TheHuth
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I just called Pacific Wilderness and signed up for their late April, All Beach Advanced Open Water class. Should be fun. Anyone on these boards also taking that class?
Just Signed Up For (not So) Advanced Open Water
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Reku
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You get out of that class what you put in - if you pick easy specialties it'll be easy - if you pick hard ones - it will be hard - but you will learn more. It's your choice.
OP
TheHuth
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I dont think I get allot of choices in the specialties. I think they are all preselected. Navigation, Search & Rescue, Night, Deep, Naturalist.
If I had an unlimited budget, I'd probably do Nitrox, and Dry Diving. But I can always do this in targeted specialty courses.
If I had an unlimited budget, I'd probably do Nitrox, and Dry Diving. But I can always do this in targeted specialty courses.
Reku
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Those are all actually pretty good...if the naturalist part is done thoroughly it'll be just as good as the others - it sounds like it'll be a good class. Yes you can always do those later when you actually need them.
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My thought is ask if you can substitute Nitrox for Naturalist. You can probably learn a lot about Naturalist by reading what you want to know about. Nitrox doesn't even involve dives for the last 10 years, costs a fair bit, and is one that can at times be quite useful. It's not rocket science (though several very important points), but to dive Nitrox you need the card.
Firstly, it is Search and Recovery, not Search and Rescue. BIG difference.
Secondly, You can't do Nitrox as an Adventure dive, unless the AOW instructor is also a Nitrox instructor (not all are). And you actually have to dive with the gas, otherwise it does not count toward AOW, which is five dives. I think it is a waste to use Nitrox as one of the AOW dives....you learn nothing underwater.
Thirdly, see if you can replace Underwater Naturalist with Peak Performance Buoyancy; it has the potential to help your diving, U/W Nat'l does not. As TMHeimer says, it is possible U/W Nat'l from a book; it is not possible to learn weighting, trim, and fin kicks from a book.
If your instructor says PPB is a silly course, find another instructor that knows how to teach it well.
Secondly, You can't do Nitrox as an Adventure dive, unless the AOW instructor is also a Nitrox instructor (not all are). And you actually have to dive with the gas, otherwise it does not count toward AOW, which is five dives. I think it is a waste to use Nitrox as one of the AOW dives....you learn nothing underwater.
Thirdly, see if you can replace Underwater Naturalist with Peak Performance Buoyancy; it has the potential to help your diving, U/W Nat'l does not. As TMHeimer says, it is possible U/W Nat'l from a book; it is not possible to learn weighting, trim, and fin kicks from a book.
If your instructor says PPB is a silly course, find another instructor that knows how to teach it well.
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tursiops, Yes, agree 100% withh PPB. The Specialty course did help me somewhat, though it was a year after I had AOW and my buoyancy was already quite good.
It's hard to disagree with you about the nitrox either, now that I think back. In 2006 I did a "Nitrox Adventure Dive" as part of my AOW 5 (back when 2 dives were required to do the specialty). Then upon returning home my home LDS said I'd have to do the full course at the full price--couldn't "count" my first dive and first half of the book completed. SO, unless it gets you half way to Nitrox Cert., forget it and do something else. If you can work it in (and get cr. toward the specialty), I still say do it.
It's always hard to disagree with you....
It's hard to disagree with you about the nitrox either, now that I think back. In 2006 I did a "Nitrox Adventure Dive" as part of my AOW 5 (back when 2 dives were required to do the specialty). Then upon returning home my home LDS said I'd have to do the full course at the full price--couldn't "count" my first dive and first half of the book completed. SO, unless it gets you half way to Nitrox Cert., forget it and do something else. If you can work it in (and get cr. toward the specialty), I still say do it.
It's always hard to disagree with you....
Reku
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PPB is a great specialty. If you can you should take it. It will help in all aspects of diving. Being able to accurately control your movements underwater is a godsend.
Agree with some of the above - Deep and Navigation are required but the other three dives are your choice, depending on availability. It's not always possible to do night dives in some locations, for example.
As an instructor, I almost always insist on PPB - it's an excellent class if taught correctly, Search and Recovery is good fun, and I like the naturalist dive - the requirements for the dive itself are not especially fulfilling (identify 5 vertebrates, 4 invertebrates and 2 plant species), but taught well with a knowledgeable instructor, it's really cool. Yes, you can read about it but... well - depends on the instructor. Night diving is also good fun, as is wreck, if that's possible.
For nitrox - I agree - not as part of the AOW course. Although the specialty course is significantly more expensive (by too much, in my honest opinion), many dive centres won't allow you to dive nitrox without it.
Hope that helps,
Cheers,
C.
As an instructor, I almost always insist on PPB - it's an excellent class if taught correctly, Search and Recovery is good fun, and I like the naturalist dive - the requirements for the dive itself are not especially fulfilling (identify 5 vertebrates, 4 invertebrates and 2 plant species), but taught well with a knowledgeable instructor, it's really cool. Yes, you can read about it but... well - depends on the instructor. Night diving is also good fun, as is wreck, if that's possible.
For nitrox - I agree - not as part of the AOW course. Although the specialty course is significantly more expensive (by too much, in my honest opinion), many dive centres won't allow you to dive nitrox without it.
Hope that helps,
Cheers,
C.
OP
TheHuth
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I'm just under 3 weeks out. I wish the time would go by faster. Actually I really wish I just had free time to dive instead of waiting 
I have 3 steel 72's and 1 aluminum 80 all filled up and ready to go. Trying to decide if I should use the 80 on the night dive, or the deep dive. I've got 3 dives the first day, and 2 on the second. I'll have to get at least one tank filled when I break on day 1 so I can be ready for day 2.
I have 3 steel 72's and 1 aluminum 80 all filled up and ready to go. Trying to decide if I should use the 80 on the night dive, or the deep dive. I've got 3 dives the first day, and 2 on the second. I'll have to get at least one tank filled when I break on day 1 so I can be ready for day 2.
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