Question about PADI AOW dives

[harleyrider18]

Hello! I am a new certified diver and am currently taking the PADI AOW course online. I plan on completing the dive portion in December and was wondering which adventure specialties did you decide to choose? Peak Buoyancy, Fish Id, etc.

I also had a question about the UNDERWATER NAVIGATION section. How specific are they going to be on the dive? I have a compass but since I am a newbie, I doubt I will be able to navigate a perfect square. Maybe a small square! Do you remember if they required a stop watch to do the navigation or was it just fin strokes? It may be a silly question and I know the course states to expect to navigate a straight line using natural navigation as well as a compass, but I was wondering what everyone's experience was of the adventure dive.

I do not know why but I am a little nervous about this section. I do not want to be concerned I will not be able to make a square and waste a dive doing that! thanks for your help!!

 

[Hawkwood]

Often the choice of the Adventure Dives depends on your own wishes, the Instructor, the location, the conditions, etc.

Of course you must do the Deep and Navigation Adventure Dives. Since you are doing the knowledge development on line, you will prepare for all the Adventure dives. The actual ones you do will be determined once you are in contact with the Instructor. If you have the choice, request the ones that appeal to you. Those could be for reasons of interest, or for what you feel you need to work on to improve your diving experience.

You must meet the Performance Requirements for each Adventure Dive.

Regarding the square on the Navigation dive, you must return to within 25 feet of your starting position. The recommended length of each leg is 100 feet. One of the requirements is to calibrate your swimming over 100 feet using time as well as fin kick cycles. Obviously you will need some "means" of determining that time (watch, counting, etc.).

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I think navigation is one of the most important things you can grow in through the AOW class. As you say, as a new diver you have not mastered navigation- that's why you take the class. You don't need a stop watch, but I have used the one on my dive watch to navigate some times. In my courses, we do a number of problems and shapes. We also integrate natural features and vectors into the problems, but that's just me. Take the class to grow and become a better diver. So I recommend dives that, in addition to the navigation dive and preparation and study for it, will grow you. That includes the deep dive, night dive, if available a wreck dive, and whatever else is appropriate to help you grow as a diver.
DivemasterDennis

 

[kierentec]

don't stress about it too much, any issues you have, the instructor will help you work through. that's what he/she is there for, right?

 

[oly5050user]

distance traveled can be measured many ways. Kick cycles/time/air consumed...usually for the adv nav requirements kick cyles work well. Instructor should have you swim a measured distance of 100 ft , I use a pelican float or a reel with 100' line on it and tie it off on bottom,usually in a north-south orientation to make it easier for the student. Student swims it one way counting kick cycles as he/she goes.Reach the end turn around and repeat.Now you know how many kicks it takes to go 100'. Also note your air psi at start and end of skill and time entire skill. Now you know how much air you consume at that particular depth in the time frame that you measured. I have student now start swimming starting from line I had placed on bottom in a east direction for 20 kick cycles ,when they reach 20 kicks have them turn left to go in a north direction counting in their head 20 -21---40 then stop completely turn again to their left now traveling west counting from 40 on to 60, stop --at this point they should see the line in front of them traveling in a north/south orientation.Turn for the last time left ,now in a south direction counting form 60 to 80 and that will bring you to starting point. This way student uses kick cycles to measure distances and natural navigation (line that was placed on bottom) to orient themselves.
Other than required deep dive the electives are usually chosen on what the local environment logistically offers in addition to what the student expects to spend.Obviously a dry suit dive requires time in pool before using in ow so higher cost is involved, such as if photo dive chosen additional cost for use of camera..where are you doing this course?

 

[CT Sean]

You could always practice navigating a square in your back yard assuming of course you have enough space for it. Perhaps in the dark with a flashlight not pointed very far in front of you (so you're actually navigating vs walking to the bird feeder, making a right, walking to the shed, making a right, etc....) You'll at least get a feel for using the compass. Or use a local park if the yard won't work.

 

[phoenix31tt]

location and instructor definitely influenced what i did... which was

Nav, Deep, Night, Drift, Boat...

our navigation was fun and interesting as there was a moderate current flowing when we did it... so kick cycles alone didn't cut it, we had to average our distance traveled using estimated speed and bottom topography etc... not to mention staying on course with the current hitting at different angles as challenging...

but above all.. trust your compass... it knows better than you... while doing my nav... my mind was telling me i was off but i followed the compass as best as i could and came within 15 foot of the boat... compass never lies

p.s. dont be nervous.. your instructor will help you through it... and you have plenty of air for completing the nav portion... so dont worry about wasting a dive... if the instructor thinks you need it, he can also start you off making a smaller square then go on to the big one

 

[Them]

I did buoyancy, search&recovery, and night (plus the required deep and nav).

The nav and search were challenging and fun. They go together really well too. I think these were the best/most important two for me. I learned a lot and got some valuable real world experience. Real world as in my buddy on the nav dive got lost twice. Since I was being a buddy instead of doing my own nav too I wound up thumbing us to the surface to reorient. I'm sure it was embarrassing but it was OK and we both learned from the experience.

I found the buoyancy dive easy, but I had been practicing buoyancy control all along. I was the only student for this dive.

Night and deep were basically experience building with a knowledgeable person along.

 

[TMHeimer]

I did Nav, PP Buoyancy, Search & Recovery, Deep and one "Adventure Nitrox" dive. Others have explained the NAV dive. It was on the S & R dive that we did the expanding square & U pattern. We had to locate an object using U pattern in some very murky water. I was surprised when I actually found the thing.

 

[harleyrider18]

Such great informtaion thank you! I will be taking my course with Dressel Divers in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I completed my OW referral dives with them and because they were so helpful, I decided to go back. It will be great if they have a reel on the bottom to allow me to measure 100'. I purchased the Cressi Leonardo but it doesn't have a stopwatch function. I will also take your advice and note the air psi, time I started and total time. Thank you!

---------- Post Merged at 07:07 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:03 PM ----------

I no longer feel nervous about this section. I appreciate the advice from all of you and thank you again! Unlike the OW certification, the AOW certification seems like a "learn with the pros" kind of a program. A program that you gives you a sample of an adventure dive but gives you the comfort of having an instructor with you. Thank you again!