PADI Diver Question

[KingNept]

My dad was certified over 30 years ago through PADI. He was attending school for diving and was then taking his certification for AOW when he left school. Now many of the classes he had to take went above and beyond what is required for the current AOW certification. Would any one know if he would be able to maybe show proof of the courses he took if he could have his basic certification upgraded without having to re-enroll in another class to get it today.

 

[TMHeimer]

Go to padi.com to ask. My guess would be no.

 

[Thalassamania]

For that to happen PADI would have to admit how much less there is in today's classes. True as it might be, that's not going to happen, sorry.

 

[AndyNZ]

My dad was certified over 30 years ago through PADI. He was attending school for diving and was then taking his certification for AOW when he left school. Now many of the classes he had to take went above and beyond what is required for the current AOW certification. Would any one know if he would be able to maybe show proof of the courses he took if he could have his basic certification upgraded without having to re-enroll in another class to get it today.

Probably not.

But you may find that some instructors will take that proof of experience as a means to not do AOW at all, and accept your Dad straight into a Rescue class.

The wording of the standard that allows this is fairly precise, but it often as an imprecise interpretation.

 

[KingNept]

Go to padi.com to ask. My guess would be no.

I tried there and I wasn't able to find any real answers.

For that to happen PADI would have to admit how much less there is in today's classes. True as it might be, that's not going to happen, sorry.

Just from what he's told me about how different it was then it's amazing at how much less they actually teach you today.

 

[Thalassamania]

I tried there and I wasn't able to find any real answers.



Just from what he's told me about how different it was then it's amazing at how much less they actually teach you today.

He's right, lots of stuff (if available at all) has become a separately priced product.

Why does he need a new card? If I were in his situation I'd just go to another agency instructor who might have some respect for his skills and capabilities.

 

[KingNept]

Well I was looking into helping him get a new card because on many of the boats around here they require an AOW certification. I figured finding an PADI instructor might be easier since it's where he got his initial certification. I''m NAUI certified so I may take a trip down to my LDS and see if there is anything they can do.

 

[SailNaked]

There is an experience option for OW however as far as I know there is not anything like that for AOW.

On the other hand all the boats I have ever been on just want to know about recent boat diving experience and if it is a deep dive then some deep diving experience. I would contact the individual boat you are intending to dive from and ask them. If they require the cert regardless of experience then see if all the other boats going have the same attitude. AOW is an Experience based cert, if it were my boat I would accept experience as a substitute.
in the worst case they may ask that you have a DM along with you for the dive, you only have to do that once and then you have the boat diving experience they will ask about for the rest of the year. If you only dive once a year then maybe you want to get the cert to avoid the hassle.

 

[Black Water Diver]

The best thing is to do a SCUBA Review and make sure he is up to speed with new equipment like BCD's, He may not have dove with one. It would be much easier to jsut do the AOW and support the local dive shop and instructor. ANy kindof practice is a good thing

 

[KingNept]

He's gone out since then. A bunch of time's while he was in Guam and a couple times with me last year. He's just a little upset as he'd rather not have to pay to be AOW certified now just so he can go off of a boat.