Adventure Diver to AOW

[boulderjohn]

Its all good. I got it done over a weekend.

Got it. All you wanted was the certification in as little time as possible. Any learning was a bonus.

 

[boulderjohn]

Yo willhave to bear with this. I though that perhaps the goal to get master was to have x amount of exposure. wither AOW with exposure dives or actual credited courses as a substitute. IE if you were OW and you took formal nav deep buoyancy etc you could bypass the aow EXPERIENCE dives beause you had the full course counted. that would make the AOW a shortcut as opposed to taking 4-6 different classes.

Sorry--I still don't understand the question.

Let me pose a different question: what is there to learn in AOW that would not be already taught is separate classes such as deep buoyancy nav night wreck nitrox boat . I realize few if any would go that route but the question still stands.

AOW is supposed to be an introduction to the full courses. The AOW dive for teach topic counts as the first dive in the full course. If you took the full courses before AOW, then you certainly would not gain anything from taking the AOW course later, because you would have had to do the AOW dives as the first dives in the full courses.

 

[tursiops]

Yo willhave to bear with this. I though that perhaps the goal to get master was to have x amount of exposure. wither AOW with exposure dives or actual credited courses as a substitute. IE if you were OW and you took formal nav deep buoyancy etc you could bypass the aow EXPERIENCE dives beause you had the full course counted. that would make the AOW a shortcut as opposed to taking 4-6 different classes.

Let me pose a different question: what is there to learn in AOW that would not be already taught is separate classes such as deep buoyancy nav night wreck nitrox boat . I realize few if any would go that route but the question still stands.

If this sutuation came up with one of your students would you request a formal wavier or request a AOW card based on his other cards held. Then allow the student to use the money for a perhaps rescue class.

AOW now has a component called "Thinking Like a Diver." It is about planning and attitudes....and you don't get it from the five specialty classes. It has a mandatory Knowlege Review, and requires a copy of the AOW manual. If a student has five PADI diving specialties, including Deep and Nav, then they can get an AOW certification by buying the manual and having a single sit-down session with an instructor, and pay for the cert card.

 

[TMHeimer]

Probably been asked before-- If you have 5 PADI specialty certs. including Deep & Nav, do they send you the AOW card free of charge if you request it?
Oops, tursiops answered as I was writing. Hmmm. Seems like a bit of an invention to me....
--A new component...Buy the manual... pay for the cert.....
Wow. I took AOW in 2006, so I guess I haven't been "Thinking Like a Diver" all this time. Maybe PADI will send me a copy of the Knowledge Review for a small fee....

 

[tursiops]

Seems like a bit of an invention to me.

What does this mean?

 

[TMHeimer]

What does this mean?

Well, I've never at all considered myself a "PADI" basher in any way. And, I have no idea what's in the "Think Like a Diver" component--maybe it's very good. But to someone in my situation it sure seems like this was "invented" in order to charge those with the 5 specialties for an AOW manual and card.
To be even more cynical, perhaps it was done knowing that some dive ops want to see an AOW card rather than a handful of specialty cards?
Now granted, back in 06-07 I wound up paying for both AOW cert. and 7 specialty certs.---But I did it in that order. There wasn't anything in AOW back then that was not in the specialty courses themselves. No "extra component".
You mentioned the other requirement of having a single sit down session with an instructor (after buying and reading the manual--that has the new component). What would be discussed in such a session?

 

[tursiops]

Well, I've never at all considered myself a "PADI" basher in any way. And, I have no idea what's in the "Think Like a Diver" component--maybe it's very good. But to someone in my situation it sure seems like this was "invented" in order to charge those with the 5 specialties for an AOW manual and card.
To be even more cynical, perhaps it was done knowing that some dive ops want to see an AOW card rather than a handful of specialty cards?
Now granted, back in 06-07 I wound up paying for both AOW cert. and 7 specialty certs.---But I dit it in that order. There wasn't anything in AOW back then that was not in the specialty courses themselves. No "extra component".

I seriously doubt both your cynical assumptions.
Firstly, there are very few if any divers who go the route of five full specialties prior to doing AOW; secondly, the Thinking Like a Diver sections is actually very good; and thirdly, a dive op would rather see a full Deep Specialty card rather than an AOW card with just one Deep dive, don't you think? Five specialties would probably be something like 13-19 training dives, instead of just the 5 for AOW. Don't you think that is better for an op?

 

[TMHeimer]

I seriously doubt both your cynical assumptions.
Firstly, there are very few if any divers who go the route of five full specialties prior to doing AOW; secondly, the Thinking Like a Diver sections is actually very good; and thirdly, a dive op would rather see a full Deep Specialty card rather than an AOW card with just one Deep dive, don't you think? Five specialties would probably be something like 13-19 training dives, instead of just the 5 for AOW. Don't you think that is better for an op?

Don't dispute any of what you say. It all makes sense. Would you not agree however that IF someone did the 5 specialties first (a question that divers have asked several times on SB in the past)--that PADI ought to just send such a person the AOW card free? Or, perhaps a very small fee to cover costs of actually making the card, postage? People often ask that of the $50-$60 MSD card. After all, the diver did take 5 specialties, which was not a small amount of money.
I did just now read PADI's description of the "Think Like A Diver". It does say that it helps divers approach the specialty dives of AOW the way experienced divers would, and that it may in fact spur them on to taking some full specialties. Good idea--but the diver IS experienced--at least in that he/she HAS taken all those specialties already.
In other words, it just hits me as kind of being nickle and diming.

 

[NAM001]

AOW now has a component called "Thinking Like a Diver." It is about planning and attitudes....and you don't get it from the five specialty classes. It has a mandatory Knowlege Review, and requires a copy of the AOW manual. If a student has five PADI diving specialties, including Deep and Nav, then they can get an AOW certification by buying the manual and having a single sit-down session with an instructor, and pay for the cert card.

that makes sense except for the short AOW sit down and buying a card and book. they are not going to let you out of that. So It sounds like If it were not for the agency insuring they get paid for aow,,, it would serve no purpose because the content is among the other courses you could have taken. The time factor of ding the many courses over several weeks vs taking a weekend class of AOW makes AOW a short cut to getting to master.

 

[JackD342]

A couple people have elaborated on the issue above.

What I wonder about is if the shop you are referring to is requiring you to conduct all five dives with one of their instructors in order to complete the course. Reasons could vary for this. Conducting one dive then signing off for a certification without knowing exactly what your diving skills are like may be a concern for the instructor issuing the certification. This, of course, is up to the instructor / dive shop's policy.

In short, what others have posted is correct. The question is, did the shop incorrectly misquote your or is their policy one must take the entire AOW course through them? When it comes to the order of which dives are conducted, for an Adventure Diver, it doesn't matter. However, during the AOW course the deep dive cannot be conducted as the first dive of the class.

Someone correct me please if I missed something, but I don’t find a PADI standard that Deep Adventure can’t be the first dive.

Probably been asked before-- If you have 5 PADI specialty certs. including Deep & Nav, do they send you the AOW card free of charge if you request it?
Oops, tursiops answered as I was writing. Hmmm. Seems like a bit of an invention to me....
--A new component...Buy the manual... pay for the cert.....
Wow. I took AOW in 2006, so I guess I haven't been "Thinking Like a Diver" all this time. Maybe PADI will send me a copy of the Knowledge Review for a small fee....

I suspect that someone earning 5 Specialties in lieu of AOW is exceptionally rare, probably more so than earning Adventure Diver. If someone did 5 Specialties with me, they would certainly get a very good price on the AOW book to finish up Thinking Like A Diver.

One clarification: PADI Adventure Diver (or AOW) is a prerequisite for PADI Rescue Diver, but may not be be enough. It must include the Navigation Dive, which might not have been one of the dives completed for Adventure.

And did I read someone asking about a scenario that included a FREE card?? You make me laugh...