Question Is my AOW class “normal”?

[inquis]

the instructor is taking us to 100 ft to see if we experience nitrogen narcosis

The main takeaway is how fast your air is consumed. Ideally they would have you record pressure readings at, say, 1 minute apart at 30 ft, and repeat this at 100 ft. You should have to check out a colored card to see the color difference at depth. You may also have to solve some problem at 100 ft to try to illustrate narcosis, but it's an open question whether it will be noticeable at that depth for you. (For example, after being shown a number, you show that number subtracted from 10; repeat a few times.)

As others have said, PADI AOW is supposed to "advance" your knowledge and do some fun dives with an instructor that are likely a bit different than your typical dives. Your class sounds about normal to me.

 

[scubadada]

It has been discussed previously, you can be a nitrox certified, AOW diver with PADI after 9 training dives.

I dived with one on the Duane in Key Largo, it didn't end well, he nearly ran out of gas. He was a fit, young, Navy man, was just unprepated to deal with the current and depth.

End member example. Not really fair to demean AOW with one example that is an outlier.

No, sorry, I've dived with several divers who did AOW directly after OW who were simply unprepared to do more advanced dives. There should be a minimum number of non-training dives before AOW.

 

[tursiops]

No, sorry, I've dived with several divers who did AOW directly after OW who were simply unprepared to do more advanced dives. There should be a minimum number of non-training dives before AOW.

You are conflating the sequencing of AOW with simply having more experience.

 

[lowflyer]

The worth of AOW depends on the instructor. I have had the chance to observe different instructors doing this course. Some have run it to the standards; others have just gone through the motions. When done by a good instructor it is training, and training is most always a valuable experience, even if it doesn't make one an "advanced diver."
There are some Adventure Dives that IMO are an exception to the valuable training experience, such as fish ID

 

[tursiops]

There are some Adventure Dives that IMO are an exception to the valuable training experience, such as fish ID

LOL.You ought to try a Fish ID class that is taught by an experienced REEF.org surveyor....it is a humbling experience. Again, the point is a good instructor can make darn near anything worthwhile.

 

[scubadada]

You are conflating the sequencing of AOW with simply having more experience.

The combination of experience and training result in the expertise in diving.

 

[Compressor]

Hello ScubaBoard,

I’m taking my advanced OW course right now, and I’m wondering if mine is normal? We just do 6 dives with the instructor, and each dive covers a different topic. After 6 dives, we are certified ‘advanced’.

For example, for peak performance buoyancy, we practiced swimming through hula hoops in a current for 20 minutes. For deep dive, the instructor is taking us to 100 ft to see if we experience nitrogen narcosis. We are doing navigation and search/recovery the same day in a muddy bad viz location. One night dive, and I’m not sure which the 6th dive is.

Does this sound like everyone else’s experience? Just curious what other AOW classes look like.

Yes; it's normal.

 

[johndiver999]

No, sorry, I've dived with several divers who did AOW directly after OW who were simply unprepared to do more advanced dives. There should be a minimum number of non-training dives before AOW.

I've dove with PADI instructors who were simply unprepared to do advanced dives. However, this doesn't make the PADI advanced course bad or necessarily deficient.

I view the AOW class as a way to reinforce skills, expands limits a little, broaden experience and confidence and hopefully get a few more dives under the student's belt in a relatively safe manner.

Sounds like a good deal to me... assuming the diver does not have skilled mentors who are willing to provide a bunch of guidance for free.

Obviously it is going to take several dozens of dives in various challenging conditions to really provide "advanced" skills. Doing 5 dives with a PADI instructor (or a dive god) can't be expected to instill expertise.

 

[jlcnuke]

The combination of experience and training result in the expertise in diving.

40 dives in no current at 30 ft on the same warm water reef and then doing an AOW course and tying to dive in cold, deep waters with high currents and low visibility is going to likely have the same results as doing an OW course followed by AOW course in those pristine conditions followed by the same dive.

However, a diver trained in low vis, cold quarries/springs, then AOW trained in deeper waters with high currents, is probably going to fair better on that deep cold low-vis dive than either of the above divers, despite being tied for the least amount of experience in the bunch.

There's more than a dive count or certification level in determining if a given diver is ready for a given dive. A good instructor will try to instill that sense of caution into their students so they generally try and self-vet their dives to meet their level of training and experience, regardless what is "allowed" by a given operator or "recommended" on some website.

 

[lowflyer]

LOL.You ought to try a Fish ID class that is taught by an experienced REEF.org surveyor....it is a humbling experience. Again, the point is a good instructor can make darn near anything worthwhile.

I'm sure you are right...
I saw an instructor in the Caribbean take a group down with fish ID cards, no briefing, no study, spend 30 minutes, come up, and voila an adventure dive completed.
I used to dive occasionally in a reservoir that had blue gills and small mouth bass. I always wondered if someone ever did his/her Fish ID adventure dive there.