AOW, work with your instructor and insist on learning peak performance bouyancy, multilevel planning & computers, and other electives to build skills for the future.

 

[pidgiepoo]

I appoligize to everyone for submitting inncorrect info concerning necessary book work for AOW. My mystake I got mixed up with my other grandson's course .

 

[Sue Sue]

DH and I did our AOW and Nitrox certification while on a vacation in Cozumel. We received our books ahead of time to read and completed the chapter review work. Once in Cozumel, our DM/Instructor continued with the practical instruction. We did not feel that taking this course overwhelmed our vacation time or diving for fun, nor do we feel it was a waste of time. I do agree that AOW is not an intense class, however you can acquire some very good skill review if you choose to do so. SS

 

[TheUWPhotographer.com]

I can't vouch for DP. I don't dive with them, but I did my AOW on a whim while diving in Cozumel 20 years ago. I figured that if I had to pay for the dives anyway, why not pay a little more and learn something. This was the BEST move I made in my dive training because Freddy Contreras was my instructor, at that time through Aqua Safari at Plaza Las Glorias (now the Cozumel Palace). I thought that I was already a pretty good diver, but I nailed my buoyancy skills during that certification and I credit most of my diving skills today to what I learned from Freddy.

I'm not big on paying PADI more money and I've only done a couple of unnecessary specialties (photography) and some good ones (wreck). I also got a lot out of my Rescue and DM certification after that, but if you have the right instructor, doing AOW or any certification can significantly help you to become a better diver. From what I see in Cozumel underwater, there are a lot of people who should be looking for additional training. That may not be you, but if you see a chance, take it. Especially if you do like Sue Sue says, and do your book work ahead of time.

 

[CMAN]

Another reason to do it in Coz is that the water temp for the deep dive will be a lot nicer than it is in Wisconsin.

 

[jmps]

I did my AOW in Cozumel not much after I did OW. I did it with Scuba with Allison. It really accelerated my learning curve and made me a much better diver. It made me comfortable at night, drifting in a strong current, improved bouancy control, and allowed my first deep dive to be closely supervised by an excellent instructor.

 

[sharky60]

I see a lot of people getting thier advanced certs in Coz. It's all up to you really, you'll more than likely be able to do just as many or close to as many dives as you would with out taking the course so that shouldn't be an issue.

I guess it comes down to spending the money for the class vs. just diving those days and taking some of your "pool time" out of a couple of days for the classroom part of the class. If neither one of those are an issue I'd say go for it.