Returning to diving

[mrramsey1969]

Greetings fellow divers,

So I was first certified back in 1997 through SSI. I then completed my AOW, Stress and Rescue with NASDS. I also have my EANx through IANTD. Been away from diving for 10 years or so.

We are going on a vacation to the Caribbean and I have signed up for a refresher as well as signed my son up for the resort course to get a good taste of diving while we are there. If he enjoys it (not sure why he wouldn't) we will get his OW when we return home. In preparation for this trip I was digging out my log book and certs and well, seem to have misplaced or accidentally tossed it out when we remodeled the house a few years ago.

Here is where I stand. I was able to get a replacement for my OW from SSI and can get my EANx from IANTD. The two I had from NASDS were just old enough that SSI does not have them. That really kind of bummed me out. I can live without the stress and rescue but the AOW I would like to have. Is my only option to repeat the course?

 

[kelemvor]

Unfortunately, it is. They claim that the NASDS records were destroyed in a fire. The guy who introduced me to scuba was NASDS and a few years ago he struck out trying to get a replacement card.

Now days, there are a handful of dive operators that actually require AOW cards for some dive sites, so it probably is worth repeating just to get the card.

 

[mrramsey1969]

Yeah I am sure I will just have to take my AOW over. Of course you know how this will play out.... I will take the course and get a new card then my logbook and cards will be found. Maybe I can get lucky and strike a deal with my LDS for a discount if I get my son his AOW at the same time. I have all of the data from my cards in my DAN account online but I guess that's worthless.

 

[Landau]

Why not do the AOW in the Caribbean while your son is doing the resort course? When I was in Playa del Carmen in January some of the divers on the boat were doing AOW and they got in 5 very nice dives.

 

[TheFife]

I'm in a very similar situation. I got certified through NASDS around 1997 or 98. I was away from diving for over a decade and have recently come back. I tried to get a copy of my OW and AOW certs but was told no dice. So, I just decided to start over from the beginning. Its a bit irritating, but has given me a chance to relearn material with a different perspective than I came at it originally. I expect to be a far better diver this time around than I ever was before. So far its been a very good experience. I hope it all works out for you.

 

[rick00001967]

curious......are you contemplating doing the adv with SSI ? or with anther agency such as padi ? the reason i ask is that ssi adv diver is NOT a course. where as padi's adv diver is a course. the ssi adv diver level is in recognition of reaching certain achievements. you must have 24 logged dives plus 4 specialty courses. the padi adv really serves no purpose unless you plan on advancing in the padi system. the padi adv compares more to the ssi advanced adventurer level. they give you one dive in 5 different categories to give you a glimpse of what the full specialty course might be like.
my point is that if you are looking simply for a card to be able to show, then a course like the padi adv course or similar may be what you are looking for. but if you are looking to actually take some specialized training then i would suggest taking some ssi specialties and earning your ssi adv rating instead.

 

[RyanT]

Don't look at it as "just having to redo the course so you can have the card." After being out of the water for ten years, I think you'll find some additional (re)training to be helpful.

 

[tkaelin]

I don't want to discourage add'l training but if you were already experienced and at the training levels you indicated, I suspect you won't get much out of your typical AOW class, especially the way they are formatted today. Unless you feel the need to have the card for future trips I would spend my time and money diving and purchasing any necessary equipment upgrades.