Advanced class or a specialty class?

[don Francisco]

As others have said, take the AOW, and skip the Specialty courses later on except for the Nitrox course which is required if you ever want to dive with Nitrox fills.

The AOW name is a bit missleading and it should probably be named OW-II. It's designed to refine and build on what you learned in OW in the presence of an instructor.

Since much of the material will rehash what you already know, be sure that you aren't shy about asking questions so you'll get the Maximum possible benefit. If you have any Bouyancy/trim issues ask the instructor to focus on these with you, and I also suggest asking for greater hands on emphasis on the navigation skills.

Much of the rest of the course is the so-called specialties, but these barely scratch the surface and, the instructor won't actually help much more than the text. In any case, you'll develope these skills later with experience.

 

[NudeDiver]

Master Scuba Diver rating costs you money and in return you get a card. It does nothing for you except costing you money.

This is entirely untrue.

For many people, it boosts their sense of self-esteem and makes them feel good about themselves. A fee of only $50 or so to buy an MSD card is a lot cheaper than pills or a visit to a mental health professional.

That said, it is REALLY unfortunate that people are SO hung up about the word "advanced". It's also really not necessary.

By completing the AOW course:

• your training has advanced
• your diving skill level has (probably) advanced
• the training you received was advanced, relative to the training received in the OW course.
• your interest in diving has (probably) advanced
• your diving experience has advanced
• YOU have advanced

You have become a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver.

That does not imply that you have become an advanced diver - or even an experienced diver, in the general sense.

I dunno why people want to confuse the two.

 

[Deep-Thief]

Yes, take the AOW class. It will help you in your diving. Don't listen to the "nice people" who are bashing PADI over their classes. The main intent of the AOW class is to get you some more experience with an instructor present. It will broaden your exposure to different types of diving. You need it to move on to alot of other specialties. The main thing is to try and find a good instructor. There are good and bad in ALL agencies. The trick is to find a good one.

After completing your class, take some time to then go out and dive. Get some experience just diving. You will be suprised how 20-30 dives will change you. Enjoy the new hobby you have and have fun with it. Good luck.

 

[DiverBizz]

Just to make another comment on the issue...After OW some divers may not get out and dive like others. Taking the AOW allows you to get out and make at the very least 5 more supervised dives. I know that when I was finished with my OW I took the AOW because I have no dive buddy and did not know how to make contact with other divers. AOW allowed me the opportunity to get in the water and work on some skills that would enhance my diving experience. Yes, I paid for the course but it was like hiring a private instructor to dive with for the extra dives. Well worth my money. My AOW instructor brought DPV's for one of the dives and then we got to play with them on the extra dive.

 

[Rhone Man]

Quick thoughts that occur to me:

(1) Oh yay, another MSD is worthless / no it isn't debate. We can never have enough of those.

(2) "Advanced is not really that advanced". True, it is designed to be taken right after OW. I still don't like the name as it implies advanced level of training, which is probably why they gave it that name in the first place. I remember a British judge at an inquest passing scathing remarks on a diver being considered 'advanced' at that stage of their education. Personally, I liked the old BSAC: 3rd class, 2nd class, 1st class distinctions, but nobody ever liked being referred to as "3rd class" so they dropped it.

(3) Specialities? Time for those later; some are good, some are not so good (I should know - I have done most of them - plenty of threads on SB giving advice on those topics, like this one and this one). You'll be better placed to judge for yourself after the AOW course. I endorse doing Nitrox, but unlike others I'd wait a bit before you do. In the early days you tend to guzzle air too fast to take advantage of all the potentially longer dive times anyhow. I'd work on basic skills before I tried to add new complications (like EADs and max ppO2s) to my dive planning.

 

[Ursus]

For what it's worth I took the AOW as soon as I got certified. I am a strong believer in training and practice. That said, it is more of an advanced introductory to five special areas of diving. You are going to get a highlight tour under a controlled environment that may be a little more one-on-one with the instructor than you had in your OW class. Select specialties that you may want to further explorer/pursue. Navigation, deep diver, search & recovery, night diver, etc. These are all good skills/activities to have an introduction. Boat diver you will learn by default when you go diving...save the slot for something more progressive. Unless you swim with a seasoned partner or group, you may consider Peak Bouyancy...it may be a soft skill, but it is the most fundamental skill other than remembering to breathe through your regulator.

Edward

 

[ligersandtions]

Find a good instructor who will actually help you get something out of the class. There's really not much worse than paying for a class, hoping you will get a lot out of it, and coming out feeling like it was a waste of time.

I've heard of some great AOW classes....and I've heard of many terrible AOW classes....I've experienced one mediocre (at best) AOW class. I was disappointed in every aspect of it, and especially the fact that we spent enough time at depth (20 minutes, 20 feet) to count as a dive according to the standards, and no more.

As for specialty classes, besides Nitrox, you are allowed to make those "specialty" dives without being "certified". That's not to say you should head out and make those dives by yourself, but if you're with an experienced diver, you would be more than okay to do a night dive or go out and identify fish....or dive off a boat into salt or fresh water.

Save your money on the specialty classes....find yourself a good instructor and take your AOW class (certain dive charters will require this for you to make specific dives....so it may be worthwhile for that reason, even if you can't find a decent instructor).

 

[Melicertes]

Just take your Advanced class, its will actually have a few specialties included typicaly.

If you are referring to the adventure dives in PADI's AOW course you should note that they are not specialities per se that are included with the AOW course but merely introductory dives that can be credited towards the full specialty certs they represent.

 

[jpx8diver]

I'm already signed up for the advanced open water class, so I'm just double checking...but should I have taken another small/easy specialty type class before?

There's only three courses, in my opinion that every diver should take. OW, AOW and Nitrox. These will provide you with certifications and the skills that will allow you to dive 80-85% of all the dive sites in the world. The other 15-20% will require mixed gasses which is deep and technical to be considered recreational diving. The other certifications come if you intend on getting paid for your diving.

All of the other specialty courses are attainable by diving with experienced divers who are willing to hold your hand in the process. Ask your instructor after your AOW class and let him know you're interested in joining him on his next dive. If he says that he'll only dive with you when you pay him then its time to find another instructor or join a dive club where there's usually a member with plenty of experience.

 

[pwl]

I'm already signed up for the advanced open water class, so I'm just double checking...but should I have taken another small/easy specialty type class before?

IIRC the AOW is a pre-requisite for most if not all of the PADI specialities, anyway.

do your AOW & use it as an opportunity to grill your instructor about all the things you've wondered about with your diving. getting the AOW card will help you avoid hassles with many dive operators who want to see that certification before taking you to certain sites.

next, do a Nitrox course: many people think nitrox is about deep diving, but it's really about diving longer and more frequently in shallow water, so it's great for liveaboard trips.