Free AOW

[Scuby Dooby]

Last weekend I won a raffle during a local coastal cleanup event - the prize was a free PADI AOW course. I have already done the rescue cert so I am free to transfer this to someone else.

My first thought is to give it to my 12 year old son. He is cautious by nature and has been a pretty careful diver so far in the 20 dives he has logged. At the same time he still has a few problems to sort out - his buoyancy is ok but could be better and he tends to 'bicycle' all round in his finning technique. I haven't harped on these issues - I'm just glad he's having fun and is fascinated being underwater. All in all, it is clear that he still has a lot to learn and I would have waited until he was a bit more sorted out with his skills (and a bit older) before I brought up the idea of AOW. Now that I have won a free one that has to be used before the end of Feb I am rethinking. A few questions:

1 Do you see any reason that a 12 year old shouldn't take the class?

2 I don't want him below ~50feet until he is a few years older at least - with the 'deep dive' as part of the AOW is it worth it or even possible for him to do the course?

3 What optional dives would you recommend? I am thinking night dive, peak performance buoyancy and a drift dive. We do most of our diving in the Philippines - warm, clear water generally.

Thanks in advance for your opinions!

 

[Jonathan]

I personally think it would be a good idea for you son to do the AOW - get someone else to tell him about his bicycle kick

A deep dive does not have to be to 30m - without looking it up I think it is anything deeper than 18m and I am pretty sure my one was about 23m. OK this goes a bit beyond 50 feet but if you are his buddy on future dives you can "control" it.

Your options look good to me. Another fun one though you may want to think about is search and recovery - I'm sure he would enjoy sending something up on a bag....

Alternatively will they let you swap it and put your son through the full PPB course and/or maybe something else?

Enjoy

Jonathan

 

[Don Burke]

I took PADI AOW about five years ago and the deep dive was 60 feet. Perhaps you'll want to go with him for that.

 

[Boogie711]

Deep dive to 60 feet?

With respect, because it's certainly not your fault, that just ain't right. 60 feet hardly qualifies as deep... it's within Basic OW guidelines.

I thought half the 'fun' of a deep dive in the AOW was to get them down to 90-ish and narc 'em. Heck - 60 feet is still in the shallow side at Gilboa.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I agree, the AOW water check dives I assist an SSI instructor with tend to run 90' to 100'.

This is shallower than the 120-130' check dives I did in the early 80's in my PADI AOW course, but still much more significant than 60'.

 

[falcos]

120-130' check dives for AOW in the early 80's?!? They only took me to 68' when I did my AOW Deep dive and I was timed on how fast I could tie a Borland knot in 50 degree water to see if I was narc'd.

I think it would be good for him to do the AOW course. Even if you still only want him at around 50ft for your normal rec diving, it may be good to get him down a bit further within a course setting.
The Peak Performance Buoyancy dive will be great for him too. You may want to check out the Navigation dive to better some of his compass skills.

 

[scubasean]

Scuby Dooby once bubbled...


1 Do you see any reason that a 12 year old shouldn't take the class?

I think that it all depends on maturity....

I wouldn't take my younger son (just under 12) deep, but my older son (now nearly 15) would be fine. A few years makes alot of difference.

On the other hand, providing your son the opportunity to do many different types of shallower dives might help keep his interest. (But that wasn't the question...)

 

[Don Burke]

Boogie711 once bubbled... Deep dive to 60 feet?

That's what PADI says.

Boogie711 once bubbled...
With respect, because it's certainly not your fault, that just ain't right.

Once again, that's what PADI says.

Boogie711 once bubbled... 60 feet hardly qualifies as deep... it's within Basic OW guidelines.

OW ends at 60 feet. Once again, that's what PADI says. All you have to do for AOW is break 60 feet.

Boogie711 once bubbled... I thought half the 'fun' of a deep dive in the AOW was to get them down to 90-ish and narc 'em. Heck - 60 feet is still in the shallow side at Gilboa.

It isn't my definition. It's PADI's.

Please tell me how many times you need to be told and I'll type it that many times in a single message to save bandwidth.

 

[Boogie711]

And I also said

With respect, because it's certainly not your fault

I wasn't slamming you - I was slamming your training. Let's not get snotty here.

And by the way - "That's what PADI says" will never convince me in an argument.

 

[yoda4x4]

Now, now... let's not get over zealous. In order to get an AOW cert, Padi requires the following:

5 dives + training (exam included)
2 dives must be: Deep and Underwater Navigation
A deep dive is defined as anything past 60 feet.
The remaining 3 dives you get to choose.

That's it. Personally, I'd prefer to do my deep dive at or close to the maximum allowed AOW depth (100 feet). Whether or not you want him down that far, that's for you to decide. If it was my child, I'd have him do the 1 deep dive, but keep all future dives within the OW limits. Just my $0.02.

David