I never took AOW and have never been limited by a dive operator on my depth. I would suggest that you get some diving under your belt and then see how you feel about your skills. If you feel there are still some gaps that you need to address, then it might be a good idea to take further instruction. If you cannot get relatively comfortable after 10 dives or so- it might be a good idea but no course is a substitute for experience and staying current on your skills. It is important to do enough dives each year so you remain comfortable with your skill set. On many boats, a Divemaster goes into the water with the group and you have an option to stay nearby- which is a good idea when you are starting to scuba. Hope you have fun.
OW vs AOW
- Thread starter dallaskincaid
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It also depends on the aow course. Some of us have written our own that go way beyond any agency standard course. Mine is actually more like an intro to tech some say and over 6 hours of bottom time is the norm as well as 8 hours of classroom. It is not a take your money for a card course and you can fail it. No one has but thats because my entrance requirements for it are pretty strict and I screen divers before allowing them to take it.
I'm just amazed at the folks who say AOW is nothing but just a money maker for a shop or instructor.
If your OW course or instructor, was that poor, then you need first to find a "quailty of training" instructor. Look at Jim's attitude as an instructor above, as a guide.
You should do a Refresher with him/her to fill in your gaps. You'd be shocked at the number of OW divers that come to me to become AOW students, that can't even clear their masks.
Another example, a month after training, ask most OW students to tell you the 5 proper steps of a descent, or how the RDP works and the mass majority can't.
Just diving, many times, just reinforces bad or improper skills and lack of knowledge.
Your AOW course should be an evaluation of your current skills, reinforcement of previous training, new task knowledge building through study, review of that task study, practice application of those tasks and past knowledge, and real diving experience under instruction and review.
Your AOW should be earned, not just paid for ! There's only one butt connected to your tank and it's yours, so dive smart and safe.
If your OW course or instructor, was that poor, then you need first to find a "quailty of training" instructor. Look at Jim's attitude as an instructor above, as a guide.
You should do a Refresher with him/her to fill in your gaps. You'd be shocked at the number of OW divers that come to me to become AOW students, that can't even clear their masks.
Another example, a month after training, ask most OW students to tell you the 5 proper steps of a descent, or how the RDP works and the mass majority can't.
Just diving, many times, just reinforces bad or improper skills and lack of knowledge.
Your AOW course should be an evaluation of your current skills, reinforcement of previous training, new task knowledge building through study, review of that task study, practice application of those tasks and past knowledge, and real diving experience under instruction and review.
Your AOW should be earned, not just paid for ! There's only one butt connected to your tank and it's yours, so dive smart and safe.
No. I was a OW diver for 20 years and almost always go below 60' on the first dive of the day. The key to safe recreational diving is developing/practicing the skills you are taught in your OW glass. There's no substitute for experience. Get a firm grip on your buoyancy. Practice your buoyancy every time you get in the water.
Some instructors are better than others, but for me, the AOW class was a waste of money. Perhaps if I'd taken the AOW class within the first couple of years I would have seen more value. After 20 years, it was just the same old, same old.
Did I mention, practice your buoyancy on every dive?
USFpsychDiver
Contributor
I didn't get any 'book larnin'" in my AOW class that I didn't have from OW (actually, in my AOW class there was no 'class' at all, just doing the dives with the instructor and the other students). What I got was dive experience when I had very little (I still have very little, but slowly getting more) -- 6 additional dives with different experiences on each one (drift, night, deep, wreck, navigation, something else I don't remember). At the time I had only a dozen or so dives under my belt (including the OW checkouts) so this was a big deal. If I'd had some friends who were experienced, safe, divers, I could have gotten the same experiences without the class, with them, but I didn't. So my first time below 60' I got to do with an instructor and a few other students. Made me feel more secure. The card allows me to go on some shop-organized dive trips (recent one had numerous dives below 80' and required AOW & NITROX to go), but no substitute for experience and (for me anyway), continued training. What makes diving between 60 - 130' safer? Experience diving between 60-130'. And an AOW class is one way to start getting that experience. So there's the card, which is one thing, then there's the experience and training, which is another. These are separable.
A different example than depth: I've been uncomfortable with my trim -- lots of side-to-side rolling. Never addressed in OW or AOW. Knew it was part weight amount and distribution and part skill, but how to deal with it? I didn't have a dive buddy willing to spend a dive day working on this so I decided to take a class. Could have taken buoyancy & trim, but decided instead to kill multiple birds, and since I had the opportunity, I took Cavern instead. Why (well, other than because caverns are cool)? Because I know that buoyancy & trim are critical in the overhead environment, plus the course would task-load me underwater. So, after a 2-day course I have much improved buoyancy & trim (the instructor spent time with me adjusting the BC and weights), plus I've had to air-share, follow a line, and find a lost line all with a blackout mask on. Will I ever have to do that real world? Don't know, but I do feel just a tiny bit more confident that if I ever have a real problem underwater I'm less likely to panic and am more likely to think it through because I've had to problem-solve underwater (admittedly it easier when I know there's an instructor right there to pull me out if I can't find the line). Experience and training give skills and confidence; the card gets me on the boat where I can get that experience.
A different example than depth: I've been uncomfortable with my trim -- lots of side-to-side rolling. Never addressed in OW or AOW. Knew it was part weight amount and distribution and part skill, but how to deal with it? I didn't have a dive buddy willing to spend a dive day working on this so I decided to take a class. Could have taken buoyancy & trim, but decided instead to kill multiple birds, and since I had the opportunity, I took Cavern instead. Why (well, other than because caverns are cool)? Because I know that buoyancy & trim are critical in the overhead environment, plus the course would task-load me underwater. So, after a 2-day course I have much improved buoyancy & trim (the instructor spent time with me adjusting the BC and weights), plus I've had to air-share, follow a line, and find a lost line all with a blackout mask on. Will I ever have to do that real world? Don't know, but I do feel just a tiny bit more confident that if I ever have a real problem underwater I'm less likely to panic and am more likely to think it through because I've had to problem-solve underwater (admittedly it easier when I know there's an instructor right there to pull me out if I can't find the line). Experience and training give skills and confidence; the card gets me on the boat where I can get that experience.
I agree that there is ultimately more benefit from experience than AOW, but how do you get experience safely? IMO it is AOW followed by a few specialties.
If you know diving instructors, or even just very experienced divers that are willing to mentor you for free, then fine, but just going off on your own with your OW buddy is not a safe way to gain experience doing things that were not covered in OW.
If you know diving instructors, or even just very experienced divers that are willing to mentor you for free, then fine, but just going off on your own with your OW buddy is not a safe way to gain experience doing things that were not covered in OW.
ScubaSteve1962
Contributor
When you say check-out dive, are you saying diving with you, or diving with a dive op? Most of the dive ops I've seen when planing a dive trip to Fla require those if you haven't been diving in a while. With it being a refresher course if you haven't been diving in 2 years. When I stated about the certifications I wasn't speaking of a certain dive organization, but of some dive ops that when they list their dive locations they also list certain certifications that they require to go on these dives. I know no amount of training will help if you never use it. For example, I went to do some check out dives with a friend, I was newly certified for all of 4 months, and he's been "diving" for 10 years, I suggested that we go shallow first where the bottom was 30ft with good visibility, but against my better judgment we went where the bottom was 140ft with poor visibility and thermocline at 30 ft, agreeing not to go below 30 ft. we hit the water and he took off to the bottom, couldn't control his buoyancy luckily this was in a quarry, hate to think of what the results could have been if this was the ocean. Needless to say I won't be doing that again. Like you, when it comes to a new dive buddy, I don't care how much experience they have, it's shallow first for both of our safety.
For PADI, AOW is also required before taking Rescue Diver. I think that every diver should strive to take their dive education to at least Rescue Diver.
This is the best reason for getting the cert.
This is the best reason for getting the cert.
CT Sean
Contributor
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