I will not allow my students to take AOW before they get an additional 10 dives or so in and I may still want to do one or two with them to be sure that the skills they were taught in OW have been sufficiently developed. The reason for this is that my AOW class does have ALOT of new skills introduced that require them to have their buoyancy down fairly well.
I do go over some basics again like mask removal and replace but they must be able to do it in a horizontal position without changing depth, while swimming, and in conjunction with other skills. We shoot bags, deploy redundant air supplies, do rescue from depth of an unconscious diver, as well as Nav skills, Search and Recovery, lift bag usage, deep stops, AAS ascents with no mask and one diver with a faulty bc (I disconnect the inflator hose). I do not do tour AOW courses. And this class can result in no card if the skills are not performed to my satisfaction.
The reason most people take AOW classes is because they want to do what are known in the industry as advanced dives. Those beyond 60 feet where gas management becomes MUCH more important, low vis or night dives, dives in currents, etc. These dives while still within recreational limits do pose more risk than the 30 foot look at the fishies on the reef dive. It only stands to reason then that the limited skills taught in many OW courses today are not to the level that these dives require. And an AOW class that is not much more than tour when the basics have not yet been sufficiently developed really does not prepare someone for a dive to the well deck on the grove or a night dive on a bottomless wall.
In short if you cannot seamlessly do the basis skills in a horizontal position, maintain buoyancy and trim, calculate your gas usage, or stay with your buddy so that no more than a head turn is required to know where they are AT ALL TIMES, you should get more dives in before thinking of doing a course that will let you get into alot more trouble alot faster. Get with some experienced divers and just dive. Many shops will also allow you go along on weekend outings as long as you don't expect them to take time from their class to help you for free.
A tip or word of advice here and there is usually given but if you're not paying for the instruction don't expect them to hold your hand. A shop that won't let you do this is probably one to stay away from. I invite my former students to come along on every dive outing I do that they are qualified to do. Hopefully they'll see something that will make them want to do more training but the best outcome is that they just keep diving on a regular basis.
And Rich and Leapfrog are correct. Too many OW courses are, sadly, so watered down that the students really don't even have an idea of what a diver is supposed to look like, let alone have the basic knowledge to get there. Those courses that stress good buoyancy, proper buddy postion, and the other basics usually result in a diver that is FULLY capable of planning their own dive with a buddy of EQUAL skill and training, executing the dive, and returning safely. Why anyone would accept less than that is a shame and any instructor who gives cards to people who can't do that should be ashamed.
I do go over some basics again like mask removal and replace but they must be able to do it in a horizontal position without changing depth, while swimming, and in conjunction with other skills. We shoot bags, deploy redundant air supplies, do rescue from depth of an unconscious diver, as well as Nav skills, Search and Recovery, lift bag usage, deep stops, AAS ascents with no mask and one diver with a faulty bc (I disconnect the inflator hose). I do not do tour AOW courses. And this class can result in no card if the skills are not performed to my satisfaction.
The reason most people take AOW classes is because they want to do what are known in the industry as advanced dives. Those beyond 60 feet where gas management becomes MUCH more important, low vis or night dives, dives in currents, etc. These dives while still within recreational limits do pose more risk than the 30 foot look at the fishies on the reef dive. It only stands to reason then that the limited skills taught in many OW courses today are not to the level that these dives require. And an AOW class that is not much more than tour when the basics have not yet been sufficiently developed really does not prepare someone for a dive to the well deck on the grove or a night dive on a bottomless wall.
In short if you cannot seamlessly do the basis skills in a horizontal position, maintain buoyancy and trim, calculate your gas usage, or stay with your buddy so that no more than a head turn is required to know where they are AT ALL TIMES, you should get more dives in before thinking of doing a course that will let you get into alot more trouble alot faster. Get with some experienced divers and just dive. Many shops will also allow you go along on weekend outings as long as you don't expect them to take time from their class to help you for free.
A tip or word of advice here and there is usually given but if you're not paying for the instruction don't expect them to hold your hand. A shop that won't let you do this is probably one to stay away from. I invite my former students to come along on every dive outing I do that they are qualified to do. Hopefully they'll see something that will make them want to do more training but the best outcome is that they just keep diving on a regular basis.
And Rich and Leapfrog are correct. Too many OW courses are, sadly, so watered down that the students really don't even have an idea of what a diver is supposed to look like, let alone have the basic knowledge to get there. Those courses that stress good buoyancy, proper buddy postion, and the other basics usually result in a diver that is FULLY capable of planning their own dive with a buddy of EQUAL skill and training, executing the dive, and returning safely. Why anyone would accept less than that is a shame and any instructor who gives cards to people who can't do that should be ashamed.
