How useful is AOW for Cozumel?

[rick00001967]

i did not read all the comments above so forgive me if i am repeating what others may have said.

any good quality training is a good idea once you have some dives under your belt and you are ready for the next step. so if you have a local shop you work with and are happy with the level of instruction they provide, they why not do it.

on the other hand there is something to be said for getting instruction from other sources. it forces you out of your comfort zone by working with another instructor that you may not know. and it may expose you to types of training that you may not get at home. i myself have trained under at least 6 different instructors.

each dive op is different but my experience has shown me that they are usually more concerned with seeing how you are in the water rather than which cards you have in your wallet. so typically i see dive shops evaluate a new customer on a relatively easy dive before taking them to more "advanced" locations. ie: deeper, wall dives, stronger current, overhead etc

i have used some shops however that will refuse to take divers to certain sites without the proper certifications. but i think they are in the minority.

 

[NDL_Diver]

Ok, I think it is just a card. ANY dive shop that takes that TOTALLY at face value is a shop I don't want to dive with. i have seen AOW divers with little buoyancy control and poor trim.

That said I do suggest you get it while you down there. You will have a private DM and will gain some skills. I wish I had it 25 years ago (yes I Only have OW and Nitox certs). A new dive shop look at me a little funny until I get in the water and they see my skills. We always are in the most advaced group in Cozumel (helps i have been diving with the same dive Op for 18 years).

Nitrox card is more important to me.

 

[Dude12]

Thank you everyone for the replies and comments. I was planning on getting the Nitrox before and might do AOW as well but I am not sure if I will have the time to.

My main question is really will Cozumel dive ops restrict your depth based on your certification and it sounds like that is not the case. I understand that some dive sites are more advanced than others and your skill matters more than any certification you have.

My last dive trip was in Malaysia and one of the days there were only 4 of on the boat 3 were AOW and I was just OW, we all went to the same dive site but split the group up because they would not let me go deeper. Still got to see plenty of cool stuff and was happy with the experience.

 

[Esprise Me]

I did my AOW just across the way in Playa del Carmen when I was at a similar experience level. The dive op I chose wouldn't let me do the bull shark dive I wanted without at least the Adventure Diver cert with deep as one of the specialties included, so I did the shark dive as my deep dive, then ended up finishing the whole AOW cert. I did drift and bouyancy as two of my elective specialties; these would be good choices for you too.

Whether or not you're limited on this trip by not having AOW, you may find that limits you with a dive op someday, and you'll get more out of your AOW class if you take it now than if you wait until you have 100 dives under your belt.

 

[deepsea21]

I've been diving 18 years on a basic OW cert and have not been limited to 60' or restricted from certain dive sites anywhere. If I ever had been restricted on a dive because of that it would be the last dive I'd make with that dive op. Dive ops commonly cite "Advanced" dive sites and sites for "Experienced" divers but I've not seen one state that one must have an AOW certification to dive it (Your mileage may vary from mine though).

Perhaps someone can correct me if I'm wrong but with an OW cert 18 years ago we were free to dive as we saw fit and were trained to stay within the recreational dive table limit of 120'. This claimed 60' restriction seems to have popped up when PADI decided it could make more $ selling more certifications under the threat that they will be limited to 60' or restricted from this or that. I mean, to move from OW to advanced OW there are 2 courses that must be taken being Deep Diving and Underwater Navigation. The core of this content was covered in the OW course back then and during the checkout dive one had to display underwater navigation ability. After taking those 2 newly created courses then one needs to follow with 2 more such as "Underwater Photography" or "Fish Identification" neither of which I see as improving one's dive skills. There's even a DSMB course for God's sake! Who needs to pay for a course on how to deploy a DSMB? A DM can teach you that for free in about 3 minutes on the boat and show you how to deploy it once UW in about 30 seconds.

Now let's go to the PADI's proclaimed ultimate certification - "MASTER SCUBA DIVER". As PADI marketing boasts, "Join the best of the best, the elite group of respected divers who have earned this rating through both significant experience and scuba training." It goes on to say anyone 12 years of age or older can achieve this cert with enough other BS courses paid for and taken and having logged just 50 dives! So, at the end of the day a 12 year old with 50 dives logged is a "MASTER SCUBA DIVER" who resides in the most elite group of respected divers due to their significant experience and training... I think not. No 12 year old with 50 dives logged is an elite, experienced diver. Telling them they are (and they actually believing it) is downright dangerous in my opinion.

I agree with NDL Diver - Nitrox Cert is the next one worth getting. I finally got mine last year just to add another level of safety and extend my NDL on some dive profiles where I'll run up against it before I'll run low on gas.

 

[NDL_Diver]

Officially it's a recommendation not to exceed 60'. Some people treat it as a rule.

 

[MrBigfins]

Thank you everyone for the replies and comments. I was planning on getting the Nitrox before and might do AOW as well but I am not sure if I will have the time to.

My main question is really will Cozumel dive ops restrict your depth based on your certification and it sounds like that is not the case. I understand that some dive sites are more advanced than others and your skill matters more than any certification you have.

My last dive trip was in Malaysia and one of the days there were only 4 of on the boat 3 were AOW and I was just OW, we all went to the same dive site but split the group up because they would not let me go deeper. Still got to see plenty of cool stuff and was happy with the experience.

That would depend on your dive op, and regardless of the op you choose your dive count and experience level may be a bigger factor to them instead of certification level. You most likely won't be split from the group on the boat, but you may be placed on a boat of similarly experienced divers and that will limit site choice and dive depth

 

[ggunn]

My main question is really will Cozumel dive ops restrict your depth based on your certification and it sounds like that is not the case. I understand that some dive sites are more advanced than others and your skill matters more than any certification you have.

Spot on. I have been diving Cozumel since 1994? 1991? I dunno; my cert card isn't handy, but I am only OW cert'ed. I have never been denied a Cozumel dive because I didn't have AOW, and I've been to Maracaibo Deep, Punta Sur (Throat and Cathedral), Barracuda, San Juan... most of the advanced sites. The CZM ops are well aware that there are AOW newbies as well as OW experienced divers; how you handle yourself during dives is the thing.

 

[NDL_Diver]

You can take nitrox online. No dives required. Now don't get me wrong, you should get as much training as you can. I have been diving over 25 years and log 20 to 40 dives a year. At almost 60 years old I am approaching my end of diving (maybe 5 to 7 years) career. My experience makes me an advanced diver, not a card.

If I was young again I would reconsider and get my AOW. AOW is alot of diving and does not limit you diving vacation, the book stuff is at night. But like deepsea said, I have never been restricted.

It would be irresponsible to take someone with AOW with just 40 dives down to the Pinnacles of Saba down to 130' . Most DM's can tell within a few minutes how skilled you are. Hand swimming, always swimming somewhere (don't know where), the need to be everywhere, poor gas consumption, poor buoyancy and trim are signs of an inexperience diver no matter what there card says.

 

[NDL_Diver]

DUDE,

however you have less than 25 dives, no AOW ..... they may only take you to shallower sites. No way they should take you to Maracailbo Deep, devis throat...