Enriched Air v. Advanced Open Water Certifications

[leapfrog]

If time is an issue, it's worth looking in to taking the course as sets of adventure dives. I was able to do my AOW spread over a year; two dives on one evening in the local lake (PPB and nav), then three more the next dive season at the Poor Knights. They were done with two different companies- my local dive company were quite happy to pass my details on to the company up North with whom I finished the course.

Shark girl (nice name BTW), you may already know this (if so forgive me for repeating it) but this is a standard PADI practice. All instructors have the obligation to sign off on those training dives you did and pass on your details to another instructor and/or dive op. It's called a referral. PADI credits the referring party for doing so to facilitate the process. The instructor who does your last open water dive on a course is the certifying instructor.

This is why you will often see me post that if a diver is not happy on a course or has whatever issue, they should take their business elsewhere.

 

[leapfrog]

..and not what anyone has suggested as far as I can tell. However, it is common in pretty much any industry of any kind, the more you buy, the better price you get. In this case, we're talking about buying training. It's not unreasonable for people to try to get a better price by buying more of it.....Instruction is just like any other business, and subject to the same principles of basic marketing and consumer response.

Not trying to split hairs either but instruction is not a "business" it's a profession.

The business is selling you things (equipment) and even services (dives, 2 pack, 6 pack, 10 pack, even seen a "flat rate" this year).

Teaching is a profession. If done properly, if you pay for (notice I didn't say BUY) two or more courses from me, not only should I not spend less time on each one by trying to combine them (BTW, in most cases that would violate standards) but to the contrary I would give you MORE of my time per class. But no discounts. Sure you can find some Wal-Mart instructors who will though.

 

[NudeDiver]

Not trying to split hairs either but instruction is not a "business" it's a profession...if you pay for (notice I didn't say BUY) two or more courses from me....

I disagree

 

[oly5050user]

I dunno what "Dutch" is. I just know that NY has a lot of coast line. How far away from some water can you possibly be? What - four hours at most?

Ah - there it is. That's not far at all - but I guess it's all relative. When you live in a place where the next major town is over 350 miles one-way, driving for a couple of hours to get somewhere is no big thing

Not sure I'm following here. Everyone I know (locally) that has combined the drysuit specialty with some other course had a session in the pool just for the drysuit. Hell, even when I did my OW class, we had an extra pool session just for drysuit tutorial, even though we were not getting a drysuit specialty (all 4 of the OW dives were in the drysuit though).

Wife's AOW/drysuit sessions covered all that - so I dunno

So she can replace latex wrist and neck seals herself.She can locate and repair leaks/Add pockets to the suit./knows how the valves work and how to take them apart and maintain them..She knows the advantage of using a thinsulate undergarment over polyprop/fleece when doing deco dives..The class room session academics alone is at least 4 hrs long,most places just throw you in a pool and then issue you a speciality card on the completion of the required dives.

 

[k ellis]

To the O.P I would say that it would depend on what your short term goals are. If you plan to do shallow dives with out going out on deep water tours I would say get the nitrox. Allthough some people disagree my personal experience has been that multiple dives in a day with nitrox is much more energetic in the end then with air. Now for the disclaimer on this which is that some people swear this is the truth and others dont beleive it. There really is no evidence that this is true nor evidence to denounce this.

The reason now that I will say which most should agree on is when you dive away from dive operations no one polices divers as to if you have AOW or not but no one will fill your tanks with nitrox unless you do have the certification.

Something else to look in to is they do have master diver courses out there called the master diver challenge. one place I know of personally have claimed to offer the course consisting of AOW, 5 specialties, rescue and in the end you get the MSD for 500 dollars. and thats quiet a huge savings over doing them independantly.

 

[NudeDiver]

So she can replace latex wrist and neck seals herself.She can locate and repair leaks/Add pockets to the suit./knows how the valves work and how to take them apart and maintain them..

Not interested in doing repairs ourselves. That's why we have dive shops

most places just throw you in a pool and then issue you a speciality card on the completion of the required dives.

That sounds about right.

 

[mpgunner]

Agree. I did AOW, Rescue Diver and then Nitrox. I've found Nitrox good to have but it didn't expand my skills.

 

[leapfrog]

I disagree

You would anyway. However, I insist. It is called the PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DIVING INSTRUCTORS. (There is also the National Association of Underwater Instructors , Scuba Educators International and Scuba Divers International, etc.)

A profession is defined as:a vocation requiring knowledge of some department of learning or science, e.g. the profession of teaching. The body of persons engaged in an occupation or calling: to be respected by the teaching profession. An occupation, such as law, medicine, or engineering, that requires considerable training and specialized study. A calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation.

Agree. I did AOW, Rescue Diver and then Nitrox. I've found Nitrox good to have but it didn't expand my skills

Exactly. It expanded your knowledge, not your skills.

 

[Atomic_Diver]

I would have to say Adv OW first because EANx won't really help you much on dives shallower than 50'. Nitrox basic (21%-40%) is mainly used for dives dives from 60'-130'

 

[Papa_Bear]

Nitrox cost more and you would not gain much at this point from it! You should dive enough that your skills will allow you to approach the NDL limits on air before moving to the next level. What good does it do to be able to stay for 80min. at 80ft if you burn through your air supply in in 20min at 80ft??? Your skills will improve the more you dive, so take the AOW just to learn and dive more as it will help your comfort level greatly!

Thank you, as you can see I agree!