AOW as an experienced diver

[AfterDark]

Sounds like the class worked out well for you, AfterDark. That recipe sounds good too.

Hey its diving! How can it not workout? " The recipe OH yeah! So simple too.

---------- Post added May 9th, 2012 at 09:15 PM ----------

This is a bit of frustration I'm dealing with. Naui certified since 86, last dives were a manta and a black water off Kona two years ago. I'm heading to Cancun to spend some cenote time, and to do the Pit I need AOW. In my OW dive set we did 5 dives, one of which being 90 feet with the usual safety stop after we calculated our dive plan, another of which being using a compass to navigate out to the site, find it, and head back to the camp site. No find camp site, no lunch!

I suppose it could be worse. I was planning on doing a refresher, but now I'll just do this. The place round here is machine like - 5 dives, one weekend, done.

Well good luck! I hope diving education there is better than their medical education!

 

[SoCalRich]

PADI= Put Another Dollar In // NAUI = Need All Ur Income
It surprises me that you have over 1000 dives and havn't invested in additional training. Each to his own?
Everyone can learn something from a structured training program. I meet alot of divers that have dive certs above mine. But have very few dives under thier belt. The Rescue cert. is fun & challenging. Some of the people I dive with regularly practice in water rescues on a regular basis. I just hope the training is never needed.

Good Divin
SoCalRich

 

[AfterDark]

PADI= Put Another Dollar In // NAUI = Need All Ur Income
It surprises me that you have over 1000 dives and havn't invested in additional training. Each to his own?
Everyone can learn something from a structured training program. I meet alot of divers that have dive certs above mine. But have very few dives under thier belt. The Rescue cert. is fun & challenging. Some of the people I dive with regularly practice in water rescues on a regular basis. I just hope the training is never needed.

Good Divin
SoCalRich

To be blunt I haven't experienced anything in this class yet that I didn't already know or had done after 2-3 years of my diving experience. I needed to reword my original statement. There are definetly useful skills and knowledge to be gained from that class and what I wrote didn't reflect that.

 

[keithbt]

I took AOW after 8 years of diving and alot of solo diving. I wasnt challenged by the instructor at all. I had alot more dives and experience than him and he used that to do less work, as all the other students were fresh from his OW class and had maybe 10 dives. RESCUE Class is a different story. The problem is to get to Rescue class you have to go through AOW. I was very challenged during Rescue, and had a great instructor who treated it like it was real life and so did I. I wish everyone I dove around had taken the class, and you will too after taking it. Make sue to get a recommended instructor.

 

[AfterDark]

I took AOW after 8 years of diving and alot of solo diving. I wasnt challenged by the instructor at all. I had alot more dives and experience than him and he used that to do less work, as all the other students were fresh from his OW class and had maybe 10 dives. RESCUE Class is a different story. The problem is to get to Rescue class you have to go through AOW. I was very challenged during Rescue, and had a great instructor who treated it like it was real life and so did I. I wish everyone I dove around had taken the class, and you will too after taking it. Make sue to get a recommended instructor.

I couldn't agree more. I think it should be standard training. What good is a buddy that can't help you? The worse story I know of was a diver that jumped into 130fsw negative and rushed to the bottom followed by his buddy. According to other divers that were already on the bottom and swimming towards the now motionless diver to help his buddy attached a lift bag to him and sent him to the surface in an uncontrolled increasingly rapid ascent that probably killed him. He was dead when he was brought aboard the boat and stayed dead inspite of the best efforts of others. Now I don't think one needs a full blown rescuse class to know NOT to make a rocket out of your buddy but, some level of understanding of what to do and not to do in an emengency underwater needs to be taught as intensely as "don't ever hold your breath"......

I've been thinking about taking a rescue class, I think that would be a challenge if for no other reason than the rigor of doing drills involving handling someone underwater. Also like to get 02 certfied.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I took AOW after 8 years of diving and alot of solo diving. I wasnt challenged by the instructor at all. I had alot more dives and experience than him and he used that to do less work, as all the other students were fresh from his OW class and had maybe 10 dives. RESCUE Class is a different story. The problem is to get to Rescue class you have to go through AOW. I was very challenged during Rescue, and had a great instructor who treated it like it was real life and so did I. I wish everyone I dove around had taken the class, and you will too after taking it. Make sue to get a recommended instructor.

One of the things I like about teaching for NAUI is that AOW (Advanced Scuba Diver in NAUI parlance) is not required before Rescue ... you can take Rescue class at any time after your initial certification. I tell my students that if they only opt for one more class post-OW, it should be Rescue ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[AfterDark]

If the weather holds I'll be doing the night dive for the AOW tonight at the "Dumplings", on an incoming tide, low tide @ 1830, dive time approx. 2100, winds light 6mph from the West which is right off the land! I'm going to bed, get some sleep, worked all night. I'll post a dive report later.

---------- Post added May 12th, 2012 at 08:21 PM ----------

Dive #19685-11-12 Gould Island, tide incoming,clear, calm, surface temp 62F, water temp 54F, bottom temp 48F, visibility 2’. Starttime 2030 end 2113, max depth 47fsw, avg depth 22fsw. Dive time 43 min. total hoursTD 2017. Used single 90cuft steel @3000psi 21%pO2 ending pressure 1700psi.
This was more of a fun dive. No drills, not even a lights out drill. The young woman had an uncontrolled ascent from 20fsw. She was using her 1^st new BCD forthe 1^st time. Weren’t wecautioned not to use new gear on a night dive? Not that daylight would have made a difference she claims it just didn’tvent. It did when the instructor tried. The instructor went up to get her while I waited on the bottom. He came back down with her and we continuedthe dive. We didn’t see any keeper sizelobstersL.
After a quick boat ride, we decompressed at a local tavern. Two more dives to go.

 

[arthurmnev]

My wife and I each had 50+ very varied dives each when we did our AOW with a very experienced tech/cave diver trained instructor.
I have an engineering background and had prior experience using sub-contracted diving teams to execute projects.
The result was a very interesting course where we concentrated on techniques, equipment and knowledge gaps.
Worth every cent.
However I'm sure it would have been a very frustrating experience if we'd had a less experienced instructor and had just been part of a larger group.

That is rare case, and you are lucky you got a good instructor. My AOW seemed to be geared for pass the class, leave money on the counter. Someone mentioned it before that the course will only give you that what is one willing to learn from it. At the same time though, I think there should be some minimal standard to which AOW c-card holders are held. Yes, every diver is responsible for himself, BUT, he is also responsible for his buddy. And on quick , resort style pairings, I sometimes fear people I get paired up with. Once I called the dive while on the boat, the person kept talking about his past events and I got 'sick' to go in 1/2 way out to sea, the other time I wished I did, I lost my mask to my 'buddy's' fins at least 3 times, got grabbed when he lost balance twice ....

my point is that finding someone who will actually take their time and teach you things you have gaps in -- lucky you, most dont

 

[davidbaraff]

One of the things I like about teaching for NAUI is that AOW (Advanced Scuba Diver in NAUI parlance) is not required before Rescue ... you can take Rescue class at any time after your initial certification. I tell my students that if they only opt for one more class post-OW, it should be Rescue ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

How odd. My instructor said exactly the same thing.




Oh wait. He's NAUI too...

Yeah, seriously. He told me if you dive for a while, you'll quickly learn what you're going to get in an advanced class. But Rescue is well worth taking. (And I feel embarrassed I haven't found time to do it after being certified for about 4 years now...)

 

[AfterDark]

We had our 1^st Nitrox class tonight. The instructor did a good job of explaining it. I was amazed that nobody else knew this stuff. When he had us do tables you’d think it was astrophysics. He was able to get everyone on the right track. I helped the school teacher with the tables. It was actually kinda fun.
Sunday we go deep and wreck diving dives of the AOW. He’s going to make me sling a pony bottle. I wanted to use my ID’s but the pony is required to be taught. I’ll go along, what can I do? The weather looks good and I think we might be going to Castle Hill which is one of my favorite least dived sites. At one time we could drive right up to the path leading down to the water. Today it’s the parking lot of a high end Newport restaurant and closed to shore diving. It’s where I did my one and only real world CESA and dived to 170fsw just because, hey I was young. The castle which is the restaurant was the summer home of Alexander Agassiz oceanographer and marine biologist. He would have been fascinated if he could have dived there!