Getting AOW in cozumel

[jonhall]

but I've always believed it has a lot of potential to offer students something worthwhile if they have an instructor with the necessary resources (time, shop policies, etc) to make it happen.

This is the way it should be and kudos to you for doing it the right way, but I don't imagine most resort type ops provide that level of an AOW program (having gone the resort route myself and seeing other divers on boats in other places who were doing dives for their AOW certification.)

 

[lowwall]

I like it. My mom takes hundreds of pics on a typical dive trip. We've found a great way to kill time on the flight home is to scroll through them with a fish ID book, trying to identify the critters. It's challenging when the perspectives in the photos are kind of random, but a good way to learn.

If it's fish shaped and you don't know what it is... It's a wrasse.

 

[Doctor Rig]

Just finished my AOW in Cozumel last week. My friend and I did 3 trip / 6 boat dives with our instructor. First dive ended up being a check out dive for tuning of weights and getting some bubble time. The instructor and dive crew were very attentive and responsive to any request..... fun experience. The Padi AOW (printed) materials were better than expected and will be a good reference. We did nav, deep, buoyancy, wreak & boat/drift/? for our dives. These escorted dives were fun and included a number of minor drills, but nothing was to vigorous. While there was learning in doing just the guided dives, the class could have been better and was a disappointment. I did get the AOW card, but that was not my objective. My take away is, it is really up to me to practice what I was exposed too in the coarse materials, instruction and learning experiences.

I’d say I’m a better diver but not an advanced diver!

 

[GameChanger]

I'm getting the impression, just from the few stories posted here, that discussing and completing the specific performance requirements for the AOW dives may not be a priority for some dive ops and/or instrctors.

For those that did their AOW in Coz as part of their dive package, I'm curious about the five dives that were used and the specific performance requirements that were completed. The PBB dive has quite a list. The Nav dive has very specific requirements. The Deep dive is certainly available in Coz... but it also has specific requirements to count toward AOW. Of course "Boat Dive" is a given in Coz, although using that as part of an AOW isn't exactly giving the customer much value. Drift, Fish ID, Night Dive? Again, there are specific requirements.

If you're looking to do AOW in Coz and you want to actually learn something (instead of just getting the card), it might be worth finding how how much effort a dive op is willing to put into the class (i.e. is "Boat Dive" one of your dives?) and how well they adhere to the specific performance requirements of the dives. A deep dive where they tell you "hey look... you're deep!" doesn't qualify.

It's funny you mention this. On my last Coz dive trip, there was a young lady who hired a private DM (NOT part of the Dive Op) who was announced to us as joining our group to do "AOW Certification" for the young lady. The pair dove with us for about ~5 trips. I had the occasion to observe them and with the exception of some very short PBB drills as we were drifting over a reef, I really couldn't tell that there was any real training or "certification" going on. The only "tell" was when she requested to do a dive on the C-53 "wreck" and also a "deep dive", which in Coz is pretty standard for a first dive of the day. She got her AOW and she mentioned she was going to do Rescue Diver next. Good on her!

I mentioned to the Dive Op that perhaps everyone on the boat should be awarded the AOW Certification now?? They laughed and said, "do the e-Learning first".

 

[mcohen1021]

hey guys, im curious if anyone here has done their AOW course in Cozumel. Are there dive operations there that offer "free" AOW course if you book a 5-7 day diving package with them or even at a discounted price?

Nothing is free.

Do the class. Why? Because one day you'll end up at a resort that will limit your depth to 60' because you don't (Sandals is a real example)