PADI Advanced Open Water: Did you learn anything new?

[guahoo]

Amongst other things, I learned that you can be narced and not know it.

I was hoping to experience this under supervision, but didn’t happen. How did you know you were narced? Deepest I’ve gone was about 118 feet but didn’t notice anything... but then again we weren’t there for too long at all. Thanks!

 

[guahoo]

I did AOW at 80 dives in 2004. I learned some about navigation, picked up some useful hints in peak performance buoyancy, and drove a DPV for the first time. I believe it was a prerequisite for Rescue, appears the prerequisite may be less now. The card allowed me to access some dives requiring either the cert or proof of recent experience.

Thank you for your sharing your experience!

 

[guahoo]

I think it depends on what skills you really learned/mastered in OW and learned/mastered up to the point before doing the AOW. Everyone is different. In my own personal experience (as with many divers) I would say I didn't learn MUCH of anything new. The reading material was more of a refresher but the skills came easy. I had already experienced everything and more than I did in the AOW course (deep, night, wreck, drift dives, carrying a camera has allowed me a concentrated effort on practicing buoyancy control as well as identifying everything I've taken pictures of), although the navigation (compass) was more extensive than anything I had done underwater to that point.



Think it depends on where you take it. Did mine at a resort's onsite dive shop. Only classroom was reviewing questions at the end of a specialty section in the manual. So one might learn some scuba science from reading in the manual.

Thanks for your input. Sounds like my experience also. Night dive was new experience but nothing new skills (able to carry two flashlights doesn’t count). It was compass that I learned the most so far. And no classroom time means it’s same with me. Thanks for sharing.

 

[guahoo]

I'm not a good case for modern AOW courses, but I'll offer some thoughts on what I've seen helping out instructors.

First, I'm not a good model because I was YMCA OW certified back in 1985. Whether it was the agency or the instructor, the course was incredibly thorough. We learned deco tables and were never told not to do deco dives, for example. (But we were taught rebreathers will kill you. And had a skeptical eye on that voodoo gas stuff. You might say my instructor was a bit old-fashioned.) My AOW was with a guy I worked with, and we'd been diving a lot together for work. We'd done deep and night dives, for example, before I even thought about getting AOW. We'd used compass orientation for 3-leg dives. That said, search and recovery techniques was new for me, and I picked up some useful tips on night dives. Fish ID? Shoot, he and I were TEACHING fish ID. (For college credit, not certification.) The point of getting the card was I needed to get Rescue to be consistent with AAUS standards, so I had to get AOW first.

In classes I've helped with, I've seen a thorough class where lots of useful skills were taught. (Lift bags, implement various search patterns, compass navigation, night diving safety, etc.) I've also seen ones that were more of a "let's do some fun dives together." As has been written about 18 million times on this board, instructor matters.

However, even with the more "let's do some fun dives together" I can see the advantage of AOW for at least some divers. I've seen folks certified OW by the skin of their teeth. They really need more supervised experience. Maybe they shouldn't have been certified, but that ship has sailed. If getting a card gets them more experience before they end up ruining some poor insta-buddy's dive, great.

I suppose it's a spin on the old "you can fool some of the people all of the time" saying. Some of the AOW classes will benefit all of the AOW divers, and all of the AOW classes will benefit some of the divers, but not all of the AOW classes will benefit all of the divers.

Enjoyed reading your dive experience. That seems very thorough. I was expecting more advanced classroom knowledge and skills learning when I signed up for aow. Thanks for sharing!

 

[guahoo]

I did my AOW as the very first dives after OW... for a reason.
That year my son did OW in a youth camp abroad & loved it (long story).
That, after some family talk gave me a liscence to take OW... end of October in a 5mm suit just before Quarry closure... . So we both never dove together, but we’re about to conquer Bonaire on our own. Well, while I was perfect of course with my 7 or so logged dive, I thought I could need a little help with my son. Since Nitrox was no upcharge on Bonaire with Dive Friends, we did that class at home before the trip... but booke AOW with Dive Friends... and did it on the busy X-mas holidays... With instructors we‘ll never see again... Not an ideal set-up at all... but just right for us in that situation. we both had a lot to yet learn, but, so, what did I learn:

- While I actually keenly knew I was not perfect and will not be in a long time (as diver, otherwise of course I am... (not), I read a few books and knew more in theory than I could handle in practice. The perfect buoancy part of the class was the initially most humbling and best part. By far. (Thank you Jeffrey!)

- The rest was maybe more supervised activity then real focused learning, but, with the option to solicit feedback, it was still helpful. I learned that if you are not the worst in class and you still want to improve that you need to ask and make the instructor actually observe you too to give you helpful feedback.

- I learned and gained confidence that my son and I actually can do this w/o killing each other (teenager dynamics and such worries) and even can work well together as a buddy team.

- I learned that we can trust each other... if we both are, prior to the dive, very well on the same page about the dive ...

So, a good remaining 8 or 9 diving days of DIY diving followed, ‚‚twas great and while I don‘t think the class was as good as could be at all, the perfect buoancy part (did I say thank you Jeffrey) was... and the head start we got from the class only helped overall. And probably also made our self guided learning in the fun dive Bonaire exploring days after the class more focussed, more honed in on what still needs improving.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I was fortunate to discover much improved buoyancy control as I continued to dive more often. But afterwards, yes, I see where your perfect buoyancy made diving that much more fun!

 

[guahoo]

I won't read all the posts because there could be a million answers--here is mine--
I took it after doing 6 post OW dives, so there was some new stuff for me as opposed to someone who took it after 80 dives doing various activities.
Night Dive--Learned what it looked like with a light.
PPB--Was OK, but my weighting & buoyancy was already pretty decent.
Deep--Only to 63 feet, so nothing new.
S & R--All new to me, the patterns, etc.
Nav--New compass stuff, on land first then uw. Also learned 3 knots, which I actually perfected and STILL do once daily.
As one instructor said on SB--"I teach DM Candidates the 3 knots so they can become instructors someday and teach future DMs and instructors 3 knots they'll never use".

So, it cost some $, but my instructor was good and I did learn some stuff. Most of it I haven't really used as my diving is usually simple benign shallow known dive sites.
Besides, back in the winter of 2006 doing AOW was the only way I'd get on a boat that was going out on the FL panhandle.

Thank you for sharing your aow experience. Sounds similar to mine, so it’s reassuring I’m not being “left behind” compared to other aow experiences.

 

[scrane]

As far as I'm concerned, the AOW is just a ticket for dive operators to allow you to do reasonably deep dives.
But, I think it's a good opportunity for new divers to get more dives and instructors to correct problems that should have been dealt with in OW.

 

[boulderjohn]

On another note, when and how do you learn about diving on your own (with a buddy) using the dive flag/tube? Is this another paid course?

With scuba, you can choose whether to learn something on your own, with a buddy, or through professional instruction. It's up to you which you choose. If you choose professional instruction, expect to pay for it. To the surprise and anger of many ScubaBoard participants, professional instructors expect to be paid for their work, exactly the way people in other professions are paid for their work.

In by far most (but by no means all) of the cases, the courses come with a certification, and in most cases, that certification is meaningless for the student--they just want the learning. That certification is important to the instructor, though. Regardless of the class, there is some danger in diving, and if there is an accident during that instruction, the instructor can expect to be sued. During that lawsuit, the plaintiff's attorneys will hope to convince a jury that the instructor's actions were unreasonable and led to the accident. If the instructor was following a curriculum approved by an established instructional agency, then that argument will go nowhere. If the instructor was just winging it, then the onus will be on the instructor to prove that his or her actions were reasonable.

 

[npole]

So was your AOW course similar to mine? No classroom time, basically supervised dives in different environment? Thanks

Similar to mine... and similar to many others.

Don't get me wrong, at the point of the AOWD not all but many divers still have only few dives and they are fresh from the OW course, so most of them will enjoy the AOWD experience, because it gives to you more confidence to progress toward a deeper dive, night dives and whatever with an instructor that is looking after you.
What I disapprove is the business around it, you can do the above experiences anytime, with the right instructor.. those 2 or 3 days doesn't make you "advanced", and especially paying hundred dollars for a card while you can invest that amount to take more dives and get more experience is wrong on all fronts.. but unfortunately you will need that card if you want to progress more and if you want to access to certain sites a/o activities.

And it will not end here... if you'll ever progress toward Divemaster, it'll be the same story, you will not became a DM with 60 dives logged and a 4 days course, but you'll get your card regardless, and this time by paying the double or the triple of a AOWD course. If there's anything very useful in the DM course is the CPR and first aid course (it is very useful even in your non-sub activities) and the Rescue Diver course (assumed you will have a good instructors, because it really helps to increase your confidence, avoid the panic, help other people, have a better control of what's going on), but these two things doesn't costs all that money... but again, you will need that card if you want to make it your career.

Do not expect a jump in your skill because of these "cards", they are just cards... the skill will increase with more and more dives.

 

[Johnoly]

...... But I want to be lawful .....

Never seen them but for years, I heard about the " Scuba Police ".

So I always dive with a spare handcuff key underwater just incase.......