Advanced Scuba Diver

[PensacolaNewbie]

I'm a brand new diver with only my course dives logged. Your opinion: Should I take the Advanced Scuba Diver course right away or should I get a few dives first? While taking it immediately will get me more supervised instruction sooner, will getting a few dives first allow me to get more out of the advanced course?

 

[Robert van Brussel]

Hi PensacolaNewbie,

welcome to Scuba Board.
My personal opinion is: first gain some more experience.
I saw lots of people who quickly did their advanced course after their open water course.
It is more because the are very enthousiasm after four dives, but getting loads of advanced information did not make them better divers.
After gaining some more experience, your decision to continue (advanced course) is more solid.

Nice Dives,

Robert

 

[fisheater]

For balance, I'll advise the other way.

If you're excited and conscientious, why wait for more instructor-led dives? Study the advanced open water course material. If it makes sense to you and you feel that you will benefit from trying those dives out for real, go for it.

Explain your experience level to your instructor ahead of time and enjoy your dives.

Just remember, having an Advanced Open Water certification doesn't make you an "advanced" diver. You'll still be newbie, just with more training.

To become an advanced diver, you'll need to dive more and gain more experience. The best way to do that is to join a local dive club and dive, dive, dive. They'll have experienced divers who can act as role models and mentors, especially in local diving conditions and procedures.

 

[RonFrank]

I think you should to them back to back. Honestly, I think *Advanced* is NOT advanced, and should be part II of OW!

However the main reason for doing them back to back is to get more time in the water with an instructor to keep an eye out for you. Four dives is really not enough to start getting any level of comfort UW especially as you sit around a platform for much of those dives.

AOW is where you get to dive with an instructor, and actually practice not only skills, but diving! Having an instructor present during those dives provides an additional level of comfort, and safety.