Advanced Certifications....Suggestions??

[don Francisco]

There's a common thread here that implies courses are the only way to learn. While I agree that some courses are invaluable, especially Rescue, & Nitrox (when you begin to bump into NDL's), a lot of diver education is dependent on experience & observation. The PADI mantra that a good diver is always learning means more than taking courses. Each dive is a learning oportunity, where you can analyze your own skills in comparison to those around you. Ask questions of experienced divers, figure out what works for you & devote some of the dive to improving your skills. Also, don't forget that dive knowledge goes beyond skills, plan to learn about your dive environment. Learning things like fish ID & behavior, corals, creatures, etc. will add other dimensions to your diving & keep you busy for a lifetime (or 2).

Coming back to which courses & when, there's no rush. You'll find that the more experience you bring into a course, the more you get out of it. So I suggest that you balance gaining experience & having fun, with building your skill level through courses spaced over time. fb

 

[BarryNL]

There's a common thread here that implies courses are the only way to learn.

Obviously, you can learn a lot without following courses but the problem is knowing when you're getting good information and when someone is just talking out of their *cough* behind.

A persons experience is obviously one good indicator of the value of their opinions - I do remember one diver telling me he knew all about scuba because "I'm an advanced diver and I've got 5 hours of bottom time"

Certainly if you join a dive club though most dives will have DM's and above along on club dives and you can certainly learn a lot by diving with and talking to them.

Also, read a lot of dive books and dive magazines - especially the more technical ones like DAN's Alert Diver. PADI's Encyclopaedia of Recreational Diving is also a good one. A good base of dive theory will help for most other training.

 

[nereas]

I've already arranged to get my advanced open water certification on my trip to Bonaire (or before if time permits) and am curious as to what other additional certifications you would recommend and why. I am currently leaning towards a certification in rescue diving (kinda think this should be mandatory). Your thoughts please...:blinking:

As others have said, the advanced open water course (which is really just more basics, and not really advanced) and the rescue course are the most valuable, early on.

After these 3 courses, I would suggest diving for awhile, say 6 months, to determine what might interest you next. There are 4 directions that most divers end up going: (1) general tropical diving, (2) photography, (3) deep shipwrecks, or (4) caves.

General tropical diving does not normally require any additional training. But the other 3 open doors that involve significant additional costs and proper additional training.

 

[String]

A Rescue qualification (any agency) is something every person that dives at least semi-regularly should hold.

(and yes i do feel more agencies should integrate rescue skills into their core syllabus and not have it as a bolt on extra course)

 

[KeysCuda]

I've been doing all the dives I want to for 36 years (yikes!) with nothing more than an advanced open water - wrecks, blue holes, dropoffs...
Rescue would be good, but you don't need anything else.
Only got the advanced open because when my first PADI card - which just said "DIVER" - wore out, they replaced it with a "basic diver, do not take below 60!" warning.
Man, did that frost me. But I digress.

Have fun in Bonaire!

 

[RoyalScubaAustin]

After AOW, the two other classes I would definitely recommend are Rescue and Nitrox. In my experience these are two of the most beneficial classes you will take. Rescue is a great class, and I believe all divers should go through a Rescue class. Nitrox is also a great class since it introduces you to the use of nitrox and why it can be beneficial.

 

[Wayfarer2]

Definitely Rescue, it not only teaches you how to help others it teaches you how to stay out of trouble your self by being more observant and analytical about everything going on around you.

If you’re going to Bonaire Nitrox would be a good one too and while there do a Night Diver course

 

[Noboundaries]

A dive instructor I respect once told me "at some point your diving will change from general sightseeing to diving for a purpose. Let that purpose guide you in your training." With that in mind I've been evaluating potential specialties for our continuing education. Like the original poster my wife and I have our AOW. We're looking at specialties to advance our education. In my opinion they seem like they fit into five catagories: Check in the box, basic necessary skills, environmental awareness, equipment usage, and special environments.

Boat Diver, Drift Diver, and Night Diver appear to be "check in the box" type of specialties. Having already dove four types of boats (inflatable to liveaboard), Cozumel, and night dives, what is taught that you won't learn by reading the Advanced manual and diving? Any input would be appreciated.

The specialties I have labeled basic necessary skills are Rescue, Altitude, Deep, Equipment Specialist, Multilevel, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Search/Recovery, and Underwater Navigator. The importance of these all make sense to me. When we took our AOW in Lake Tahoe, the one Peak Performance intro dive alone resulted in massive improvements in my buoyancy control.

The "reef hugger" environmental awareness specialties are AWARE Fish ID, Coral Reef Conservation, National Geographic, Project AWARE, and Underwater Naturalist. I completely understand the purpose for these specialities and for the action required to keep the reefs alive and well. I've been having a ball ID'ing the fish I've captured digitally on our last Cozumel trip. The Paul Humann/Ned Deloach Reef Series books are great for this exercise. 55 critters ID'd so far and I haven't even started on the coral and sponges yet. It is also amazing to see things in the pictures I missed while diving, including damage to the reefs.

The equipment usage specialties are Digital Underwater Photographer, Diver Propulsion Vehicle, Dry Suit Diver, Enriched Air/Nitrox, Semiclosed Rebreather, Underwater Photographer, and Underwater Videographer. These all pretty much speak for themselves as far as interest and applicability.

Cavern, Wreck, and Ice Diver specialities are what I term special environment specialities. Here's a question: where's the best place in the US to get a Wreck Diver specialty? Seems like it would be the Florida Keys or possibly the Great Lakes. Any input would be welcome.

Thanks for your input. I'm becoming addicted to this place.

 

[CardShark]

Rescue... best class I've taken... most applicable, most fun, most relevant, most functional.

Absolutely true ( if/when you have the basics ingrained & the self-confidence for it ) !
... I also agree that it is a important part of the skills set that should be considered "basics".

 

[pir8]

Here's a question: where's the best place in the US to get a Wreck Diver specialty?

If you ask me I would say of the Jersey Coast in what we lovingly call Wreck Valley.