From Singapore: Aren't you sick of depending on dive centres for yr trips?

[ShawnJ]

appreciate the input! I wouldnt say a bad experience.. however, i think there's alot more to be desired. Maybe its simply because it was the open water course and i was still a "student" so maybe the dive op was pretty conservative "safety measures".

I suppose I would like more bottom time, interesting sights.. no doubt, pulau tioman is pretty interesting. I guess what worries me the most, is the fact that there are too many options and i'm skeptical, for i do not know which is the "right" one. Possibly.

So maybe the topic is pretty bad.. how do i change it?

 

[Quero]

appreciate the input! I wouldnt say a bad experience.. however, i think there's alot more to be desired. Maybe its simply because it was the open water course and i was still a "student" so maybe the dive op was pretty conservative "safety measures".

I suppose I would like more bottom time, interesting sights.. no doubt, pulau tioman is pretty interesting. I guess what worries me the most, is the fact that there are too many options and i'm skeptical, for i do not know which is the "right" one. Possibly.

So maybe the topic is pretty bad.. how do i change it?

Shawn, conservative in diving is GOOD. Conservative diving gives you a greater liklihood of diving again. Dives that push limits put you at risk of never diving again.

It's not a bad topic, it's just maybe you've got ahead of yourself with your ambitions to go out on boat dives by yourselves considering your limited experience. Now that you've posted the question and thought about the advice others have given, you see things in a different light, which is also good.

I'd say you and your buds ought to look for an inexpensive dive resort (like maybe the Panuba Inn/Bali Hai on Tioman) where you can do unguided shore dives on the house reef. If you're a regular customer and you are always in a group, there's no question they'll be willing to work with you on pricing. Once you've become confident that you can navigate, find marine life, have great buoyancy and reasonable air consumption, look again at the idea of planning your own boat dives from a rented boat.

 

[ShawnJ]

Here's the latest update:
seems like i'll be doing my advance open water course in abt 2 weeks.
for the dives, there's
1) navigation
2) Deep
Electives
3) Night
4) PPB
5) Wreck or Multilevel or drift

I havent decided for the 5th yet. Maybe some words of advice? Which should i do? and why?

love to hear some feedback from other divers on their AOW

 

[Quero]

Shawn, there's a whole thread running right now on exactly this topic. Check it out.
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?p=1972421

 

[dive_lover88]

I did Deep,Navi,Multilevel,Drift and Night for my AOW

 

[ShawnJ]

wht did u achieve with multi level and drift? Wht do you think of ppb?

 

[dive_lover88]

PPB? i didnt take that...so i dont know much about it,i learnt how to tune my boyancy with tips from my instructor and under their watch. Drift dive? it helped me to anticipate the currents and not to freak out when i hit it. It also gave me somemore reasons to get more equipments like my SMB and DiveAlert. Multilevel,learnt how to do more planning...
1 regret was that the navi was not in huntu where i cant cheat...too bad they dont do the AOW there

 

[victor]

Here's the latest update:
seems like i'll be doing my advance open water course in abt 2 weeks.
for the dives, there's
1) navigation
2) Deep
Electives
3) Night
4) PPB
5) Wreck or Multilevel or drift

I havent decided for the 5th yet. Maybe some words of advice? Which should i do? and why?

love to hear some feedback from other divers on their AOW

Shawn
Peak Performance Buoyancy should be compulsary in AOW.
Then I would sugest
deep, night, multilevel and computer, search and recovery

You need to get your buoyancy and trim right as early as possible. It makes all your diving much more enjoyable.
Then navigation, search and recovery, will introduce you to some necessary underwater skills.
There are a lot of discussions as to when you should get a computer, however you should learn the basics of multilevel diving and the tables / wheel as a background to what a computer is doing.
Deep should introduce to being narced and show you how quickly your judgment is impaired.
Night diving is fantastic. Go buy those expensive torches.

 

[ShawnJ]

hey vic, thanks for yr input. dive_lover88 mentioned that he managed to fine tune his buoyancy with the help of his instructor and didnt require to do the ppb elective. But i'll probably choose to do it as one of the dives. + according to the dive op, search and recovery, is seldom, if never, used as a recreational diver.

 

[dive_lover88]

I have to agree with victor,i wasnt offered that as a choice. I'm still fine tuning my boyancy and alot of dives. It's frustrating when 1 day its ok and the next day it all over the place. Boyancy is very impt,you wouldn't want to become 1 with the corals esp fire corals Go have fun in your AOW class,get more exposure and dives. I'm now waiting for more cash to save so that i can log more dives. Planning to take my rescue as soon as i hit 50(my own requirement).
Have fun diving and Dive safely
Darren