AOW classes
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robint
Contributor
Navigation and Deep are the 2 required dives.
The other 3 are up to you and instructor. It all depends where you are going for your AOW. There is also Photo, Video, Nitrox, Reef Conservation, lots of local things like in Hawaii some dive ops do a Manta specialty, in Fla you might could do a wreck into or cavern. It all depends where you go and what your instructor is certified to teach.
Warnberg, welcome to the board, Most any question you will have will have a specialized board listed under the "Forums" at the top of each page.
PADI, SSI, YMCA and all over the alphabet soup of smaller organizations. If you liked your instructor from your basic open water. . . you can just throw him more money, and keep with the same organization, or jump to any other organization. The requirements are different for each.
There are "courses" out there to nickle and dime every diver they can find. For a real diving education. . . go diving. You can learn more in a weekend of diving than you can playing 15 minute tango with an instructor that's out for a buck.
Fresh or salt water diving, both require you to buy air. . . That's where you'll find dive partners. Be honest with a potential partner, plan an easy dive, and go get wet! You are certified to dive in open water, just do it.
A new diver blowing bubbles is going to scare the sealife into hiding. OK, just keep blowing bubbles and work out your bouyancy. . . If you entered the water from shore . . . follow the slope out till you are comfortable then follow the slope out till you are back ashore, there you've navigated.
Gain your experience by diving, you'll learn by doing, better than by buying patches and more cards. For a complete list, click on forums and look at warm water diving, Ice diving, travel, underwater photography, wreck and cave diving, mixed gas deep diving, spearfishing and all the other things divers do underwater. Some require a "patch" or card, but all require lots of experience. Show up at a resort with a buch of patches, and you'll dive with the other beginners. . . show up the same place with a log book of a couple of hundred dives, and they'll talk about the better dives.
PADI, SSI, YMCA and all over the alphabet soup of smaller organizations. If you liked your instructor from your basic open water. . . you can just throw him more money, and keep with the same organization, or jump to any other organization. The requirements are different for each.
There are "courses" out there to nickle and dime every diver they can find. For a real diving education. . . go diving. You can learn more in a weekend of diving than you can playing 15 minute tango with an instructor that's out for a buck.
Fresh or salt water diving, both require you to buy air. . . That's where you'll find dive partners. Be honest with a potential partner, plan an easy dive, and go get wet! You are certified to dive in open water, just do it.
A new diver blowing bubbles is going to scare the sealife into hiding. OK, just keep blowing bubbles and work out your bouyancy. . . If you entered the water from shore . . . follow the slope out till you are comfortable then follow the slope out till you are back ashore, there you've navigated.
Gain your experience by diving, you'll learn by doing, better than by buying patches and more cards. For a complete list, click on forums and look at warm water diving, Ice diving, travel, underwater photography, wreck and cave diving, mixed gas deep diving, spearfishing and all the other things divers do underwater. Some require a "patch" or card, but all require lots of experience. Show up at a resort with a buch of patches, and you'll dive with the other beginners. . . show up the same place with a log book of a couple of hundred dives, and they'll talk about the better dives.
pvscuba
Contributor
Hi.
you can see all the courses that PADI offers at padi scuba dive center, snorkeling, sailing puerto vallarta
you can see all the courses that PADI offers at padi scuba dive center, snorkeling, sailing puerto vallarta
DeputyDan
Contributor
You assume that you will be allowed to pick what you want.
If you go to a resort area you are told what they will be!
If you go to a resort area you are told what they will be!
mikejclark
Registered
Thanks for that link pvscuba.
robint
Contributor
my husband is an instructor...... he does let the student pick their courses within reason. He obviously can't do "boat diving" locally as where we dive is shore diving. But he can let the student pick photo or night or search and recovery or .....
Buoyant1
Contributor
I'd also venture that a lot of inland shops will choose what your dives will be as well...My choices after deep and nav were Search and Recovery, Night, and Peak Buoyancy. Hard to do a "boat dive" in my local quarry, not to mention the photo or video specialty! (not that it's impossible, but I think they stuck the most helpful electives in!)
littlejohn
Guest
SSI has the below list though several overlap each other
Boat Diving
Deep Diving
Navigation
Night/Limited Visibility
Stress & Rescue
Equipment Techniques
Computer Diving
Marine ID
UW Photography
Search& Recovery
Enriched Air Nitrox
Wreck Diving
Drift Diving
UW Naturalist
Medic First Aid
Boat Diving
Deep Diving
Navigation
Night/Limited Visibility
Stress & Rescue
Equipment Techniques
Computer Diving
Marine ID
UW Photography
Search& Recovery
Enriched Air Nitrox
Wreck Diving
Drift Diving
UW Naturalist
Medic First Aid
Damselfish
Contributor
anyplace you go, local or resort, they may predefine the "electives", or you may have a choice. Choice will naturally be restricted by what they can teach or what's available to do locally. You may have more choices at a resort. I would suggest taking the class with someplace that doesn't pad the class with dives like fish ID stuff. Nothing wrong with those, but for AOW I'd suggest including specialties that do more for basic diving skills such as night/limited viz, nav, search, deep, bouyancy. (Exception being, if you've been diving awhile and have those skills and are just taking AOW to get the handy card, take whatever.)
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