Padi AOW by default?

[CPrincess]

On reading about the AOW everyone seems to be saying that it is just the different specialty dives as long as one is Deep and one is Navigation.
So I have a sort-of rhetorical question: if over time I obtained 5 specialties on vacation including the Deep and Navigation, would I qualify for an AOW or is there anything else involved? When Padi issued the specialties would it automatically trigger a AOW certification or would you have to tell them to send it? Or am I reading it all wrong and you have to do additional bookwork or dives outside of the 5 specialties?

 

[MichaelMc]

That is an interesting question. In SSI/SDI, once you do four full SSI/SDI specialties, only 1 without dives, and have 25 dives, you can apply or automatically get issued Advanced Diver (AOW) by SSI/SDI. As it is a recognition card.

In Padi, it is a class, with at least a thinking like a diver section that is separate from the dives. But the knowledge and first dives of completed specialties can be applied to it. If you did that with all five, that may not leave much else left of the class itself.

It might be a factor of an instructor being happy with the specialties you did and how well they were done before signing you off as the instructor for your AOW class under them.

 

[pconsidine]

There is a problem with your statements- to take Deep & Navigation Speciaties you have to be at least a PADI Adventure Diver or Advanced Open Water diver.

 

[MichaelMc]

But could you do:
* OW
* Adventure (w/ 1st dive of 3 non Nav non Deep specialties)
* Full Nav, Full Deep.
* Three other full specialties (Maybe those of Adventure)
And then apply the five full specialties to AOW?
What would that AOW then consist of?

 

[pconsidine]

yes MichaelMc you could do that, and I am sorry for Navigation you only need OW- I check standards. But you need your Instructor to sign off for Advanced Open Water and that will be less money he is making plus Instructor's are charged by Padi for Certification Cards. If it was me I would agree with your thinking since you will be gaining a wealth of experience and knowledge rather than just doing Aow, but it is up to discretion of Instructor. I would suggest Wreck, Deep, Peak Performance, Navigation and Nitrox as ood specialties to take. Nitrox does not require a dive..

 

[CPrincess]

So to amend the question: If over time a diver acquires several diving specialties out of town with different instructors for each, can they get their Adventure Diver cert and then complete the Deep & Nav and get the AOW.
Here is my personal situation: I have no scuba at all in my county. Closest Padi is an hour without traffic, but being on the other side of a major city it is probably 2 hoirs around rush hours. The shop we took certification with went out of business a while ago and we didn't click with him anyway. Over time we have acquired a few speciality certifications for fun and I am just curious if after completing more for fun if I will trigger an new rating.
Like a lot of people's anecdotes I grew up with a fireman rescue diver for a father who taught me to dive in the 70's before equipment even fit me. Now that I have teenagers I am trying to make sure they don't die and get as much out of it as they can but like anyone who runs a business, has a bunch of high schoolers and has other responsibilities I can't prioritize scuba as highly as I would like for a few years. So I am just curious if myself or other family will stumble into a rating whether it's after 50 dives or after 500 dives.

 

[pconsidine]

CPrincess with Padi you do not stumble into a rating- I Padi Instructor must sign you off for any rating you achieve and myself like most instructors I know will not sign anyone off unless I personally conduct dive requirements for said rating as per Padi standards.

 

[elgoog]

And then apply the five full specialties to AOW? What would that AOW then consist of?

So to amend the question: If over time a diver acquires several diving specialties out of town with different instructors for each, can they get their Adventure Diver cert and then complete the Deep & Nav and get the AOW.

If you do the full specialties, you are eligible for PADI Master Diver, which is above AOW. AOW is just the 1st dive of the specialties you choose so if you do the full specialty course .i.e. all 4-5 dives for each one, you've gone beyond the requirements for AOW.

The only specialty that will be the oddball is Deep - you can do Navigation with just OW (I did). For Deep, you need the Adventurer cert which is the 1st dive of 3 specialties. Now, if you've done at least 3 full specialties, will that be considered in lieu to do Deep or do you have to file the paperwork and pay for the Adventurer card? I don't know - @boulderjohn is the best source for PADI info.

The other thing to keep in mind is that you have to pick the "accepted" specialties to get AOW or Master. The only reason I mention this is that many vacation specialties like Shark Diver, Manta Ray diver, etc are NOT applicable towards any of the advanced ratings. I'm not saying these were the ones you were looking at but this has caught out divers I know and wanted to make sure you are aware of it.

 

[pconsidine]

If you do the full specialties, you are eligible for PADI Master Diver, which is above AOW. AOW is just the 1st dive of the specialties you choose so if you do the full specialty course .i.e. all 4-5 dives for each one, you've gone beyond the requirements for AOW.

The only specialty that will be the oddball is Deep - you can do Navigation with just OW (I did). For Deep, you need the Adventurer cert which is the 1st dive of 3 specialties. Now, if you've done at least 3 full specialties, will that be considered in lieu to do Deep or do you have to file the paperwork and pay for the Adventurer card? I don't know - @boulderjohn is the best source for PADI info.

The other thing to keep in mind is that you have to pick the "accepted" specialties to get AOW or Master. The only reason I mention this is that many vacation specialties like Shark Diver, Manta Ray diver, etc are NOT applicable towards any of the advanced ratings. I'm not saying these were the ones you were looking at but this has caught out divers I know and wanted to make sure you are aware of it.

Yes I agree go for Master Scuba Diver rather than AOL, but I think Rescue is the best class a diver can take and you must have at least Adventure Diver rating for Rescue.

 

[boulderjohn]

The only specialty that will be the oddball is Deep - you can do Navigation with just OW (I did). For Deep, you need the Adventurer cert which is the 1st dive of 3 specialties. Now, if you've done at least 3 full specialties, will that be considered in lieu to do Deep or do you have to file the paperwork and pay for the Adventurer card? I don't know - @boulderjohn is the best source for PADI info.

The best source of information about something like this is not me--it's PADI. You can give them a call and get an answer in less time than it would take to get an answer from me, and it would certainly be more authoritative. I prefer to send emails, though, so I have the answers in writing. That usually takes less than a day to get a response.

I would guess that the question has never come up--it would be a very unusual situation to call for it. As egoog accurately stated, the primary reason is that the Deep Diver certification requires that the diver already be certified as either an AOW or Adventure diver. Adventure diver is a certification that is very rarely issued, at least in my experience. I have never seen one, let alone certified anyone at that level. The primary reason to issue it would be for a junior diver who is not allowed to do the deep dive requirement for AOW. If someone was certified at the Adventure level, I would assume the most likely first step would be to do a simple upgrade to AOW--which should be a very cheap and easy step.

Thus, the circumstances for a diver getting all 5 specialties before getting AOW would be extremely unusual. It could happen, though. I don't have the answer myself, and if I were to encounter the situation (which I do not expect in the near future), my first step would be to contact PADI.