Padi AOW by default?

[tursiops]

Y'all are making this too difficult.
There is no "AOW Class" just an AOW Certification.
Any PADI instructor who knows what they are doing can do your fifth specialty, and sign off the AOW certification. In fact, it only needs to be the first dive of Deep, and then the AOW card. Just show your other cards as proof you have four other Adventure Dives (i.e., the first dive of each specialty). There is no "class," and no "exam." Do the one Deep dive, get AOW, then do the other 3 Deep dives, and get the Deep specialty. Go do Rescue (and 50 dives) and get MSD.
Charges? Work it out, PADI doesn't care. Negotiate with the instructor/shop.

If it were up to the students who already have the specialties (me, sea_otter), we'd love to make it easy. But if you read the whole thread then you will see how many instructors don't agree.
I agree it's weird that it is so difficult but unless Padi finally decides to email me back with something to work with or present as "proof of dives" then I am at the mercy of whatever a dive instructor on vacation agrees to. In my mind, the specialty plastic IS a proof of my sucessful specialty dives (more than enough for Adventure qualification) but as you can read from previous replies, lots of people do not agree.

LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE WRONG. That is in caps, for shouting.

 

[tursiops]

The only question I have is what is the assumed liability by the instructor for not being the certifying instructor for the other courses. Maybe that is FUD, but with the legal system we have. The fact that her 500+ dives are spread over 40 years is cause for concern, as I haven't seen her in the water. That's less than 15 per year. Before I met my girlfriend, that was a month of diving for me.

If she came to me, I'd say let's go for a fun dive and see where she is at. If she looked good, I'd try to work something out (but I'm far), and I'd verify her existing certification.. As with all dives, I'd require good trim, buoyancy control, and finning, as that is part of executing any skills "fluidly, comfortably, and repeatedly".

I'm guessing she's spoken with Breakwater Scuba.

I have to assume you've never signed off on a MSD application, unless you taught the OW, the AOW, the Rescue, and did the 50 dives with the student.

 

[boulderjohn]

The only question I have is what is the assumed liability by the instructor for not being the certifying instructor for the other courses.

As Tursiops is essentially saying, it is surprisingly common to have different instructors sign off for different dives for the PADI AOW. PADI even has a form for it, but that is just to make it easier to keep track--it isn't required. Before I knew PAI had the form, I made one of my own that was used by the dive shop where I was working.

In Colorado, we have to do it quite a bit because we don't have local deep water.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I have to assume you've never signed off on a MSD application, unless you taught the OW, the AOW, the Rescue, and did the 50 dives with the student.

I don't think you are understanding what I'm saying, but that isn't the first time. Good day

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

As Tursiops is essentially saying, it is surprisingly common to have different instructors sign off for different dives for the PADI AOW. PADI even has a form for it, but that is just to make it easier to keep track--it isn't required. Before I knew PAI had the form, I made one of my own that was used by the dive shop where I was working.

In Colorado, we have to do it quite a bit because we don't have local deep water.

John,

I'm just looking at it from the point of view of liability in the case of a diving incident/fatality where the knives come out and the attorney for the family of the deceased goes after everyone, including the last certifying instructor. Now I haven't seen such an incident, but I did work for a company whose CEO wrote the book "Only the Paranoid Survive." If that isn't an issue (and I am not sure how much of it is, I'm just asking the question), then it should be simple (from my viewpoint).

 

[tursiops]

John,

I'm just looking at it from the point of view of liability in the case of a diving incident/fatality where the knives come out and the attorney for the family of the deceased goes after everyone, including the last certifying instructor. Now I haven't seen such an incident, but I did work for a company whose CEO wrote the book "Only the Paranoid Survive." If that isn't an issue (and I am not sure how much of it is, I'm just asking the question), then it should be simple (from my viewpoint).

I seriously suggest you consider not teaching scuba.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I seriously suggest you consider not teaching scuba.

Yes, like I am going to take advise from someone with as pleasant of a personality as you.

 

[tursiops]

Yes, like I am going to take advise from someone with as pleasant of a personality as you.

Hey, if you are so nervous about liability that you actually worry so much about accepting someone else's certification, you are not going to be a happy instructor.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I'd LOVE to head up that direction some time! I spent a weekend recently on San Juan Island (for my non-diving husband's birthday) and couldn't help thinking how much I wanted to dive! Looked like a fantastic place.

Ah, if she has recent GUE training, that counts for a lot, and if she's getting in 50-100 dives lately, that puts my initial concern about the dive frequency to rest.

Diving in the San Juans is a lot of fun. Hopefully next time you are up here, you can give it a go. If you ever find yourself in Neah Bay in summer, you MUST go boat diving with Bill Minton, owner/captain of Pacific Northwest Dive Charters (I think I have the name right). Hands down the best diving in the state. Widest range of sea life, great visibility. I just cannot recommend it enough.

 

[Steve_C]

Don't know about your upcoming charter but on the NC boats I dive on they usually have a couple of DM which are also instructors, or can get one on the boat quickly. You can do the class stuff online and then knock off the deep with the instructor on trip. I went back and got my PADI deep cert after a few hundred dives, a number of them to 100 ft. So it was just like having a reliable buddy on a fun dive. But AOW is simpler and could be done the same way.