Need Help With AA

[bamaman71]

Need some help.
I was told and signed up to take ssi Advanced Adventurer because that would give me my ssi advanced open water diver certificate, but now that I'm halfway through with the class and getting ready to go to Mexico to get the dives in I'm being told it will not give me my ssi aow. that to earn that i still need to take 3 more specialties. So was i just screwed?

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Ask your instructor -- send email to SSI.

 

[tursiops]

Need some help.
I was told and signed up to take ssi Advanced Adventurer because that would give me my ssi advanced open water diver certificate, but now that I'm halfway through with the class and getting ready to go to Mexico to get the dives in I'm being told it will not give me my ssi aow. that to earn that i still need to take 3 more specialties. So was i just screwed?

SSI Advanced Adventurer is the equivalent of PADI AOW; 5 dives, one from each of 5 different specialty courses.
SSI AOW has no PADI equivalent; it requires four full specialties (not just one dive from each specialty) plus 24 logged open water dives. Your Advanced Adventurer counts as one specialty, so you'd need three more full specialties.

Is it possible that your were told if you did SSI AA it would be the same as "AOW" (meaning PADI AOW), and you misinterpreted that as SSI AOW?

Here is SDI's equivalence table:

And here is SSI's equivalence chart:

 

[CycleCat]

For Advanced Adventurer I don't think you have to take a full specialty in five subjects, but you do have to make dives related to those specialties. Every agency will require a deep dive and navigation dive. Depending on the agency you will have options for altitude diving, night diving, wrecks, boat diving, drift diving, etc.