PADI specialities vs AOW

[ymy]

Just realised from a separate thread that the AOW specialties are "reduced" versions from taking the specialties independently.

What more does one learn taking the specialties independently vs as AOW ? Is there more theory, additional skills or is it just the added experience of more dives ?

Can someone share specifics of at least the common specialties like deep and night.

 

[JamesK]

and way for PADI and NAUI to make more money. That is just my opinion though, I have been known to be wrong once or twice.

 

[Welshman]

I don't think there is any more theory but there are more dives. For example the Peak Performance Buoyancy speciality is 2 dives but as part of an AOW course is 1 dive. Similarly the wreck dive for AOW is 1 dive but 4 dives for the speciality.

I expect that you simply spend more time working on the speciality and thereby gain more experience (and pay more money but that's your call!).

regards

 

[MikeFerrara]

AOW is a sampler of specialties. A way for a diver to be introduced to new activities and environments under supervision. Any given dive from AOW is the first dive of that specialty. If you choose to complete the specialty you can, at the instructors descretion, recieve credit for the first dive you did in AOW. The same also works in reverse. If you do a specialty (one that doesn't list AOW as a prerequisit) then complete AOW later the first dive of the specialty can count as one of the AOW dives. More theory will be introduced if you complete the specialty. Most specialties have their own text and the knowlege review is in two parts. The first part can be completed in the AOW using only the AOW text. The second part would be completed if one goes on to complete the specialty. And yes it makes more money. When I teach a search and recovery or nav or any number of other specialties I work my A** off. Handing the average diver some lines and lift bags can be rather exciting without some remediation.

 

[pt40fathoms]

The reason that the AOW and specialty courses are broken in to several smaller learning units, and only introduced in the AOW is because of the time and cost investment to the diver. If you had one, all encompassing, nothing left out course. It would take months to complete, and would cost in the thousands just to cover the instructors time, pool time, course material, and so on. Not many people have the time or the money to invest in such an undertaking, so it is broken down into smaller more managable modules. The AOW is the first step into preparing you for more intensive, time and cost consuming learning. If it were only offered as an all or nothing course, very few people would take the course, and we would have more people who dive into situations that they are not trained or prepared for. So you see, by breaking them down into smaller and less expensive units, more people will make the right decision and continue to learn. Anyone who says it's about the money is absolutely correct, it's about not making this sport so expensive that it becomes an exclusive rich persons only club.

Hope this helps answer your question.

 

[JamesK]

....the two above posts have pretty much convinced me that I am wrong. Oh well. It happens.

 

[O-ring]

How much line/reel/bag usage is covered in this specialty? I could use some formal instruction...

 

[MikeFerrara]

There are multiple search techniques that utilize lines. The lift bags are of course used to lift and transport the object once found. This is ofcourse different than deploying a lift bag with a reel or spool to used as a surface marker when decompressing in open water. It's a fun class and most find it challanging enough to be fun and worthwhile.

 

[gomez]

My experience certainly tallies with what's been said here.

I did my DPV specialty course and on my second dive, was joined by a guy doing as DPV as part of his AOW.

The instructor had me do everything from taking the battery off charge, assembling the units (we had two different DPV models) and do the regular maintenance.

The guy doing the AOW watched and then did the dive in which he and the instructor shared one unit and I got the other.

Afterwards I got to strip them down, clean them out and put them on charge.

Then the specialty required a theory part, which basically came down to me telling the instructor what I'd learned about DPVs (most of which I'd absorbed while learning to take care of them).

Bottom line: the AOW gave that guy a chance to "play" with a DPV, while on the course I got much more hands on and walked away with a much better understanding of the topic (theory and practice).

I don't know how much this applies to other specialties, but I like the idea of exploring these ideas under structured supervision and coming out learning a lot more about the sport. Certainly builds confidence.

Having done AOW, it realy gave me an appreciation for how much I still had to learn and I see the specialties as a way of taking the next step down that path.

I'm heading to my dive shop this weekend to find out what course to try out next...

 

[ta'aroa]

IMO what you are getting in the AOW is a very simplified first look at what a specialty is all about. While under PADI it counts toward the specialty, you do not really get into the real meat of the specialty until you get into the second or later dives. For example, you can take the first dive of the digital photo specialty in a pool and do little other than take a couple of pictures. In the later dive(s) you learn about positioning, lighting, camera care, etc. This is also what happens in most of the other specialties--the first dive is pure basics, the meat is in the remaining dives.