AOW for vacations/resorts?

[Blackwood]

Apparently what the boat droids are instructed to do is to look specifically for the word "advanced" on the card somewhere, and if you show them something else, well then that does not compute. I guess nobody in the industry is paid to think any more.

I wonder if they'd take "advanced trimix" in lieu of "advanced open water"

 

[ligersandtions]

All too common, I'm afraid. When I visited CocoView in Roatan a few years back I was asked to do some checkout skills in the shallows. The divemaster wanted me to kneel down, do a basic partial flood-n-clear, then do a basic reg recovery (I was in a long hose setup, which confused the bejeebers outta him).

In three feet of water I hovered a few inches off the bottom, removed my mask, put it back on, cleared it, tossed my reg over my shoulder, put my backup in my mouth, recovered my primary, switched back to it, looked at him and gave the thumb.

As soon as we surfaced he said, "now let's go back down and kneel on the bottom so I can make sure you're properly weighted" ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I know you're serious....but all I wanna ask is "seriously?!?!"

 

[RTodd]

Here's a better one - Danny Riordan related a similar story to a group of us at the GUE conference this year, wherein he was on a liveaboard trip and the boat crew would not let him dive Nitrox, even after he showed them a GUE Cave 3 Instructor card. That was amusing enough, but then what they made him do to "qualify" for his Nitrox dives was even funnier (those of you who know him will need to get the full story straight from him, as I could not do it justice).

Apparently what the boat droids are instructed to do is to look specifically for the word "advanced" on the card somewhere, and if you show them something else, well then that does not compute. I guess nobody in the industry is paid to think any more.

Most of the AOW card requirements and other stupidity can be overcome if it is clear you know what you are talking about. Just be nice to the operators and don't act like a tool. I routinely forget to pack any form of card since it isn't necessary for me to have one in most places I dive and have always been able to work it out.

However, the Danny incident was in Oz which has more stupid diving related rules than anywhere I have ever dived in the world. They made him do 5 minutes of basic open water skills to prove he could dive nitrox. He handed me his camera after we jumped off the boat so he could go do fin pivots for the DM. (Yes, fin pivots.) The oh &$%, please don't take pictures of this with my own camera look in his eyes was priceless after he realized what he had done by handing me the camera rather than his wife.

I guess they were worried the guys with a bunch of scooters and camera equipment might not be able to maintain bouyancy well enough to dive nitrox. The best part was, on the very next dive, we loaded scooters in the water and cruised the wall in several thousand feet of water more than a mile away from the boat. They didn't bat an eye at that.

The much better story from that trip was the "scooter incident".

 

[Peter Guy]

Well, since this IS the DIR Forum, here's a question for all you GUE types: Is DIR-F an "equivalent" cert to PADI AOW? If so, just to make things a bit easier for the poor folk who might have the F card but not the AOW, should it say, in addition to "being trained in...the use of 32% Nitrox" that the Diver has been Trained in "Advanced Diving Skills" as opposed to "Trained in skill refinement"?

BTW, I've become convinced that the "smart" thing to do is to photograph all my cards (or at least the relevant ones -- AOW, CAVE, Nitrox, DRY SUIT! etc.) and keep the images on my Ipod.

 

[TSandM]

OMG, the mental image of Danny doing fin pivots is one of the funniest things EVER!

The much better story from that trip was the "scooter incident"

Now, you can't leave us hanging like that . . .

 

[Gombessa]

Out of curiousity, which lame a55 dive shop did you buy your drysuit from? Oh, never mind.

You're not curious at all, you rabble rouser!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Well, since this IS the DIR Forum, here's a question for all you GUE types: Is DIR-F an "equivalent" cert to PADI AOW? If so, just to make things a bit easier for the poor folk who might have the F card but not the AOW, should it say, in addition to "being trained in...the use of 32% Nitrox" that the Diver has been Trained in "Advanced Diving Skills" as opposed to "Trained in skill refinement"?

There is no equivalency between GUE-F and any major agency's AOW certification. The former is a skills class, the latter is an "experience" class ... there is no requirement in anyone's AOW for you to actually learn any new skills beyond those you learned in Basic Open Water class.

The purpose of AOW is to expose the student to different types of diving environments. The purpose of GUE-F is to expose the student to a whole different way to think about, plan, and execute dives.

Most folks who take AOW are motivated by the desire to do deeper dives ... GUE-F doesn't in any way prepare you for that ... in both of my classes the max depth we went to was about 30 feet.

If done properly, the AOW class can be a great way to augment the skills taught in GUE-F, and to teach the student how to utilize those skills in different environments.

If done strictly by the S&P, the AOW class is basically a waste of money for anyone who is looking to improve their diving skills.

What you'll get out of an AOW class is ... more than any other class out there ... completely dependent on how the instructor decides to teach it.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[rjack321]

Well, since this IS the DIR Forum, here's a question for all you GUE types: Is DIR-F an "equivalent" cert to PADI AOW? If so, just to make things a bit easier for the poor folk who might have the F card but not the AOW, should it say, in addition to "being trained in...the use of 32% Nitrox" that the Diver has been Trained in "Advanced Diving Skills" as opposed to "Trained in skill refinement"?

What advanced skills were you trained in? It is "fundementals" afterall.

 

[b1gcountry]

Most folks who take AOW are motivated by the desire to do deeper dives ... GUE-F doesn't in any way prepare you for that ... in both of my classes the max depth we went to was about 30 feet.

I've become more and more convinced that there really aren't any other skills than buoyancy/trim/propulsion, and situational awareness. Everything else is just task loading.

Tom

well, maybe navigation

 

[Vie]

I've become more and more convinced that there really aren't any other skills than buoyancy/trim/propulsion, and situational awareness. Everything else is just task loading.

Tom

well, maybe navigation

For me another important dive "skill" (it could be considered more of an "art," I guess) that was emphasized during Fundies is having divers (in many instances, strangers) work together as a team - above and below water.