Diving past 18 meteres as an open water diver with no other credentials is not a crime, nor will it result in suspension of your diver's license. A dive boat operator of professional guide may use that asa a reason to forbid you from going on one of their particular dives. However, as many as not will accept logged dives to depths similar to that planned on a dive under similar conditions. My wife is an open water diver with just under 300 ocean dives, 30% of which are over 20 meteres and 15% over 30 meters. She only dives with me, and insurted and currently licensed professional, but she has obtained the experience and the competence to do those dives. Those are the keys: experience and competence. You can get that diving with a DM, with experienced and qwulaified non-professionals, or in a class, which is probablyt the most minimla training there is. AOW with Padi requires exacly ONE deep dive among the dives done in the course. Diving within your personal limits does not mean you can't expand those limits by diving a little deeper with a competent dive leader, instructor, or personal dive master.
DivemasterDennis