UCFDiver85 once bubbled...
I would like to continue my education and perhaps go onto AOW. I'm just wondering what AOW qualifies you for and how the training is done?
AOW is the weakest class in the PADI lineup, and probably in other agencies also.
After OW class the key is to go diving. Nice easy dives, where you can just get more comfortable in the water, and where you practice the most basic underwater skills of breathing, swimming, and buoyancy control.
The problem with AOW is that, if you take it too early, then you don't learn much because you are too busy concentrating on the basics of swimming around.
OTOH, by the time you have these basics down, if you have been diving with more experienced mentors, then you have already learned most of what is in AOW.
If you are good at self-teaching, then just buy the book.
If you have good mentors, then just buy the book and do the exercises (such as navigation) with them.
If you do take AOW, I recommend doing it after about 10 post OW dives.
A few operators (in the Fl Keys mostly) want to see an AOW card or a logbook with deep dives before they will take you out to a wreck. Other than that, whether or not you have AOW is pretty much a non-issue. Cert cards don't qualify you. Your experience and skills do.