Recommendations on PADI AOW dives?

[dpspaceman]

We have a whole bunch of options, any recommendations?

We are heading out to get our AOW in Key Largo soon, wanted to know if anyone had any recommendations...

we were thinking
Nav (req)
Deep (req)
Wreck
Buoyancy?
Night?

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

There is no magic as I was told the other day - chose what you would like to learn - what interests you the most? Night dives are cool - have you done one? Video could be fun? What do you think you would like to learn or need some help in?

 

[dpspaceman]

I feel like video would kind of be a waste of time... I'm pretty tech savvy and I think I could learn that on my own.

I've done quite a few shore night dives as well, but never a boat night dive... So maybe that could be fun.

We are also in a group of 7 divers (with two instructors)... Do we all have to do the same thing? The dive shop manager made it sound like it didn't matter and everyone can do whatever they wanted... which I didn't quite understand either.

 

[RJP]

I feel like video would kind of be a waste of time... I'm pretty tech savvy and I think I could learn that on my own.

I've done quite a few shore night dives as well, but never a boat night dive... So maybe that could be fun.

We are also in a group of 7 divers (with two instructors)... Do we all have to do the same thing? The dive shop manager made it sound like it didn't matter and everyone can do whatever they wanted... which I didn't quite understand either.

Perhaps if there were two groups there could be some divide-and-conquer on which dives to do, but it would be hard to imagine how 7 divers could "do whatever they wanted" during an AOW course.

There are few schools of thought on AOW.

1.) If you just want the card (some ops want it for certain dives) just do whatever
2.) If you want to learn something, figure out what you want to learn... and do that
3.) If you want to sample some things you've not done otherwise... choose those things

Wreck can be cool.
Search and Recovery can be interesting and useful.
Bouyancy is so valuable that if you need work there, invest more than one AOW dive.

 

[Colliam7]

any recommendations . . . we were thinking
Nav (req)
Deep (req)
Wreck
Buoyancy?
Night?

Night is a great choice, as is PPB, with a good Instructor (ah, the recurring theme, again). Wreck can be quite useful, particularly if you plan to continue to explore the wrecks - 'real' and 'artificial' along the FL coast. I think your choices are good ones, go for it and, if there are oither diving interts that you have, pursue them afterward.

 

[Oldbear]

We have a whole bunch of options, any recommendations?

We are heading out to get our AOW in Key Largo soon, wanted to know if anyone had any recommendations...

we were thinking
Nav (req)
Deep (req)
Wreck
Buoyancy?
Night?

These are the exact five we teach for our diving environment.

We have about 100 wrecks here and nearly all of them are greater than 60'. To get the wrecks you need to navigate or in low vis navigate in the sand flats back to shore...amazing how easy it is to get your direction turned around in wide open sand. We do a lot of night dives, especially on holidays. Most of our divers are straight out of OW so the peak performance helps refine their Buoyance and propulsion skills.

 

[PatW]

Night is good. Night diving opens up a whole new window on the reef.

buoyancy is also a good choice. Being properly weighted makes a big difference. Also being able to hover means you can glide in an see small things without touching the reef. It is really essential for photography.

 

[AdivingBel]

I did my AOW with a big buoyancy & trim guy. I jumped on the bandwagon and we made every AOW dive a buoyancy/trim/propulsion dive along with whatever the dive was slated to be. I was definately a better diver when I was done as well as experiencing different "types" of diving. Given the right instructor, AOW is a great opportunity to dive under an experienced, watchful eye. Good luck.

In answer to your question...for the Keys you're on the right track. PPB, night, and wreck. You've got several good sites for these as the wrecks are deepish and the reefs are shallowish and pretty.

 

[iamrushman]

that's a great start after those you can do the rescue course and get your master scuba diver.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

dpspaceman, I like your list. Navigation is a must. My only suggestion would be to consider replacing buoynacy with search and recovery. You should/will work buoyancy on every dive.
DivemasterDennis