Happy to be OW certified but...

[Walter]

Follow annasea's link. LA County's Advanced Diver Program is the best advanced course of which I'm aware (and I teach a damned good YMCA Silver Advanced class).

 

[TSandM]

You might want to PM HBDiveGirl and talk to her. There's a great bunch of divers in the LA area who are very willing to mentor new divers. They can buddy up with you for some dives, and you can decide where you want to go from there.

 

[maged_mmh]

whether you follow this agency or that, it will not make much of a difference, the only thing that counts is how much do you dive, which translates to how many variant situations have you been through, and that what builds up experience and knowledge.

 

[somewhereinla]

Thank you for all of the suggestions. I was actually doing a search as I knew the L.A county had a program but couldn't find it... so thanks annasea for the link, it does look like a very good program...
I do understand the value of diving with other divers, but all my dives so far have been in tropical waters and I thought it would be nice to start exploring diving in L.A within a class first. Also I wouldn't want to slow more experience diver down.

 

[TSandM]

Lots of people (myself included) worry a lot about being an impediment to a more experienced diver. But what I experienced, and what I've now learned from the other end of things, is that there are people who truly enjoy taking novice divers out and showing them the local sites, and helping them develop their diving skills. It may not be the exact same KIND of fun I'd have diving with my regular buddies, but it's definitely a fun thing to do. So don't worry about that . . . If you tell people you're a novice, they'll know what kind of dive they're looking forward to.

 

[ReefHound]

I do understand the value of diving with other divers, but all my dives so far have been in tropical waters and I thought it would be nice to start exploring diving in L.A within a class first. Also I wouldn't want to slow more experience diver down.

Most experienced divers have no problems diving with others with much less experience, provided you meet a few requirements:

A) be honest about the limit of your experience. E.g., a diver will be really annoyed if you tell him you have lots of deep dive experience so he goes and takes you to a deep site, only to find out when you show up that you once or twice went to 60' in Cozumel last year.

B) have a sincere interest in getting better.

 

[Imagesetter]

Thank you for all of the suggestions. I was actually doing a search as I knew the L.A county had a program but couldn't find it... so thanks annasea for the link, it does look like a very good program...
I do understand the value of diving with other divers, but all my dives so far have been in tropical waters and I thought it would be nice to start exploring diving in L.A within a class first. Also I wouldn't want to slow more experience diver down.

As mentioned, there are divers willing to mentor others. In fact, you can work your way through multiple mentors.

I live in the Torrance area, you can always join me for a local check out dive. I dive a couple days a week.

No hard feelings if you do not want to. (I would be afraid of me too )

 

[somewhereinla]

Thanks Imagesetter, I appreciate the offer.

I am also starting to put together the needed equipment. I have been snorkling for years, so I already have the mask, fins etc... I bought a BCD on a closeout sale today, a Mares Morphos. I am trying to figure out which reg. to get and of course a wetsuit, I am thinking a 7mil...
Wetsuit is easy, the reg. requires a bit more research... I am looking at the Mares reg.
But I am open. I don't have a special thing for Mares, exept that my 6 years old mask is a mares, and it's by far the best mask I ever owned...

 

[lmorin]

Training is great. However, nothing, and I mean nothing beats experience. Check out the appropriate Cali group and go dive with some ScubaBoardians. You will learn a LOT and have fun too!

NetDoc's advice is the best. Dive, dive and dive again. You need experience to figure out for yourself what you need next. Diving=training. I had many of the same feelings after OW cert that I am sure you do. They did not settle down and become focused or erased, as the case may be, until I had about 20-25 dives in my book. I'd add to NetDoc's suggestion by saying that what you think you need in the way of more training will be crystallized by diving more. It is very likely not going to match what is offered in standard courses and you may want to customize your own training by focusing on some aspect of diving you particularly like doing.

 

[jviehe]

Somewhereinla,

PADI does not have an AOW course, that is the shops offering. What PADI has is called Adventures in Diving. They are single dives in 13 different specialty types of dives ranging from Deep Diving to Semi Closed Rebreathers. PADI has a special recognition certification that they offer when you complete 5 adventure dives including the Deep and Navigation dives. For someone who has only done 4 supervised dives in good conditions, these are indeed advanced dives.

The advanced certification is required before taking Cavern or Wreck Diving specialities, and before taking the Rescue class. Many consider the OW, AOW, and Rescue courses as completing you OW training. This was once the case, but the consumer wants made this get broken up.

So, dont confuse an AOW course offered by a PADI Dive Center with AOW from other agencies. They all have different ideas. You need to go get some experience to learn where you want to go with diving.