Question Is my AOW class “normal”?

[jonhall]

we are certified ‘advanced’

This is what I'll say as a guy who just dives while on vacation:

* Having taken AOW at a resort in MX and from what I've observed at other resorts, your experience is common in at least that type of setting.

*I wish everyone could realize that taking AOW doesn't get one "certified 'advanced,'" only certified AOW, which, if a person were to read what they were getting into, means you made some extra dives to simply to be introduced to different skills, not make you proficient at them.

*Realize an AOW certification may allow you to do a dive considered advanced (deep, wreck, drift) but doesn't mean you should.

 

[jlcnuke]

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.

My "deep" adventure dive for my AOW was done at... Vortex Springs....
Sometimes "meeting the requirements on paper" is the only viable option - especially when there is limited time to get a course done for the student.

 

[tursiops]

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.

Not within standards; it is a marine environment course, not lakes, freshwater, quarries, etc.
But it is possible in a salt water aquarium....

 

[tursiops]

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

That's the point. I agree. 9 dives is not enough experience, no matter what training they've had. Now, 30 dives might be enough experience....and it might not matter if they had AOW along the way.

 

[brsnow]

The idea that you can do 9 dives with PADi and be advanced? Or in general just take 4 skills classes is interesting. I would guess some operations need it for insurance.

I am finally getting around to getting advanced done for a trip where they require it, but I believe I am north of 100 dives with some real learning experiences along the way. I am looking to get something out of the experience and learning, just not acquire the card.

 

[tursiops]

The idea that you can do 9 dives with PADi and be advanced?

You need to catch up. None of the official training or advertising material for AOW ever says you will be advanced when you finish the class, only that you will have advanced beyond being just OW. There are endless threads on SB about this.

 

[Silt Life]

I did my AOW with an instructor I dove with and trained with before. We pretty much just did five different dives, but we spent a good deal of time on navigation and currents on deep diving a wall in P.R. which was informative. Fun dives, but advanced? I don't think so....

 

[tursiops]

The point of AOW is NOT to create an advanced diver. The point is to give someone a taste of five different specialties to see if there is something there they would like to continue and know more about. It is a sampler, a smorgasbord, not a composed meal. And the quality of it depends on the chef.

 

[brsnow]

You need to catch up. None of the official training or advertising material for AOW ever says you will be advanced when you finish the class, only that you will have advanced beyond being just OW. There are endless threads on SB about this.

Well if you go on a trip and they require advanced cert it must mean something if a diver with 9 dives qualifies and a diver with far more experience but no cert doesn’t. Someone thinks it matters

 

[jlcnuke]

Well if you go on a trip and they require advanced cert it must mean something if a diver with 9 dives qualifies and a diver with far more experience but no cert doesn’t. Someone thinks it matters

Lawyers think it shifts liability away from a company taking divers out by requiring the divers doing "deeper" or "more advanced" dives have the only significant training certification past the entry level dives that recreational divers have to indicate a general increase in training as divers.

Any self-respecting and reasonable instructor will ensure their AOW students are aware that the certification doesn't mean they're ready for every dive out there in the recreational realm. Any reasonable diver could conclude after their training that they're not yet ready for everything either without significantly more experience and/or training as well.