Advanced open water question

[Slym]

That's really cool! Makes sense as well!

 

[uncfnp]

I know others have said but I strongly recommend night as one of your choices if an option. And wreck. Although not one of my choices PPB also gets high marks from many divers.

 

[Skulmoski]

As previously mentioned, I agree that there is value in learning all of the topics in the AOW curriculum which will give you a comprehensive foundation from which to participate in a wide variety of dives. An astute student might then possibly connect the disparate learnings into a holistic framework thereby increasing their diving understanding, appreciation and safety.

I was fortunate to take AOW at Sharm El Sheik. My approach was to do the AOW dives based on what the area had to offer in order to give me a first class learning experience. Besides the required deep and navigation dives, I had great drift, underwater naturalist and wreck dives because these types of dives are outstanding at Sharm.

To sum up, I like to learn, so I have taken all the courses I can. The more courses I take, and the more diving I do, I am connecting different learnings and experiences which has improved my enjoyment, appreciation and safety.

Good luck with your learning journey.

GJS

 

[BoltSnap]

OK, here is a quick history of AOW.

This certification level was first created by Orange County in the mid 1960s in response to the observation that most divers were getting certified, doing a little diving,and then dropping out. The thinking was that by introducing them to different aspects of diving, they might find an area of interest. That is why there are different kinds of dives required. NAUI, which grew out of Orange County originally and maintained close ties, followed suit shortly after. PADI came after that. The goal for all was to expose divers to different kinds of diving in the hope of spurring interest, not producing expert divers. That is why PADI eventually changed the name of the program (although not the name of the certification) to Adventures in Diving.

PADI's program used to require Deep Diving, Navigation, and Night Diving. Night diving was dropped as a requirement largely because many places in the world cannot do night diving very easily without having students start dives around midnight or in ice cold environments.

No, NAUI courses were named as the following:

Basic Diver and then Openwater Diver and Then "Advanced Diver"

Then it went to (increased the number of scuba dives required for certification):

"Openwater I Diver" and "Openwater II Diver" and then "Advanced Diver"

And now it is:

"Scuba Diver," "Advanced Scuba Diver" to "Master Scuba Diver" (the last one is a full complete course with intense academics and 8 - 10 dives).