Dumb AOW question

[jewelofnile69]

OK, we are looking to get AOW certified this summer after quite a number of years of diving. A buddy of ours is no longer teaching classes since he's started a family, etc. He had mentioned a few of the specialty dives we could do with him that I cannot seem to find on any of the local dive shops because they all seem to offer the same 3 dives (on top of the 2 you have to take). So it looks like we are stuck with those.

But....

...I understand there are technically like 18 or so different dives we COULD potentially do for our AOW 3 specialty dives. So what are they? I can't seem to find them on PADI's site. Any help?

 

[mala]

altitude
boat
cavern
drift
drysuit
nitrox
night
bouyancy
search and rescue
photo
wreck


there are some more

 

[jewelofnile69]

altitude
boat
cavern
drift
drysuit
nitrox
night
bouyancy
search and rescue
photo
wreck


there are some more

Thanks, Mala! Does one of the above include skills on how to tie knots/lift things from the bottom? If so, which one is that?

 

[Hawkwood]

Thanks, Mala! Does one of the above include skills on how to tie knots/lift things from the bottom? If so, which one is that?

You are thinking of Search and Recovery.....not "search and rescue" as Mala listed. You will learn some basic information in the Adventure Dive for AOW, including three basic knots and some exercises involving recovering an object. The Specialty will go into a bit more detail on the subject.

Bill

 

[mala]

Thanks, Mala! Does one of the above include skills on how to tie knots/lift things from the bottom? If so, which one is that?

search and rescue.

remember the aow is only the first dive of each course-its an intro dive.

to do the whole course means to do the whole speciality.

 

[jewelofnile69]

Search and Recovery. You will learn some basic information in the Adventure Dive for AOW, including three basic knots and some exercises involving recovering an object. The Specialty will go into a bit more detail on the subject).

Bill

search and rescue.

remember the aow is only the first dive of each course-its an intro dive.

to do the whole course means to do the whole speciality.

Thank you both.

So, are they basically trying to sell you on taking the follow-on course, then? So with search and rescue, you'd take that as one of your AOW specialties and then go on to take the actual class if you liked it? Am I getting this right?

(I did some rigging in the Army so thought that sounded interesting.)

 

[mala]

You are thinking of Search and Recovery.....not "search and rescue" as Mala listed. You will learn some basic information in the Adventure Dive for AOW, including three basic knots and some exercises involving recovering an object. The Specialty will go into a bit more detail on the subject.

Bill

sorry-my bad

you are correct bill.

mixed ssi up with padi


doh..

 

[knotical]

A somewhat longer list, from the Instructor Manual:

Besides Deep and Navigation:

Altitude
Boat
DPV
Drift
Dry Suit
Enriched Air
Fish Identification
Multilevel
National Geographic
Naturalist
Night
Peak Performance Buoyancy
Photo
Digital Photo
Search and Recovery
Video
Wreck

As Hawkwood said, Search and Recovery has some knot tying and light lifting.

Dives from some classic courses such as Cavern and Ice are not offered as part of AOW.

 

[mala]

Thank you both.

So, are they basically trying to sell you on taking the follow-on course, then? So with search and rescue, you'd take that as one of your AOW specialties and then go on to take the actual class if you liked it? Am I getting this right?

(I did some rigging in the Army so thought that sounded interesting.)

with aow you basically do the first dive of each speciality course.

you have to do nav and deep so that leaves you 3 to choose.

you dont do the whole course just the first dive of the course.

 

[Hawkwood]

...So, are they basically trying to sell you on taking the follow-on course, then? ...

You could look at it that way I suppose. The idea of an "Adventure Dive" is to give the diver/student some exposure to different aspects of diving and different things that you can do when diving. If the diver is interested they can continue on and take the full course.

The "Adventure Dive" is the exact same dive as the first dive of any of the corresponding Specialty. For the Adventure Dive you will complete a knowledge review (maybe watch a video or do some pool work if required for that dive) and then do the skills...just the same as someone doing the first dive of the Specialty.

You can apply the Adventure Dive to the Specialty and just complete the balance of the work....providing the Instructor is willing. Depending on circumstances, that is not a given.

By the way, the knots are: two half hitches; sheet bend; and, bow line. Not hard, but some folks just cannot tie a knot if their life depended on it! Especially at 40F and big stiff gloves on.

Bill

By the way, it was not a dumb question.