4-Skills Every Advanced Open Water (AOW) Diver Must Have

[Macan]

I would assume you tell them it's not a part of the course, right?

yes, see my earlier response.

This is a mandatory part of BSAC’s Advanced Ocean Diver course.

I’ve dove with several UK divers. They’re very good. .

 

[SlugLife]

Frankly, to me that reg recovery was scary.

I say do away with the arm sweep method; instead, "necklace" your alternate - if you lose your main, just dip down and use the alternate, then take your time recovering your main. For newer divers who may tend to panic, this is a much safer alternative.

I had an incident where my regulator hose came loose at the 2nd stage, effectively blinding me with bubbles, and in all that chaos I couldn't find my octo.

Since then, I always have my regulators retained, so I always know where both are at all times, and I'm able to access them "blind" by feel alone. There are a variety of ways you can retain a regulator, but starting out with your octo on a necklace is fairly common. Personally, my "octo" (or pony, or other sidemount bottle) is on a chest-d-ring and breakaway clip. My primary is on a necklace. A lot of "advanced" divers will use a long-hose, wrapped in a specific way, which essentially retains itself.

 

[FishWatcher747]

I like what you are teaching.

However since one of your core skills has 5 components, I would rename it the 8 core skills essential to your AOW class.

Back kick aggravates my bad knee.

If you saw the AOW recreational divers that I see back kick would be way down the list of the skills they need to work on.

 

[Angelo Farina]

Is there a reason nobody goes up a bit, and floats verticle for shooting a DSMB? (Assuming single tank open water, not doubles that prefer trimmed or turtle)

Seems a ton easier that way, especially looking around so I don't shoot it at the boat.

During ascent I am always vertical, as I prefer using my fins swimming up, not the BCD.
When I reach a proper depth for launching the SMB I am still vertical and kicking (and with substantially no gas in the BCD).
When I fill the buoy, I just stop kicking until I release it...

 

[MidOH]

That's what I do.

Control myself with finning, on the way up, or launching the dsmb.

 

[Kendall Raine]

Good for you for going beyond the AOW standards to teach these additional skills. If you don't mind I have a few questions:

1. How many students do you allow in a class
2. How long (duration) is a your enhanced AOW class
3. Do you charge more for teaching more (time and content)
4. If so, how many students (rough guess) elect to go with the traditional/slimmer (cheaper?) curriculum
5. Do students seek you out because you are teaching more value added material than standard AOW or are you up-selling the enhanced curriculum to students looking for a traditional AOW class
6. Is there a reason you are adding content to an AOW cert rather than just teaching Fundies


Many thanks,

 

[Macan]

Good for you for going beyond the AOW standards to teach these additional skills. If you don't mind I have a few questions:

1. How many students do you allow in a class
2. How long (duration) is a your enhanced AOW class
3. Do you charge more for teaching more (time and content)
4. If so, how many students (rough guess) elect to go with the traditional/slimmer (cheaper?) curriculum
5. Do students seek you out because you are teaching more value added material than standard AOW or are you up-selling the enhanced curriculum to students looking for a traditional AOW class
6. Is there a reason you are adding content to an AOW cert rather than just teaching Fundies


Many thanks,

1. I only teach a max of 3 students per class. Yeah, small size, I know. But this allows me to focus on each student’s needs and ensure they fully grasp the skills. Large class size can dilute learning.

2. Course duration depends on student background. If the student took the OW course with me, it’s just 2 days as we can build on existing skills. For others, it will take 4-5 days since I often have to refresh their OW fundamentals before delving into more advanced skills. However, they have the option to cut it short since these skills are not required for AOW certification.

3. Yes I charge slightly more.

4. I’d say 80% of inquiries tend to go for shorter and less expensive AOW course elsewhere. This is understandable as their time is short and budget may be tight. Actually, this works for me since those who sign up are really serious about improving their skills/knowledge and are easier and more fun to teach.

5. I don’t up-sell or advertise other than posting videos. Word of mouth and referrals are my student sources.

6. Not a fundies instructor.

 

[Will1760]

This is a mandatory part of BSAC’s Advanced Ocean Diver course.

I thought that mid water dSMB was at the dive leader level? It was my understanding that Advanced Ocean/Sports dSMB lessons were supposed to be conducted on the bottom. Just double checking as my club has a few trainees who should hopefully complete their dSMB lessons next weekend and wanted to make sure we weren't teaching wrong.

 

[Edward3c]

I thought that mid water dSMB was at the dive leader level? It was my understanding that Advanced Ocean/Sports dSMB lessons were supposed to be conducted on the bottom. Just double checking as my club has a few trainees who should hopefully complete their dSMB lessons next weekend and wanted to make sure we weren't teaching wrong.

The video shows the student launching a DSMB from the bottom, in horisontal trip. Exacly what I teach. The days of students being planted on the bottom should be past, that's why OD lessons OO! and OO2 have:

From OO!: Adjust buoyancy using drysuit inflator to achieve horizontal hover with fin tips just clear of bottom.

From OO2: Check students’ trim keeps them reasonably horizontal in the water.

 

[Will1760]

The video shows the student launching a DSMB from the bottom, in horisontal trip. Exacly what I teach. The days of students being planted on the bottom should be past, that's why OD lessons OO! and OO2 have:

From OO!: Adjust buoyancy using drysuit inflator to achieve horizontal hover with fin tips just clear of bottom.

From OO2: Check students’ trim keeps them reasonably horizontal in the water.

Ah that makes perfect sense! I'm also not a massive fan of the kneeling on the bottom teaching style but seems many of our instructors are a bit old school and a little hesitant to change.