Is It Time For My AOW?

[Weddas]

Hey all
I am planning to take the next step in diving by doing my AOW. I was wondering if it is necessary to have experience (I have 11 open water dives) to do my AOW.
Thanks
Chris

 

[Scuba-Josh]

Many will disagree with jumping right into AOW... While yes, the title makes some people think that they are advanced divers.... Which for most is so far from the truth its scary.... I took my advanced open water right after I finished my OW class. Reason being, I felt like I had so much more to learn without learing any bad habits. I have well over 30 dives, which makes me quite the noob, I know i have a ton to learn, but all my dives have been training dives or with certified instructors or ones with thousands of logged dives. I belive that this has kept me on my toes, beyond most, and a better diver with less dives.... Again, I will re-iterate that there is more for me to learn than I can comprehend at this point, but its never to early to learn more skills under the glaring eye of a great instructor.

 

[proffumdiver]

its really up to u to decide wen u take ur next step. u will learn more about navigtion, peak performance bouyancy, night dive's multilevel, deep( 30m max) nitrox. its ur choice in what ur ready to learn we have all been there have fun learning.

 

[Jason Ooi]

AOW diver certification is another stepping stone to get you experience in night dive, deep dive and navigation skills, good in buoyancy, you need dives more gain from experiences

 

[trucker girl]

I learned a lot of the buoyancy dive. Heck- I learned a lot just from reading the book. My instructor tends to teach even when he's not doing a class, so I really didn't need to take it. But taking the course gave me a goal. And my instructor tends to not dive for fun anymore- too many back problems and a busy schedule.

People will say (it's coming, I promise... they just haven't posted it yet) that you shouldn't take AOW until you have more dives in/more experience. I don't think there's really anything wrong with it, though, as long as you don't let the "A" part go to your head- and as long as you don't immediately forget what you learned after you get the c-card. I think the more diving experience you have before you take it the more you will probably get out of it. Of course, the more diving experience you have, the less likely you are to "need" it, too!

So how's that for a non-answer?

 

[HappyFunBoater]

Yes, you were ready for AOW as soon as you finished your OW. The AOW class teaches you how to dive better, with basic skills that everyone should have. And as many will point out, it doesn't make you an experienced diver, just a better diver.

 

[Debraw]

I think you should go right from OW to AOW and treat it like one long class instead of seperate classes. IMHO

 

[spectrum]

I like to suggest 1-2 dozen post cert novice dives so you can have some of the essentials start to be second nature. The idea being that you are then more available to absorb new skills and oportunities.

With 11 dives I'd say what the heck as long as you are comfortable.

Pete

 

[trigfunctions]

Personally, I think you will get more benefit doing more dives just for fun than more training dives. Go with an experienced buddy or group, or on led dives with a divemaster.

 

[namabiru]

Mmm... I took AOW about a month after doing my OW, with no dives being done in the interim. I did it so I could have a little more training on areas like buoyancy and navigation, and I'd say it was a good move. I certainly DON'T consider myself an advanced diver though--au contraire, very much a newbie.

But it was a good way for me to get back into diving by having a bit of supervision, before diving for fun.

Ask your LDS and see what they think. Naturally they want the money, but most LDS people are also divers looking out for divers, so if you have a shop you've dived with and you like them see what they think.