How important is Advanced Open Water Certification for Palau diving?

[Damselfish]

2 separate questions here-
- Will you need to have AOW because the op says so? Best to ask the op you're using. Even if they say not, I think it's best to just get the card sometime soon so you don't have to worry any more about it possibly being an issue. Sounds like you're making a fair number of trips, and sooner or later you're bound to run into a place that cares.

- Do you have the skills for the dives? I dunno, but since you have some experience it sounds more likely you do than someone who's fresh out of most OW & AOW classes with very little other experience. You need comfort and skills dealing with strong current, and good buoyancy control. General comfort in the water for when you get swept off and it takes a bit to get picked up is nice too.

Usually an AOW requirement has more to do with depth (especially if the thing driving it is insurance, as insurance companies mostly seem to worry about the wrong stuff when it comes to diving.) The challenge in Palau is more about the currents than depths, and there's no requirement in PADI AOW to do drift diving anyway. Even if someone did a drift dive someplace else as one of their options, that by itself probably doesn't prepare them much. Nor does the bit of experience most people typically get out of those 5 dives prepare them for much of anything by itself either. Doesn't hurt, just doesn't take the place of practice.

 

[RTee]

Notwithstanding what you have done before, you should not be surprised nor offended if one day a dive op limit your choice of dives to those sites that are 18m/60 ft or shallower because of your inability to produce proper certification. The ''trust me I have done this before in the company of a DM somewhere else'' does not necessarily provide the solid foundation others might accept but rather represent risks that previous dive shops elected to assume for the sake of ignorance and/or business. Relying on a DM for something other than being a guide such as your personal safety when he is leading a group of six or more divers is an interesting concept.

AOW is only a step...far from being the end of all. At one point it may become a mandatory course pre-requisite for further scuba diving progression such as Rescue Diver. At least taking the course (especially from a good instructor) will confirm or infirm what you know, what you don't know and what you thought you knew and will probably facilitate access to some diving sites worldwide.

 

[Banyan]

none of the regular sites were below 60' - they did allow certain people to dive below us at 100' if they were AOW and requested it

This is not my experience at all. Of the three days I did off Koror, every dive was below 75', with two below 90' and one below 100' (which was also in a cavern). And I was with one of the two dive ops being mentioned in this thread as exemplars of responsible diving. In my opinion, the dive op was taking divers who were inexperienced / rusty into situations beyond their ability to get out of in the case of a problem. I felt comfortable but I'm not a big fan of getting on a dive boat assuming (1) that you're totally safe because of the name of the dive op and (2), if something goes wrong, that the DM will rescue you.

Also, just a point about your post: you "need" a Deep specialty to go to 100'-130', as AOW only gets you to 100'. It's far more likely that the DM evaluated the buoyancy and air efficiency of the divers in the water and decided that they could be trusted below 100'. Certifications have a limited relationship to skill level, in my experience.

For the OP, I would be astonished if have an issue with certs, but you may go through a "trial day" where you'll be grouped with less experienced divers going to shallower sites with less chance of current. The dive op may do this to figure out if you can be bumped up to the "experienced boat" the next day. The question as to if Palau should require AOW to help protect the reefs from the hordes of inexperienced divers who seem incapable of getting near a reef without kicking a piece off is open to debate, but probably not on this thread.

 

[FlyingPig]

Advanced open water is purely for fun. It's not required for anything. With that said, knowledge is power and most important of all, confidence. A lot of times dive shops offer it for free. Take that if you haven't done it or haven't been to that area. It's worth the time.

 

[MarkHerm]

I've seen this multiple times in Egypt. For trips to some famous spots (Elphinestone Reef, wreck of the Thistlegorm) you need at least a AOWD cert and a minimum numbers of divers (around 50 if I remember correctly). Generally. for all deeper rec dives you need at least the AOWD cert. I consider this particular dive op to be a top notch facility and find it very reasonable that they stick to the rules set by their agency (they are a PADI center).

 

[FlyingPig]

I've seen this multiple times in Egypt. For trips to some famous spots (Elphinestone Reef, wreck of the Thistlegorm) you need at least a AOWD cert and a minimum numbers of divers (around 50 if I remember correctly). Generally. for all deeper rec dives you need at least the AOWD cert. I consider this particular dive op to be a top notch facility and find it very reasonable that they stick to the rules set by their agency (they are a PADI center).

It's definitely good to make sure the divers don't destroy the reefs and wrecks with their ignorance. However, AOWD and dives logs are 2 very superficial stats. I like the idea of mandatory checkout dives much better. If you are going to be exposed to the local environment, you ought to be qualified by a local expert. If you can't pass, take the refreshers or other courses until you can handle the dives. That's reasonable.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

There are some places that will allow a log book showing experience on similar dives to substitute for the aow credential or its equivalent. ( some outfits in Florida taking people on wreck dives, and most Hawaii concessionaires )My wife is an open water diver with over 150 ocean dives, most over 60 feet, and 20+ over 100 feet. She has not been denied deep wreck dives or any other dive, though on occasion I do sign a release that she is diving with me and I am responsible (an advantage of being a current and insured DM or higher). An aow class is always a good idea, though, and quite frankly if you are investing in expensive trips to far away places, spend a few hundred dollars just to remove the hassle. Who knows, in the process you might learn something new to make you a better diver!
DivemasterDennis

 

[farsidefan1]

Been diving with both Sams' and the Aggressor withing the last 5 months in Palau. They did not mention AOW being required but that may have been because they checked our cards when we boarded. Perhaps everyone had at least that certification. Some of our dives went well below 60 feet. I did not ever drop below 100 but a couple hit the 90+ foot mark. The divers on the Aggressor and with Sam's were among the most experienced and skilled divers it has ever been my pleasure to dive with. I did not ever see anyone approaching newbie status. You have plenty of dives, the question is how skilled you are and how comfortable you are at problem solving under water. Deep water with high currents can make things happen quicker so you don't want to feel task loaded. That being said I never felt even slightly at risk with Sam's or the Aggressor staffs. Pelielu was pretty exciting for all the dives there as the current was ripping but if you are confident in your skills you should be fine. PS, diving the Blue hole is not really much training for deep water. Pretty bland there and not much to think about.

 

[vladimir]

spend a few hundred dollars just to remove the hassle.

Perhaps Judy is a vacation diver, like me. If so, she doesn't dive in New Jersey. She doesn't have a drysuit, or a 7 mm wetsuit, and the thought of getting into 14 degree C water or 2 meter visibility doesn't appeal to her at all. Money is not the impediment to AOW. The issue is this: she gets 15 days of vacation a year, maybe. If she does AOW, it will require sacrificing precious vacation time and dives. Five of her 20 dives in Palau will be spent navigating, doing fin pivots, doing math problems at 30 meters, or whatever else AOW dives entail, under close supervision. Not my idea of a vacation.

 

[highdesert]

Judy, why fight city hall, unless it's just to make a point? I have no doubt you're a fairly competent diver for the number of dives you have. Taking AOW certainly never prepared me for ripping currents; it was only experience that did it. But if you have the AOW (certainly a pittance compared to the cost of a trip to Palau), it's a non-issue ... for that trip, and every one after that. And if you have to tell yourself you're doing it solely to placate dive ops, that's fine too. Or consider that maybe someday you might just take a trip where Nitrox could be a real advantage. AOW is your prerequisite for that. Who knows ... it might just provide you with some other beneficial side effect.