Advanced Scuba cert questions?

[Ulfhedinn]

I noticed that for the Advanced Scuba diver cert you get to take 5 differnt dives. Are you then certed in each of those dive types? From what I understand you have to take Deep diver and Underwater Navagation then can choose from the others up to a total of 3.

What other 3 would you recommend? Night diver, Wreck diver, and Enriched Air seem to all be excellant options.

Yes I dont have my open water cert just yet so Im kinda jumping the gun but I would to see how much this summer is going to cost me if I get bitten by the sucba bug

thanks
The Ulfhedinn

 

[TSandM]

No, you are not certified in each of those areas -- there are specific specialty classes for each, and they require more than one dive. But the dive you did as part of the AOW can count as one of the specialty class dives, at least with PADI.

Night is a very good choice for the class, IMO, especially if you live somewhere where night diving is common. I think the Peak Performance Buoyancy dive can be an excellent one, if well taught; buoyancy control is the center of good diving, and one can really never spend too much time polishing it.

You will almost certainly eventually want to do Nitrox, especially if you are going to do any of the boats going out to the Channel Islands. That's the perfect setting for Nitrox -- multiple moderate depth dives done in one day.

You might also want to add a dry suit dive to your AOW, if the shop offers that (it would probably involve a pool session and extra cost). Many folks who dive avidly in SoCal decide that diving dry is worth it, and it might be nice to get a taste of what the difference is.

 

[LakeCountyDiver]

Well with NAUI the answer is YES you would be certified to dive deep (to 130ft). Along with that AOW you will walk away with skills of navagation and the ability to dive in Night/Low Viz setting useing lights. Will you have mastered these skills at the end of your AOW?? NO but it will get you the ticket you need to be able to make those dives elsewhere without an instructor to master those skills.

Padi does all the specialties from putting on your BC to "Deep Diver" and they have there own suggestions of what your limitations are with each card. NAUI does not..

NAUI AOW = Deep,Night/LowVIz,Navagation + 3electives.

I have not been turned away from any wreck or deep dive ever because I did not do PADI specialties so I would have to say is YES you are certified to do those dives because most operators dont give a darn.

 

[tddfleming]

You might want to look around and see what other shops offer that are around you. One shop around here for AOW, it is required to do 6 dives. You do not pick. Nav, PPB, S&R, Night, Deep & Wreck. If you have a chance, spend a day or two at your local training quarry just watch inst. My OW was by far less than great, I actually did not take any other classes with them. My husband had a different OW experience with them. He went on to AOW and Night with this shop. Can you say cluster duck?????

When I went out to the quarry to practice during SI I watched inst from the dock. Kind of spying. I found a new shop, signed up for the Nav course, a way to getting my feet wet and test them. They passed, now I will do my AOW with this new shop. I spoke to the inst that I picked via spying at the quarry, he is not to teach the March class, but he said if I wanted him all I needed to do was request him when signing up. We will have him to ourselves, as at this point there are only 2 of us in the class. And for good reason, current water temps are 44. I hope they warm up some before late March. Inst can make the class either good or bad.

 

[Thiad]

Thanks for the insight since I had many of the same questions. The peak buoyancy doesn't sound all that glamorous but it makes sense to take it over almost anything else. I know I'm tired of bouncing all over the place!

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

For southern california night and enriched air would be good addtions to deep and navigation. Most local divers I know do a fair number of night dives since there is often more to see at night, and it fits with peoples works schedules. Of course finding a good instructor is key.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Well with NAUI the answer is YES you would be certified to dive deep (to 130ft). Along with that AOW you will walk away with skills of navagation and the ability to dive in Night/Low Viz setting useing lights. Will you have mastered these skills at the end of your AOW?? NO but it will get you the ticket you need to be able to make those dives elsewhere without an instructor to master those skills.

Padi does all the specialties from putting on your BC to "Deep Diver" and they have there own suggestions of what your limitations are with each card. NAUI does not..

NAUI AOW = Deep,Night/LowVIz,Navagation + 3electives.

I have not been turned away from any wreck or deep dive ever because I did not do PADI specialties so I would have to say is YES you are certified to do those dives because most operators dont give a darn.

This is, at best, misleading.

NAUI's course ... called "Advanced Scuba Diver" ... is in most respects similar to PADI's. There are six dives instead of five, and three are required ... navigation, deep, and limited visibility (night) ... and a list of eligible dives from which you can choose three additional dives. These may or may not be mandated by your instructor ... in my class they are, because the nature of my class is skills oriented rather than experience oriented. What NAUI specifies is that you must, at a minimum, train your students how to prepare for and execute a deep dive, how to use standard navigational techniques, and how to prepare for and execute dives during night-time and limited vis conditions.

NAUI's Advanced Scuba Diver does not "certify" you as a deep diver ... nor do they recommend the ASD student go to 130 feet ... the maximum recommended depth following this class is 100 feet. At the end of the class, you receive a certification card as a NAUI Advanced Scuba Diver ... which means that you achieved the objectives of the class. You do not receive a Deep Diver card, nor any other card. NAUI does offer a wide range of Specialty classes ... just as PADI does. Within the NAUI system, instructors may choose to offer these classes, or they can create a Specialty and submit the curriculum to NAUI Training for approval to offer it as a Specialty. Specialty classes will typically involve some additional training that you don't receive in ASD, and will require additional dives.

PADI AOW, NAUI ASD and similar offerings from other agencies are not intended to provide you a thorough education for doing specific types of diving (e.g. Deep or Night dives) ... it's intended to be an introduction, under supervision, of that type of diving to give you the experience and enable you to decide whether or not it's something you want to learn more about.

Dive operations around the world vary in terms of what access they will allow with certain certifications. In many parts of the world, an AOW/ASD card is all you will need to do whatever dive you please. In others, the op will limit you to 100 feet with an AOW/ASD certification ... following the recommendations of the issuing agency. Typically the limitation will depend on the level of liability the operator faces if something goes wrong.

For deep diving, the significant learning objectives should cover ... at a minimum ...

- what types of equipment you'll need (e.g. performance regulators, larger cylinders, and possibly a dive light)
- the effects of pressure on thermal protection
- the effects of nitrogen narcosis
- the effects of decompression on deep divers
- at least some level of gas management

A good class will also cover the risks and remediations associated with CO2, and will make sure that your basic skills are up to par before taking you deep. This may include some remedial work on buoyancy control, some air share drills, an exercise on dive planning that involves a shallower dive prior to the deep dives, and an evaluation of your abilities to maintain contact and communication with your dive buddy.

You will NOT get all that in a typical AOW/ASD class ... most will offer you little in the way of participating in the preparation for your deep dive, nor provide you much in the way of skills development other than some sort of narcosis test. The typical AOW/ASD deep dive is essentially a guided "tour" by your instructor, in which (s)he makes all the planning and execution decisions. This in no way prepares you for unsupervised deep diving.

If you want to be a deep diver, take a specialty class ... there's a bit more to it than just going deeper, and it's best to know you're prepared before going there ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Garrobo]

If you are just interested in getting the AOW so the operaters will quit bothering you about it I'd suggest the two mandatories plus boat, deep and drift dives. By the time you get to the stage to where you think you might need the cert you'll probably have done all of them anyway and it would be a snap. Then, later, you could take some of the specialties you mentioned during an actual course which would teach you something of value. All-in-all, unless you hook up with someone who runs a demanding certification course on their own terms, the AOW is no more than a cash cow for the certifying agencies ,which is mandatory ,to go further in the certification process and a way of elimination any liability from the operator in case something goes wrong which can be blamed on you instead of them or their insurance company who might be responsible for carrying the financial load. Some may disagree.

 

[adutto]

Needless to add more, what you will do for the advanced course is to "taste" the specialities.
Is like doing a baptism in each of them, so yes you will have the 5 "advanced" dives but you are not going to be a specialist in any of them.

Depending the agency (PADI, SSI, NAUI, ...) the amount of dives for each speciality will vary.

So, I would recommend to get your AOWD certification first in order to try the specialities and then go for them. One must in those (according to me ) is Enriched Air Diver.

Ciao!

 

[LakeCountyDiver]

You will NOT get all that in a typical AOW/ASD class ... most will offer you little in the way of participating in the preparation for your deep dive, nor provide you much in the way of skills development other than some sort of narcosis test. The typical AOW/ASD deep dive is essentially a guided "tour" by your instructor, in which (s)he makes all the planning and execution decisions. This in no way prepares you for unsupervised deep diving.

If you want to be a deep diver, take a specialty class ... there's a bit more to it than just going deeper, and it's best to know you're prepared before going there ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Well this is safe to say this is how you run YOUR classes and not how all classes are run. What if the deep dive was not just "guided" and "planned" by the instructor. What if you had to plan the dive. You claim "most" will offer you little..... What if the instructor offered you a lot and gave you what you payed for not just held your hand on a few dives then gave you a card.

AOW/ASD is not to be just done in 2 days/6 dives. There should be some real teaching on how to "PLAN" a dive not just go on guided dives.

I know there is many out there but I do not know of a single NAUI diver with a "Deep Diver" card in my area. NAUI standards are set rather high and if followed the student is going to leave with more training then just "I went on a guided deep dive". They should know how to plan and execute a deep NDD.

This is all my opinion I guess