(Possibly silly) Question on Courses

[Penguinboy]

Hey,

I'm 15 with 12 dives (so far) logged and PADI OW and Dry Suit courses completed, and now I'm considering how best to progress. I wasn't sure of the next course to do, and so far I have been advised the following:

Option 1: Get more experience, log 30-40 dives and then do my AOW and proceed from there.

Option 2: Do the above, but do Nitrox and similar courses first (more specialty courses).

I wasn't sure which to do, as Nitrox seems a bit advanced from the little I know of it for where I am now, but I would like to progress and have lots of varied experience before AOW

Any help / advice greatly appreciated!

 

[Walter]

What are your diving goals?

 

[loosebits]

What Walter said although Nitrox is never a bad idea. Everyone can benefit from it and it takes exactly zero skill to do it. It's all theory.

 

[TSandM]

If you feel confident, and if you have experienced buddies with whom to dive, go diving. Set yourself some goals to work toward: Better buoyancy control, horizontal position in the water, better descents/ascents. Make each dive a learning experience. Ask questions of people who've been at this a while. Divers LOVE to talk about diving!

If you enjoy taking classes, or if you have trouble finding buddies, I would recommend the navigation specialty (especially in low viz, where you dive if you dive at home, being good with a compass is really helpful). Peak performance buoyancy is extremely instructor-dependent -- I've read reports of people having a really good class, but mine wasn't very useful. Nitrox is a good class if you have access to Nitrox and the means with which to purchase it, but it doesn't advance your actual in-water skills.

 

[isurus]

my 2 cents on nitrox are this. newer divers tend to have higher air consumption than more experienced divers so dives are ended/planned to end because of the amount of gas left not the decompression limits. Nitrox will therefore be less useful to you until this situation has reversed (ie the NDLs are limiting you not your gas reserves) which it may already have done (i don't know). For this reason i'd recommend aow first (is it possible to do nitrox within aow as one of the 5?) and maybe earlier rather than later as if you get more experienced you may find aow is an exercise in an instructor stating the obvious to you.

 

[Penguinboy]

Thanks for the helpful replies

My goals are and always will be to make each dive more smooth and comfortable than the last, but of course more bottom time and fewer risks are always there. The four are linked together well I find, and so that's perfect for me as an aspiring diver. I would like to advance my diving, as I love the sense of exploration when I go somewhere or do/see something I haven't before, and so I believe AOW and Nitrox would each allow me to do this too

I wasn't that sure what was involved in Nitrox so thanks for answering that too

Edit: Posted at the same time as Isurus - Good thoughts Isurus, and that makes sense. I hadn't thought about it that way yet but I'll bear that in mind too

 

[Don Wray]

IMO, do your experience dives and when you feel comfortable, take your AOW and nitrox. Then when you decide to do more specialties such as full nav, deep etc., you can get credit for the adventure dive you took for AOW, and many times, less expensive on that specialty.

 

[isurus]

oops just noticed your in england - another option at your age may be to get in the bsac system now. this may help you get more diving and if you go to uni (and there's a club) is a great way to get a lot of diving and training in cheaply and with likeminded people (in theory; it didn't quite work out for me but I still believe in the concept).

 

[mred]

I think that you should get a little more experience under your belt ... do some fun dives, and concentrate on technique, and on doing things right. Then do your advanced open water cert ... this is a good "introduction" to the different kinds of specialities that PADI offers. If you do the AOW too early, then you will not know what you are actually interested in. I second the recommendation that it partially depends on what you are interested in. Also, the recommendation to work on breathing and air consumption is crucial prior to taking the NITROX class. After you are more comfortable, then you should consider taking the Peak Performance class... mine was one of the best classes I have ever had, and it REALLY led to much more enjoyable diving. In most places, the "intro" dive you do during the AOW will count to your speciality courses so it is important to do dives that relate to what you would be interested in doing in the future ...

 

[pwwm]

As you are in England I would agree it is worth getting some more experience under you belt before the AOW but........ here is the crunch if you are thinking of doing some of the fantastic wrecks around the shores you will have to have the AOW and more experience. Most Dive trips ask for minimum of the AOW, and yes nitrox would be very good for these dives.
A previous poster has suggested you ask if you can do the nitrox with the AOW it does take more training than just the one dive with the actual AOW so I do not think it would be possible, Lot of dive centres to choose from in the UK and usually they are most helpful. Speak to them see if you can do a "deal" for the two courses.

Good luck in your chosen path