Padi AOW

[alyons05]

I was currious for those of you that have your AOW cert what skills you had to demo during the check out dives for the course.

 

[jenaddyman23]

none. the AOW is just an intoduction to different diving enviromnets. you dont learn any new "skills" but it teaches you to dive in different enviromennts. you have to do the deep and navtigation and the other three you decide with your instructer. you need to be aware you will not ACTUALLY be an advanced diver as this only comes with experience.

 

[Arizona]

I have to disagree... Instructors will or ought to make an assessment and help you refine skills already taught and build on those missing for the specific adventure dives you complete. This may include finning techniques and buoyancy control. I personally include SMB deployment which is a skill not generally covered in PADI OW course. To say no skills are included would not be accurate. The knowledge you gain via the knowledge reviews is intended to introduce you to new diving environments as stated above. This type of course is adding to your knowledge and refinement of skills under the direct supervision of an instructor. Depending on dive environment and your current skill set new skills may certainly introduced.

 

[CalgaryDF]

There weren't any skills other than navigation and some buoyancy, but you were judged based on your competency and comfort in the water. The biggest advantage I found with the AOW course is that it allowed me to do some dives with an instructor that put me in new situations. My instructor was constantly giving us feedback which was really helpful. There are also knowledge reviews that you have to complete for each dive.

 

[Damselfish]

You don't need to demonstrate stuff like mask clearing again if that's what you mean by skills (unless maybe the instructor doesn't know you and it looks like you need it, in which case you should maybe get in a few more practice dives before taking AOW.)

Otherwise "skills" obviously depend on which dives you do. We did lots of skills, and though it was a long time ago I would think the same specialties would be similar now in any decent class. For navigation we worked various compass patterns on land then did a variety of exercises underwater. Search and recovery was standard at the time and we swam different patterns and techniques searching for "lost" items and learned to use lift bags without dropping the loads back on our heads. Some dives there's not much specific you do on the dive, you just learn info about doing that type of dive then go do it, but there are always things to practice. Like even if you think your bouyancy control is good you may discover at night it's not as good as you thought. And hopefully the instructor will be observing this stuff and giving you pointers where needed.

 

[boulderjohn]

as was said, the skills you do will depend upon the dives you choose. You must choose navigation, and there are a number of required skills you need for that, mostly related to compass work. You are also required to do a deep dive. That is mostly knowledge based, with little actual skill work. Everything else depends upon the dives you choose.

 

[smithee68]

I just finished the AOW. Like someone posted above, it doesn't make you an advanced diver. I am no where near being an advanced diver. The purpose for me doing it was to have an instructor with me when I was doing some first time dives, and to give advice on improving my basic skills. It's a really good way to get you even more addicted to specialties

 

[toddthecat]

Practice/learn using a compass before starting AOW. It makes the navigation dive a lot easier if you are unfamiliar with how to use a compass and figure out headings and whatnot. If you haven't been in the water for a while you might want to get in once or twice before starting AOW just so you feel comfortable. Like smithee68 said, it really is more of a way to open up your diving experience into new and different realms with all the different specialties.

 

[alyons05]

Really no new skills and this is required to become a padi master scuba diver just sounds like a way to make money for the different training groups i always thought you learned more advanced skills or procedures

 

[KJackson60]

The Advanced Open Water Course does teach new skills/procedures as well as expanding on skills leaned in OW. It depends on the dives you pick to do. But, it is not an in depth course on each subject dive. Consider it more of a smorgasbord to give you an opportunity to try different dive environments or skill sets with an instructor close by to critique you. The five dives I took were Deep, Navigation, (both required), Search and Recovery, Wreck and Underwater Naturalist. I really enjoyed all of the dives. The dives that I got the most benefit from was the Navigation Dive and the Search and Recovery dive. Lots of compass work between the two of them plus tips on natural navigation. Our instructor made us repeat the skills until we were able to complete them successfully. The Wreck dive was also interesting as it taught me to be more aware of the environment on and around any wrecks I may dive on. Deep Dive was not all that exciting (dark and cold, nothing to look at) although actually doing a three minute safety stop after the dive and the tips given concerning buoyancy control were very helpful. Underwater naturalist was OK (Fresh water fish and critters are not as interesting as their saltwater cousins).
I recommend Advanced Open Water for anyone interested in expanding their dive experiences or who think they may be interested in a particular skill but are not sure if they will like it. Try that skill as one of your dives. If you don't like it then you won't waste your time and money taking that specialty course.
Hope this helps. Dive safe.