AOW course

[poko21]

do any dive shops require advance open water cert to go on certain dives or is open water sufficient? I've had open water for the past 20 years is there a reason to go for advance open water or are other certs more useful?

 

[Sascha314]

I know from egypt that they mostly require aowd for the more advanced dives plus like 50+dives.
Thailand also out some requirements for photography recently.

Depending on the dive base they may reconsider while doing the "welcome dive", but depends in how strict they follow the rules. Certainly if they do not know you and you want to pre book it is an issue in these destinations.

 

[Zef]

Often due to insurance requirements, many dive shops/dive ops require AOW certification for divers to participate in dives that go deeper than the training limits established for OW courses of instruction (18M/60FT).

Because of the above insurance imposed depth restriction, it is often recommended that one obtain their AOW as it often includes instruction/experience for deeper diving down to between 30M/100FT and the recreational limit of 40M/132FT (depending on the agency).

AOW certification coupled with Nitrox certification will usually be enough to participate in most dives offered by shops/commercial diver operations. The exception being dives that penetrate wrecks, canyons, and caves. Shops/commercial dive operations also typically require a diver to posses Drysuit certification before they will rent one a drysuit.

If the shops/operations you dive with are ok with you accompanying them past whatever depth, or you are happy to dive with a commercial operation and be limited to depth based on your OW certification, then no worries....the AOW certification just opens up the possibility to dive with a commerial operation if you dive with a shop/operation not familiar with your experience or that require the additional certification level for the dives they schedule.

Hope that helps.

-Z

 

[poko21]

great explanation thank you

 

[bradlw]

I can't add to the answer, except to say that this is a sad reality. I don't recall my AOW in great detail, but I can pretty much say that I didn't learn a whole lot that I didn't already know. Better was the experience that came from progressively more 'advanced' dives... or even just more of the same easy dives...getting used to the equipment, and all of that sort of thing.

OW certification, at least used to certify a diver down to recreational limits...around about 130 ft as I recall. You had the theory from OW, just needed the experience and confidence.

Not that a newly minted diver was even then ready for that, but the basic class was more rigorous back in the day before my time... with some experience, we could easily and safely work up to it....or maybe down to it would be a better way to put it

 

[Allen-1]

Often due to insurance requirements, many dive shops/dive ops require AOW certification for divers to participate in dives that go deeper than the training limits established for OW courses of instruction (18M/60FT).

Because of the above insurance imposed depth restriction, it is often recommended that one obtain their AOW as it often includes instruction/experience for deeper diving down to between 30M/100FT and the recreational limit of 40M/132FT (depending on the agency).

AOW certification coupled with Nitrox certification will usually be enough to participate in most dives offered by shops/commercial diver operations. The exception being dives that penetrate wrecks, canyons, and caves. Shops/commercial dive operations also typically require a diver to posses Drysuit certification before they will rent one a drysuit.

If the shops/operations you dive with are ok with you accompanying them past whatever depth, or you are happy to dive with a commercial operation and be limited to depth based on your OW certification, then no worries....the AOW certification just opens up the possibility to dive with a commerial operation if you dive with a shop/operation not familiar with your experience or that require the additional certification level for the dives they schedule.

Hope that helps.

-Z

That's a terrific explanation.

The last two shops I dove with had no experience with me as a diver, total unknown to them. They asked for, and I presented, AOW and Nitrox cards. They accepted them as indication that I wasn't totally clueless.

 

[SmashMonkey]

Years ago many dive operators would be OK with an OW cert diver doing more challenging dives after a check out dive to confirm they were squared away. More recently with insurance and liability and more public knowledge about dive casualties, the norm is to require certifications, waivers, medical disclosures, number of dives minimums - especially in litigious jurisdictions like the US. To avoid disappointment, ask the dive operator before arrival.

Generally they will want:

Nitrox Cert required for nitrox fills
AOW Cert will unlock up to 100 ft/30 m and maybe some challenging dives e.g. drift, fast current, guided cenote tour, etc..
Deep Cert will unlock up to 130 ft/40 m

If it's been >12 months since the last dive, many operators want to see a dive refresher course, or will require you to pay to take one with them

I have never encountered a dive operator that wanted to see the specialty certs: Boat, Night, Shore, Drift, Wreck cert for those respective types of recreational diving