Or... you can go diving, regularly, with divers that know what they are doing, logging all your dives, learning from each, and then, when you encounter an area where you have focus and a desire for more training, take a course. People with 9 dives can have an advanced open water certification, but are they advanced divers? I have worked with divemaster candidates who were pressing to get 60 logged dives by doing 5 a day in a local pond. Yet my wife and dive buddy, who has only an open water diver credential, has dove caverns, deep dives, high seas, strong current, deep night, off on our own shore excursions, deep wrecks (we don't penetrate them) and is just about the best diver I know. It is because she dives regularly, knows her equipment, sees it is maintained (and maybe a little bit because she has her own private DM) I would rather dive with her than more credentialed divers, because she is competent, safe, and loves every dive. So before anything else on your list of "what's next," just go diving. Be safe, have fun, learn and grow from every dive, and for a laugh read our book. We are the Scuba Snobs. google it. AND take classes, but also dive for practical application and experience and competence.
DivemasterDennis
