PADI AOW Certification
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elgoog
Contributor
Hmm can't do deep without AOW or Adventure. But you can do advanced rebreather diver with just OW. That makes a lot of sense.
Of course it says "or equivalent." I doubt if a divers such as you describe has ever existed in the history of diving. If such a diver were to enroll in the class, I would ask PADI if it were acceptable. That would get that diver into the basic class. After that, Rescue Diver becomes a requirement.
By the way, your statement that TDI Nitrox is required for the TDI tech courses is incorrect. That, too, is an "or equivalent" requirement.
---------- Post added July 29th, 2015 at 04:41 PM ----------
Adventure Diver should be of no interest to the average diver. It will be of interest to younger divers who cannot do the deep dive.
gopbroek
Contributor
IMO the AOW certificate has value in two senerios :
1) As a follow on for a novice diver who dives in an area that does not require a DM to accompany the diver (think vacation destination's in marine parks / sanctuaries) the extra instruction and skills learned can be very beneficial.
2) As a card to allow you to dive with an operator hiding behind a 'cert' rule with the false hope of protecting themselves from a sleazy liability lawyer, which probably won't work since the guy with robes is most likely another failed sleazy liability lawyer.
Personnely I did the 4 days in Mexico in the 'you too can be a PADI OW diver program', the training was good but the actual experience came from follow on diving with the instructors. The experience gained in the subsequent dives has allowed me to become a semi-competent diver and Monday I hit my 400th Dive (searching the Palancar wall at 125' looking for Lionfish, unsuccessfully) with my lowly OW cert. My plan is to card up on my 500th dive to an AOW to keep my options open for other areas which I hope to do by December.
1) As a follow on for a novice diver who dives in an area that does not require a DM to accompany the diver (think vacation destination's in marine parks / sanctuaries) the extra instruction and skills learned can be very beneficial.
2) As a card to allow you to dive with an operator hiding behind a 'cert' rule with the false hope of protecting themselves from a sleazy liability lawyer, which probably won't work since the guy with robes is most likely another failed sleazy liability lawyer.
Personnely I did the 4 days in Mexico in the 'you too can be a PADI OW diver program', the training was good but the actual experience came from follow on diving with the instructors. The experience gained in the subsequent dives has allowed me to become a semi-competent diver and Monday I hit my 400th Dive (searching the Palancar wall at 125' looking for Lionfish, unsuccessfully) with my lowly OW cert. My plan is to card up on my 500th dive to an AOW to keep my options open for other areas which I hope to do by December.
OP, I'll try to clear up some of the confusion, at least for PADI.
PADI has three main recreational *certification levels,* OW-AOW-Rescue, each being approximately the prereq for the next. There is an additional certification level - Master Scuba Diver - that is the top level offered; I'll describe it in a moment.
In addition to these certification levels, there are a large number of specialties, each having its own prerequisites. Examples are Navigation, Deep, Night, Nitrox, Search and Recovery, etc. The value and difficulty of these vary depending on your interests, background, experience, etc. They all require 2-4 dives. In general, the first dive of each specialty course is called an Adventure Dive, and is the introduction to the full course.
NOTE: there is no AOW (or Adventure Diver) "class." There is a formal class for OW, and for Rescue, but not AOW. It is just the five separate dives, each with a Knowledge Review. They can therefore be done over an extended period. Normally, a "class" must be completed within 12 months.
There are also Distinctive Specialities written by an individual instructor, approved but not offered by PADI; examples are Coral Identification, Zen Buoyancy, Aquarium Diver, Underwater Basket Weaving, Shore Diving, and Zombie Diver. The value and difficulty of these vary tremendously, from pretty silly to seriously difficult and high value. None of them are valid as Adventure Dives, and therefore not for AOW.
An Adventure Diver certification level means the completion of any three Adventure Dives.
An AOW certification means the completion of five Adventure dives, two of which must be Deep and Nav, i.e. the first dive of those two specialties.
One quirk: Adventure Diver certification, one of the dives being Nav, is the prerequisite for Rescue.
This means if you take five full specialties, two of them being Deep and Nav, then you have satisfied the requirements for AOW....because you'll have done the first (Adventure) dive of each specialty. This also means you learn much more....five full specialties instead of just an intro to each. But this does not mean you automatically get your AOW certification level card.....you still have to pay for that, because it is a separate card....but should not cost more than $30-35 dollars, maybe less if you cut a deal with your shop/instructor..."Hey, I'll take five specialties from you and you throw in the AOW card!"
Once you have AOW, Rescue, 50 logged dives, and five full specialties, you can apply for Master Scuba Diver. What is this good for? Personal pride, and occasionally a better seat on a dive boat.
Another quirk: the five specialties for MSD can include Distinctive Specialties.
If you were to move into the professional ranks, starting with Divemaster, you need AOW and Rescue, or their equivalents from some other agency.
Suggestion: if you find a good instructor, talk it over with him/her. If they seem narrow-minded or inflexible, find another instructor. You'll also probably find that the instructor who can give you an outstanding Peak Performance Buoyancy class may not be the same one who can give you an outstanding Search and Recovery class, or Rescue class, or Underwater Naturalist class, or Digital Underwater Photographer class. Shop around. Be skeptical. Interview them.
Good luck. Don't hold your breath, have fun.
PADI has three main recreational *certification levels,* OW-AOW-Rescue, each being approximately the prereq for the next. There is an additional certification level - Master Scuba Diver - that is the top level offered; I'll describe it in a moment.
In addition to these certification levels, there are a large number of specialties, each having its own prerequisites. Examples are Navigation, Deep, Night, Nitrox, Search and Recovery, etc. The value and difficulty of these vary depending on your interests, background, experience, etc. They all require 2-4 dives. In general, the first dive of each specialty course is called an Adventure Dive, and is the introduction to the full course.
NOTE: there is no AOW (or Adventure Diver) "class." There is a formal class for OW, and for Rescue, but not AOW. It is just the five separate dives, each with a Knowledge Review. They can therefore be done over an extended period. Normally, a "class" must be completed within 12 months.
There are also Distinctive Specialities written by an individual instructor, approved but not offered by PADI; examples are Coral Identification, Zen Buoyancy, Aquarium Diver, Underwater Basket Weaving, Shore Diving, and Zombie Diver. The value and difficulty of these vary tremendously, from pretty silly to seriously difficult and high value. None of them are valid as Adventure Dives, and therefore not for AOW.
An Adventure Diver certification level means the completion of any three Adventure Dives.
An AOW certification means the completion of five Adventure dives, two of which must be Deep and Nav, i.e. the first dive of those two specialties.
One quirk: Adventure Diver certification, one of the dives being Nav, is the prerequisite for Rescue.
This means if you take five full specialties, two of them being Deep and Nav, then you have satisfied the requirements for AOW....because you'll have done the first (Adventure) dive of each specialty. This also means you learn much more....five full specialties instead of just an intro to each. But this does not mean you automatically get your AOW certification level card.....you still have to pay for that, because it is a separate card....but should not cost more than $30-35 dollars, maybe less if you cut a deal with your shop/instructor..."Hey, I'll take five specialties from you and you throw in the AOW card!"
Once you have AOW, Rescue, 50 logged dives, and five full specialties, you can apply for Master Scuba Diver. What is this good for? Personal pride, and occasionally a better seat on a dive boat.
Another quirk: the five specialties for MSD can include Distinctive Specialties.
If you were to move into the professional ranks, starting with Divemaster, you need AOW and Rescue, or their equivalents from some other agency.
Suggestion: if you find a good instructor, talk it over with him/her. If they seem narrow-minded or inflexible, find another instructor. You'll also probably find that the instructor who can give you an outstanding Peak Performance Buoyancy class may not be the same one who can give you an outstanding Search and Recovery class, or Rescue class, or Underwater Naturalist class, or Digital Underwater Photographer class. Shop around. Be skeptical. Interview them.
Good luck. Don't hold your breath, have fun.
OP
Perfect! I totally get it now. That was exactly what I needed. As I stated, the title of ‘AOW’ isn’t that big to me. Hey, I could get a card printed saying that I am the “All Being; Master of Time, Space, and Dimension” if I wanted. I just want to be a good diver, feel comfortable, keep learning, and enjoy the company of like minded divers and of course not be known as “that diver…..” (another thread). I think my wife and I have pretty much made up our minds that we are going to tackle the full course of each of the ones that interest us but include the two mandatory ones; namely because I think they would be extremely useful as well.
As far as a dive shop, I have found one that I really like (it’s not the one that I dropped $4 G’s in when I bought our original equipment at Christmas) but they are a class act so I’ll give them a shameless plug here – Seaventures in Alpharetta, GA. My wife and I took our PADI refresher there last month and are scheduled for their Keys trip next month. This will be our first boat dive ever and we are doing the PPB course there as well.
I really appreciate all the great info here and clearing up the mystery of the certs.
Have an awesome evening everyone!
As far as a dive shop, I have found one that I really like (it’s not the one that I dropped $4 G’s in when I bought our original equipment at Christmas) but they are a class act so I’ll give them a shameless plug here – Seaventures in Alpharetta, GA. My wife and I took our PADI refresher there last month and are scheduled for their Keys trip next month. This will be our first boat dive ever and we are doing the PPB course there as well.
I really appreciate all the great info here and clearing up the mystery of the certs.
Have an awesome evening everyone!
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Divetech99
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If specialty courses is the path you want to take vs an AOW card, You need to be sure that the instructor is a certified "Specialty Instructor" for those specific specialty you want to take.
Your OW instructor is a PPB and AWARE specialty instructor by design. But he/she cannot train and certify you for the deep dive specialty, unless he/she is a certified PADI deep dive specialty instructor. But that same instructor can certify you for an AOW card. As John said, the AOW is really an introduction to more advance diving skills.
I know it's kinda confusing (it's been that way for years), but that's the business model of PADI and other Agencies to ensure that they earn at every step.
The Kraken
He Who Glows in the Dark Waters (ADVISOR)
ScubaBoard Supporter
Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
What everyone has already said . . .
But, I would recommend that you take the additional "specialties" that improve the basic aspects of your diving and your diving safety.
Safe dives . . . . . .
. . . safer ascents !
the K
But, I would recommend that you take the additional "specialties" that improve the basic aspects of your diving and your diving safety.
Safe dives . . . . . .
. . . safer ascents !
the K
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