AOW/Nitrox Certification Recommendations

[thomasj1107]

My wife and I got PADI OW certified fairly recently and want to do AOW and nitrox, together if possible. Looking for recommendations anywhere in Florida for a good place/good instructor to get this done. I’m not necessarily looking for the cheapest way to do it, but also not looking to pay someone triple to do the same thing. Just want someone who is a great instructor and nice dive locations would be a plus. Thanks!

 

[Zef]

I recommend finding a NAUI advanced open water course or whatever they call it these days. Via NAUI, the certification is a result of a legitimate course with classroom time and open water dives compared to other agencies where you just do "experience" type dives.

I have witnessed both NAUI and PADI nitrox courses and prefer the NAUI course....NAUI requires 2 dives with nitrox to complete the course and obtain the cert...some will argue that the dives are superfluous and other agencies don't require it, I would argue that the process of checking/analyzing the tanks and properly logging them and noting the Max Operating Depth (MOD) becomes more real and pertinent when you are going to dive those tanks than going through the motions in a just a classroom type environment.

-Z

 

[Jim Lapenta]

My wife and I got PADI OW certified fairly recently and want to do AOW and nitrox, together if possible. Looking for recommendations anywhere in Florida for a good place/good instructor to get this done. I’m not necessarily looking for the cheapest way to do it, but also not looking to pay someone triple to do the same thing. Just want someone who is a great instructor and nice dive locations would be a plus. Thanks!

Paying three times the cost of a buy the book class with a mediocre instructor is likely to get you a class where you actually learn something new.
My AOW class is $450 per person for two people or 650 for a private one. That is 2-3 times what other shops around me charge. But I have minimum entry requirements dealing with buoyancy, trim, and finning techniques. A pool eval is required at no charge before I'll take any money for the AOW class.
If you don't meet the prereqs I tell you what you need to work on.
All the dives are mandatory and I select them based on your goals. There are 7 to choose from. Two are interchangeable.
There is at least 2 days of classroom training. I require slung pony/stage bottles on all dives.
You learn to use a reel, DSMB, tables, gas matching, and gas planning. Nitrox can be added for an additional $100 and an extra day of classroom. It's the TDI Nitrox with all the math. Not just set your computer and go.
there are other instructors that teach at similar levels and ensure that the card you have actually gives you the knowledge and skill to do the dives it gives you access to.
There are then the classes that give you a taste or tour of advanced dives. Same card. Until you get on a boat and they use that as a release to put you on a site you have no business being on.

 

[thomasj1107]

Thanks for the info. So I guess anyone with any further instructor recommendations in Florida, that’s what I’m looking for

 

[Scraps]

Taking Nitrox and AOW together is a good idea.

I usually teach the Nitrox classroom portion on day two, just before we do the pre-brief for the deep dive. With both Nitrox and deep, the intellectual material isn't particularly difficult. In addition to meeting the performance requirements of the courses, my primary mission in teaching these two courses is to hardwire some convictions in my students about safely using Nitrox and safely conducting deep (within recreational limits) dives. The two courses can be taught well together to reinforce development of the right safety mind set.

Taking a semi-private lesson with your wife is also a good idea. Having a small class matters especially on day one, when I usually teach peak performance buoyancy, underwater navigation, and search and recovery.

I'm almost always the last instructor to leave the training sites because I want my students to get enough reps, enough discussion, and enough q&a time to achieve as much mastery as possible. I've found that a 2:1 student:instructor ratio makes for the most productive day and the least amount of time students spend waiting around while other students perform skills.

There are lots of good instructors around. In your case, living in Orlando, you are two-hours from Lake Denton. Lake Denton is also within two hours of Tampa, South Florida, and Southwest Florida. That means more than half of the instructors in the state could conveniently meet you there. You have a lot of good options.

Often the difference in quality comes down to how much time the instructor can afford (or is willing to spend) with you. My personal bias is toward instructors who teach part-time because they love teaching rather than instructors who are scrambling to certify enough students each month to pay the rent. They're more likely to do a thorough job.

Best wishes,

 

[thomasj1107]

Does anyone have any feedback or insight on AOW through Stuart scuba? Any particular instructors there you are fond of?

 

[Alaskan Scuba Dude]

 

[Rob9876]

My wife and I got PADI OW certified fairly recently and want to do AOW and nitrox, together if possible. Looking for recommendations anywhere in Florida for a good place/good instructor to get this done. I’m not necessarily looking for the cheapest way to do it, but also not looking to pay someone triple to do the same thing. Just want someone who is a great instructor and nice dive locations would be a plus. Thanks!

I agree with some comments above that finding a good AOW course could really be worthwhile (and worth extra $$). I'd especially look to focus on navigation and buoyancy control.

Yet I'm going to have to disagree with some and say that I would just go ahead and do your Nitrox class locally and save your time on vacation. I may catch some flack, but honestly for recreational diving using <40% nitrox there are only about 3-4 things that you really need to understand for Nitrox (IMHO, Nitrox should be included in the basic OW course), and can easily be done in about 2 hours near home. Even online learning is fine, just make sure that they actually have you analyze tanks in person so that you can definitely do that correctly. The Nitrox class does not necessarily overlap with most material covered in AOW, except use of Nitrox adds different considerations for deeper dives (this is covered in the Nitrox class, and it's perfectly fine to take Nitrox before AOW).

 

[Robert H. Diver]

My wife and I got PADI OW certified fairly recently and want to do AOW and nitrox, together if possible. Looking for recommendations anywhere in Florida for a good place/good instructor to get this done. I’m not necessarily looking for the cheapest way to do it, but also not looking to pay someone triple to do the same thing. Just want someone who is a great instructor and nice dive locations would be a plus. Thanks!

Don’t rush into anything. Take your nitrox course by itself and just go fun diving to get experience. After you get more experience, you’ll figure out what type of diving you want to do and can take course that will help you get there.

 

[FreqFlier]

What does "fairly recently" mean? How many dives after OW cert? Do you feel/know you need AOW or just want to get certified?
I would probably say Keys Dives in Islamorada have really good setup approach to AOW certification. No skimping on classes or boat time.