With the five included dives with an instructor, why then is the AOW course not considered a "Specialty Course". Is it due to the old adage Put Another Dollar In?
I'm not an expert on PADI in general, but I believe that each specialty course that requires dives -- several don't, such as EANx, Equipment, Computer -- generally requires classroom / pool work and then several (2-4) OW dives. The AOW instead requires 5 "adventure dives" in different subjects, with limited classroom work on each subject. In many cases the "adventure dive" can be considered the first of the several dives that would be required for the speciality course certification.
Put another way, adventure dives are introductions to certain specialities, but completion of the speciality training requires more sustained focus that the adventure dive alone. The AOW cert effectively requires 5 speciality
introductions ("adventure dives") and results in a AOW cert; each speciality course requires more focused attention and skills on one subject and results in the speciality cert.
That's the difference as I understand it -- to what extent it is driven by the old adage is probably a matter of opinion.
To the OP - if you're going to pursue the Adventure Diver cert, I'd echo what others have said and probably just do the AOW. The Adventure Diver isn't a pre-req for anyhting - it just is what it is; the AOW is a pre-req for Rescue Diver which I've repeatedly heard is very rewarding training and experience. My wife and I just recently completed our AOW, more or less on the spur of the moment and as a lark, after several years of "just diving" (basically vacation diving) and I confess that the process reignited my desire to dive more often and to engage in learning new skills instead of just sight-seeing.
