AOW Disappointment

[jviehe]

omg...u got a PADI advanced plus card? no way!!

how do i go about getting the PADI advanced plus plus plus plus card

Do you know what advanced plus is?

 

[Walter]

Much like the master diver certification, the AOW certification is a recognition card, not a course card. There is no course outline, or structure requirements.

You are misinformed.

Im simply explaining that calling it a AOW course is the dive shop, not PADI.

PADI calls it the Adventures in Diving course.

As such, how a shop runs that course is up to them, and not PADI.

Within very strict limits.

They could require a night dive for example, which is not a requirement by PADI to achieve the AOW certification.

Nope. No instructor or shop can add requirements to a PADI course. If you were talking YMCA or NAUI, you'd be correct.

Would it then be right to critique PADI for a shop requiring the night dive as part of its AOW course? No, because that is not a PADI requirement.

No, but it would be right to critique them for not requiring a night dive.

Just simply seperate the terms course and certification, as they mean different things.

Finnally, a true statement.

I guess my Padi Advanced Plus card is a figment of my imagination too

Nope. Sadly, Advanced Plus was one of the few good courses, IMO, PADI has had since the late 70s when they started gutting their classes. It wasn't ideal, but it was far above any AOW class from any agency. While still not a true advanced class, it was worth the money, unlike AOW. They dropped it because it wasn't bring in enough revenue.

So, why not accept that the terminology is exaggerated, and AOW isn't really all that advanced, and move on.

What makes you think we haven't? Just because we tell folks there are real alternatives available doesn't mean we expect anything better out of PADI. Before they dropped it, PADI's Advanced Plus was one of the alternatives I would recommend.

 

[jviehe]

You are misinformed.

PADI calls it the Adventures in Diving course.

Within very strict limits.

Nope. No instructor or shop can add requirements to a PADI course. If you were talking YMCA or NAUI, you'd be correct.

No, but it would be right to critique them for not requiring a night dive.

As I said, AOW is not a course, it is a marketing term that dive shops now use. And I also said that PADI calls the series of dives that could lead to a AOW certification, Adventures in Diving. As such, a dive shop CAN require a night dive as part of THEIR AOW course. They coud also call it the Super Duper Special DIving Fun Yo Much Course if they wanted and require the Double Dome Speciality. Furthermore PADI does not call it a COURSE, they call it a PROGRAM, which is what is written in my instructor manual. Since you are not a PADI instructor I wouldnt expect you to know this. However, these new divers might think you do, so stop abusing that mistrust.

 

[rakkis]

Nope. No instructor or shop can add requirements to a PADI course. If you were talking YMCA or NAUI, you'd be correct.

You are correct; but I can choose not to teach an AOW class unless it includes Night, and PPB. I fully inform them of the flexibility they have in the course and then I tell them I consider those specific dives as essential as Deep and Nav. I explain the reasoning to them, and I've yet to have a single student not agree with me.

I have had a few people be apprehensive of the night dive. For them, I tell them that if really don't feel like doing it after learning more about it in the classroom and showing up at the dive site, they are free to go home and choose something else in its place.

You would not be breaking standards that way.

 

[AXL72]

Do you know what advanced plus is?

actually no....but I think i am going to know that I am going to feel stupid in the next post.

do tell.

 

[Walter]

You are correct; but I can choose not to teach an AOW class unless it includes Night, and PPB. I fully inform them of the flexibility they have in the course and then I tell them I consider those specific dives as essential as Deep and Nav. I explain the reasoning to them, and I've yet to have a single student not agree with me.

I have had a few people be apprehensive of the night dive. For them, I tell them that if really don't feel like doing it after learning more about it in the classroom and showing up at the dive site, they are free to go home and choose something else in its place.

You would not be breaking standards that way.

I like the way you think.

 

[Walter]

actually no....but I think i am going to know that I am going to feel stupid in the next post.

do tell.

Advanced Plus is no longer a class. Once upon a time, PADI offered it as an option to their AOW course. It included more dives (9 if memory serves) and actual academics. It was a fairly good advanced course, but since it didn't produce enough revenue, they axed it.

 

[alicatfish]

Hmm...let's compare. At my Padi AOW course the instructor was upfront about which dives we couldn't do. I.e. we could do drift diving because there wasn't a strong enough current - fair enough!

Other than that there were only 3 of us in the course, and we each chose which dives we wanted to do. Well I guess some were standard but we got to pick 2 or 3 of them. One of the other guys picked naturalist and I picked buoyancy. My instructor allowed me to go along on the 6th dive, no extra charge, just because I was there anyway.

And we certainly did a night dive!

If I were you I'd let the dive shop know exactly why I was displeased and give them a chance to rectify the situation. If they don't, well then I'd start naming names. I'm a loyal customer - I expect the same courtesy from any merchant. Seriously. It helps to talk to them about it simply to clear up any misunderstandings. But what it boils down to is business, nothing personal.

 

[Dive-aholic]

You are correct; but I can choose not to teach an AOW class unless it includes Night, and PPB. I fully inform them of the flexibility they have in the course and then I tell them I consider those specific dives as essential as Deep and Nav. I explain the reasoning to them, and I've yet to have a single student not agree with me.

I have had a few people be apprehensive of the night dive. For them, I tell them that if really don't feel like doing it after learning more about it in the classroom and showing up at the dive site, they are free to go home and choose something else in its place.

You would not be breaking standards that way.

The AOW course I offer consists of Altitude, PPB, Night, Deep, and Nav. And I encourage my students to top it off with a 2nd PPB dive. I don't offer any other dives for the AOW course I teach. I also haven't had anyone disagree with me or ask for a different dive in place of one of the ones I've chosen.

 

[jviehe]

actually no....but I think i am going to know that I am going to feel stupid in the next post.

do tell.

Walter is correct APLus was a real course which added on dive theory.