PADI certification

[Rogersea]

Hi, I recently signed myself up to take several PADI specialty as I was advised that I would be better served to buy them as expanded courses than to take the AOW version.

Buoyancy
Navigation
Night
Depth
MultiLevel
Altitude
Rescue (this is for later. after I can find and rescue myself - and maybe just for the skill sets as I'm not big on the idea but my diving buddy thinks everyone should at least know how even if they lack the actual talent)

I'm getting a great deal and lots of fun time in addition to training so I'm not complaining, just confused.
So my question is this:
I thought that I would be eligible for my PADI AOW by default once I have completed my requirements individually. Will I need to do the AOW specifically later?

I am going to recommend that you do the opposite of what you are advocating. I would recommend that you do AOW now and do the following dives:

1. Bouyancy
2. Navigation
3. Night
4. Deep
5. Search and recovery


You can speak with you instructor and ask him to spend time on each of the dives doing bouyancy work.
I think that those five dives help make you a well rounded diver. You can also decide if you are interested in getting more experience(take specialties later) in those types of diving. I also think that if available drift is a great one to experience with a very experienced diver(read instructor) the first time.

I also recommend that you take rescue.

I never realized until now that you could qualify for AOW by taking 5 specialites like JAR mentioned(I learn something new everyday)

Cheers,

 

[Crowley]

I wanted to add a Caveat Emptor to this which is that you can indeed gain your AOW cert by completion of five specialties, assuming you do the Deep and Navigation specs - but you can also get the cert in just 5 dives. I am all for continuing education because a lot of it is good and meaningful, and I would love to see all DM candidates, for example, be certified Master Scuba Diver as a prerequisite.

Doing 5 specs together? I always wonder if this is a genuine nod to improving diver safety by further training, or in the interests of lining the pockets of the dive centre. I don't necessarily disagree with the concept, as long as the diver has the funds and the motivation. By that I mean they really want to learn about these things, not that they have been told by a dive shop that they are somehow inadequate without a particular card in their pockets.

Like I say - I agree with the concept as a whole because I am, after all, a PADI instructor but 7 years in the job has given me a lot of wisdom and insight as to the the motivation behind certain sales pitches. I am not necessarily saying that this is the case of the OP but for anybody who finds themselves in a similar situation, make sure you are getting what you really ask for.

Also Sly mentioned buoyancy problems which have been covered as nauseum on this thread (so please don't start a general discussion here), but buoyancy problems are usually down to (in order of importance)

1 - Overweighting
2 - Overweighting
3 - Overweighting
4 - Underweighting
5 - Some other things.

Cheers,

C.

 

[TMHeimer]

I wanted to add a Caveat Emptor to this which is that you can indeed gain your AOW cert by completion of five specialties, assuming you do the Deep and Navigation specs - but you can also get the cert in just 5 dives. I am all for continuing education because a lot of it is good and meaningful, and I would love to see all DM candidates, for example, be certified Master Scuba Diver as a prerequisite.

**********


Yes. Of course, it does get back to which 5 specialties you do. I think including a Deep scenario in the new DM course is a good idea. Of course that doesn't certifiy you to go to 130'. I know that experience alone is enough for someone to increase their depth limit, and I don't believe PADI has issue with that even though you don't have Deep cert. But it does call into question if a DM should lead a dive below 100' if not Deep certified. There are other examples of desired certifications for a DM--like wreck penetration, drift dives, etc.--if you are going to be leading dives doing these.

 

[boulderjohn]

I chose the altitude. I want to have my PADI along with me when I do Clear Lake and hopefully Crater Lake. Either that or I'll be half a minute getting down the hill into the lake and two days climbing back up it. If ever. I'm guessing it would be severely frowned upon if he left me down there because I was too exhausted to climb back out. y

If you are doing seriously high altitude diving (my highest is 11,600 feet), you will find that getting in and out of the water with your gear on is by far the hardest part of the dive.

The effects of diving at altitude and the process for determining dive profiles at altitude are both very theoretical and quite controversial. I know people who are very experienced and knowledgeable and who think one need not consider it at all. I know their arguments because of our disagreements about it. In your PADI course you will learn one system for understanding the effects and dealing with it, with no indication that there is any disagreement. That may confuse you when you encounter disagreement later in life.

If you plan to do a lot of altitude diving, then hopefully your instructor will be very knowledgeable beyond the limits of the course content, and you will ask probing questions about why things are as they are said to be. It is quite likely , though, that you instructor will not be aware of differing theories (not many people are), so you may wish to do some exploration on your own. I know of 5 cases of pretty serious DCS at altitude among people who were taught that there is no reason to pay attention to it, and the people who told them there is no reason to pay attention to it still hold to that belief, claiming that in each case there "must" be a different (so far unknown) reason they got bent.

 

[Sly New Girl]

If you are doing seriously high altitude diving (my highest is 11,600 feet), you will find that getting in and out of the water with your gear on is by far the hardest part of the dive.

The effects of diving at altitude and the process for determining dive profiles at altitude are both very theoretical and quite controversial. I know people who are very experienced and knowledgeable and who think one need not consider it at all. I know their arguments because of our disagreements about it. In your PADI course you will learn one system for understanding the effects and dealing with it, with no indication that there is any disagreement. That may confuse you when you encounter disagreement later in life.

If you plan to do a lot of altitude diving, then hopefully your instructor will be very knowledgeable beyond the limits of the course content, and you will ask probing questions about why things are as they are said to be. It is quite likely , though, that you instructor will not be aware of differing theories (not many people are), so you may wish to do some exploration on your own. I know of 5 cases of pretty serious DCS at altitude among people who were taught that there is no reason to pay attention to it, and the people who told them there is no reason to pay attention to it still hold to that belief, claiming that in each case there "must" be a different (so far unknown) reason they got bent.

11K is not happening. 5-6K and 8K at best. Mostly just the high lakes I get to around here and the special places when I can get to them.
I hiked up the south sister to teardrop and that just about killed me. Started out packing a 45lb inflatable kayak. By the time I ditched the yak I thought I was going to throw up my kneecaps.
I'm not packing scuba gear or anything but food, water and warm place to nap in high altitude. Unless there is a bag with a million bucks in it I find just laying around unclaimed. On the way down. I'm sure my friend the dm and the worlds biggest safety nazi will inform me of every possible worst case scenario no matter how remote or totally obscure the likelihood of it happening might be. I can't wait to show him the new sign I learned on the internet! It's for "hammerhead shark". Just so I can see if he does a CESA properly. Kidding!

 

[jewelofnile69]

I am going to recommend that you do the opposite of what you are advocating. I would recommend that you do AOW now and do the following dives:

1. Bouyancy
2. Navigation
3. Night
4. Deep
5. Search and recovery


You can speak with you instructor and ask him to spend time on each of the dives doing bouyancy work.
I think that those five dives help make you a well rounded diver. You can also decide if you are interested in getting more experience(take specialties later) in those types of diving. I also think that if available drift is a great one to experience with a very experienced diver(read instructor) the first time.

I also recommend that you take rescue.

I never realized until now that you could qualify for AOW by taking 5 specialites like JAR mentioned(I learn something new everyday)

Cheers,

This is the recommended way to get AOW at a local dive shop here in WI. The class only costs $149 (pay separately for books and cert) and these are the dives they offer with it. This is the way we are looking to go.

 

[Dive the World]

Hi, I recently signed myself up to take several PADI specialty as I was advised that I would be better served to buy them as expanded courses than to take the AOW version.

Buoyancy
Navigation
Night
Depth
MultiLevel
Altitude
Rescue (this is for later. after I can find and rescue myself - and maybe just for the skill sets as I'm not big on the idea but my diving buddy thinks everyone should at least know how even if they lack the actual talent)

I'm getting a great deal and lots of fun time in addition to training so I'm not complaining, just confused.
So my question is this:
I thought that I would be eligible for my PADI AOW by default once I have completed my requirements individually. Will I need to do the AOW specifically later?

Looks like you are all set to be a Master Diver - Rescue is going to be great eye opener for you and a great learning experience. Just make sure to get plenty of dives - all those cert won't mean anything if you only have 50 dives. There is nothing like experience.