New Name For Aow

[strfsh]

I just got done taking the advanced open water course through padi. My card may come with the advanced anme on it, but I still know what my limitations are. I know what I'm capable and not capable of doing. I feel I did learn some new skills and I'm a bit more confident diving, but I also know I have a lot more to learn.......just my 2 cents....

 

[builderbloke]

i certified with the SAA and we call that grade "club diver "


the rest of the grades are prety much the same as padi

elementary diver
open water diver
clubdiver
dive leader
dive supervisor
divemaster
and then youve got all the speciallity grades

 

[TCDiver1]

Adventures in diving (Advanced) IS a continuation of OW training. I understand the problem some people have with the term "advanced" but a new diver does not need the advanced c-card to attempt dives beyond their skill level. IMO calling it OW two will do nothing to stop a diver who has the mindset to do dives without proper training

My experience has been that some OW divers are more prone to think they are ten foot tall & bullet-proof. These are the people with the ego to think they don't need anymore training. Call it OW two, advanced or whatever, they don't need it in their minds.

Setting this "darwin award candidate" group aside, most other OW or advanced divers we train accept the limitations that were emphasised in their training. If it wasn't emphasised by the instructor shame on him/her. If the diver didn't listen or take the recommendations to heart, shame on him/her. All the training in the world will not change human nature. The thinning of the gene pool will continue regardless of what you call AOW.

Personally i don't care what it is called. IMHO the title on the card means little. How well the diver was trained with the training they got, how often has the diver gotten wet and how long ago and last but not least what type of dives were they.

Maybe we should universally adopt the old Sears pitch.
Ow = Good
AOW = Better
Rescue = Best
DIRF = Wizard of all things floaty

Sorry ..... just kidding

 

[Jack R]

Advanced sounds good but it surely doesnt mean that one would be advanced. I have seen way better ow divers then aow divers.

I remember one trip to bonaire with my local dive shop. I was a rescue diver and there were some on the trip that were taking their aow with the shop while they were there.

One guy who got certified that day decided to celebrate with a couple of beers. Not many, 3 or 4 but too many to dive on. Since he was now an "Advanced" diver he thought that it would be a good idea to go night diving - solo. I was pretty sure that we talked him out of it but we found out later that he dove anyway. Now nothing bad happened but it was an accident waiting to happen.

Inmaturity and ego can play a large part in diving accidents. And ego, I have seen plays a huge part in diving. The word advanced lends itself to too much ego boosting in new divers.

There are certain areas that I am advanced in, but that just comes from experiance. There are many areas of diving that I am a novice even if I have a card that says advanced.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

For those who haven't been certified long enough to remember or aren't familiar with NAUI. NAUI progression of certification used to be OW I, OW II, Advanced, etc. (I'm not sure what came after that since I certified as OWI then they changed the name structure to OW, Advanced, etc.)

I've heard the stories about the university (where I was trained) OW II and Advanced programs offered 20 years ago. They were TOUGH! Part of one of them involved doing laps in the pool breathing off of regulators that had been rigged with malfunctions. Free flows, no mouthpiece, hard to breathe, etc. and that was the EASY part of the class! Can't think of anything other specifics I was told about at the moment. NAUI has loosened their standards since then but the university course has kept a few of the old challenges to let students have different experiences in a controlled environment.

Continuing education is the only way to maintain and improve your skills. Dive to live!
Ber

 

[MNScuba]

Advanced Open Water...
Well, when you think about it means exactly what it says... It 'advances' the skills you've learned in the Open Water course. It is misleading however and I agree with the Basic Open Water 1 and Basic Open Water 2 titles. 'Could' it be a marketing thing?

What would you be more likely to take?
Basic Open Water 2 or Advanced Open Water

My instructor for AOW was VERY clear that it is not an advanced course and not to get my expectations too high. However, after taking AOW I feel I am much better at the skills I learned in basic open water and I am a much better diver because of it (mostly because of the 'Peak Performance Buoyancy' portion).