PADI Adventure Diver versus Advanced Open Water Certification?

[Ben Prusinski]

Hi folks,

I recently completed both my open water and adventure diver PADI certifications. My question is what is the difference between Adventure Diver and Advanced Open Water Certifications from PADI? They both use the same PADI course book Adventures in Diving and similar dives. I am confused.

Thanks,
Ben

 

[Griff..]

The Adventure Diver rating is when you have completed 3 adventure dives, and the Advanced Open Water certification, shows that you have completed 5 adventure dives (including the mandatory 2 of Navigation and Deep) The Advanced Open Water certification will qualify you to dive to 30m.

 

[herbdb]

Think of Adventure diver as the first step toward AOW. Your three Adventure dives count toward the five AOW dives.

You need two more dives. Somewhere in the five dives you must do both deep and navigation. Your instructor can help you select the two remaining dives based on what you have already accomplished.

I highly recommend peak performance buoyancy.

 

[mathauck0814]

Think of it as an opportunity to pay PADI twice for the AOW cert.

 

[Garrobo]

What mathauck0814 said. Just another cash cow for PADI and the dive shop operator. Only thing is that you will probably need an OAW cert to dive mo$t of the wreck$. It's all about money, Dude.

 

[Peter Guy]

It's all about money, Dude.

While this may be true with some people, it doens't need to be. The PADI AOW Program CAN help a diver gain more diving skills if and when the student demands it or the instructor requires it.

A case-in-point just might be the two divers who finished their AOW program with me on Sunday. By the end of the 5 dives, their ability to navigate had been significantly increased; their buoyancy control was noticeably better; their knowledge of dive planning was likewise much more sophisticated.

It just requires the parties to want to use the program to their advantage.

BTW, ALL of the 5 dives of the AOW Program are "Adventure Dives" in PADI lingo and all (?) can be used as the first dive of their associated "Specialty" (but why would you want to do that as opposed to getting more instruction?).

 

[mathauck0814]

While this may be true with some people, it doens't need to be. The PADI AOW Program CAN help a diver gain more diving skills if and when the student demands it or the instructor requires it.

I know this to be true, but can you honestly advocate why a diver ought to pay twice (once for an Adventure Diver card and again for an AOW)?

 

[Peter Guy]

but can you honestly advocate why a diver ought to pay twice

Because they like the cards?

I can't think of a reason why someone would want both, but it is certainly possible that someone could only have time (or desire) to do three dives and want recognition for them. At a later time, of course, by adding the other two dives, she could upgrade -- almost like someone getting the Scuba Diver Card and then later upgrading to Open Water (which has made sense to several of my students).

 

[Ben Prusinski]

Well I completed navigation and peak performance buoyancy dives as part of the Adventure Diver certification class so I can do the deep dive and other dives to complete Advanced Open Water Certification. After that, probably learn to dive wrecks, DPV (scooter) and deep dive certification interest me the most. Yeah, more $$$ to pay for classes I know. Someday complete rescue diver and dive master course after more years experience.

 

[Jill from Phoenix]

A diver may not always be able to achieve the minimum requirements for AOW, so Adventure Diver is a certification that they can obtain for recognition of what they did complete. For instance, a 10 year old isn't going to be able to do the Deep Dive, so they can't be AOW, but they could still be Adventure Diver.