SCUBA shop that will issue be an AOW card after a few days diving?

[USdiver1]

The AOW was initially introduced around 1964-65 (not sure of the exact year) by Los Angeles County. They were concerned that so many divers were getting their OW certification and then dropping out of diving. They felt that adding a more advanced course that introduced divers to different aspects of diving might pique their interest and keep them diving.

Shortly after that, NAUI added the course, too, and for the same reason. The NAUI leadership had previously been part of Los Angeles County. NAUI Instructor #1 was Al Tillman, who started the Los Angeles County program after being trained at the nearby Scripps Institute.

At nearly the same time, NAUI was struggling financially, which was an annual event in its early days. They decided to close off their nation-wide program to focus on California, and they therefore canceled a major instructor training program scheduled for Chicago. The Chicago branch of NAUI was furious, and they created their own agency, which they called PADI. They used the instructional program from Scripps/Los Angeles/NAUI. They, too, adopted the AOW program in time--I am not sure exactly when.

It is a myth that PADI divided a bigger OW program into the OW/AOW program. PADI had nothing to do with the creation of AOW, and it was always considered to be training beyond the OW certification.. If I recall correctly, Rescue diver followed O/W

What I recall from my inital training [PADI] in 1977 was that there were two entry levels: Basic Scuba Diver and Open Water Diver, both had the same coursework, the difference being the checkout dives: Basic had two open water dives, and O/W had four open water dives, all under the supervision of the instructor.

There were no PADI instruction books, we [meaning just about all] used The New Science of Skin and Scuba Diving, which was a collaborative text authored by a Council that included NAUI, PADI, YMCA, etc. Any certification level allowed for open water dives to 130 feet.


Following O/W was an AOW/Rescue Diver [one level above O/W, not two] and then DM.

 

[boulderjohn]

What I recall from my inital training [PADI] in 1977 was that there were two entry levels: Basic Scuba Diver and Open Water Diver, both had the same coursework, the difference being the checkout dives: Basic had two open water dives, and O/W had four open water dives, all under the supervision of the instructor.

That is still true. The Scuba Diver rating limits you to diving with a professional. It is rarely done. The only one I ever saw personally was when I was a DM assisting a class with a young student whose autism led the instructor to believe (after major instructional effort) that the students should never dive without a professional.

 

[USdiver1]

I was unaware that PADI still issued Basic Scuba Diver certifications.. Back in 1977, there was no "diving only under the supervision of a professional" and to 40ft depth restrictions. Only "Junior" [divers certified and under age 15] may have had such recommended depth restrictions. I think that such restriction may have been based upon the unknown effects of diving on growing bodies, more than any other concern.

EDIT:

PADI Basic Scuba Diver - PADI Pros

Basic Scuba Diver History There were two entry-level PADI certifications prior to 1987 — Basic Scuba Diver and Open Water Diver. A Basic Scuba Diver met the course knowledge development and confined water performance requirements of Open Water Diver training, but the course required only two...

pros-blog.padi.com

Here is a link from PADI. There is a difference between Scuba Diver [a pre-certification level] and Basic Scuba Diver [ a discontinued certification level]. Only Scuba Diver requires professional supervision and limits the diver to 40ft maximum depths.

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

Hmmmm ... If ever I want to do a skills update course, I think I may do the entry-level scuba diver course. Then I could be an authentic SCUBA diver.

 

[Bob DBF]

There were no PADI instruction books, we [meaning just about all] used The New Science of Skin and Scuba Diving, which was a collaborative text authored by a Council that included NAUI, PADI, YMCA, etc. Any certification level allowed for open water dives to 130 feet.

Perhaps when you were trained the agencies were added, but initially, The Science of Skin and Scuba Diving, and it's first update The New Science of Skin and Scuba Diving, only had the YMCA involved, and i dont believe it was an "agency" at the time. The book was developed to reduce the increase in SCUBA deaths in the '50's, and provide a training manual based on science and best practices.

My book discusses bot single and double hose regulators but is focused more on double hose regulators, because they were more prevalent, and a little more quirkey in operation due to placement of the regulator.



This is from the 1962 edition my dad bought new, and used it to train him and myself, that summer

The training was for NDL air diving, which ends at 190' although they do discuss deeper diving and deco, but do not recommend it other than for very experience divers. The cut between NDL and Deco divers was not as sharp as it is here today, more like the BSAC still is.


At times like this I miss Dr Sam Miller III, even though I might be publicly corrected, again.

 

[USdiver1]

A little bit more on the Council for National Cooperation in Aquatics, publisher/editor/author of The New Science of Skin and Scuba Diving.

By the fourth edition of The New Science of Skin and Scuba Diving [1974], the one I used in 1977, NAUI had become an agency member of CNCA, and by the sixth and final edition [1985], the Introduction reads:

"Based upon the original publication in 1957, the first national scuba certification course was developed by the YMCA, a founding member of CNCA. Additional national programs rapidly followed, creating new national aquatic agencies in themselves, such as NAUI and PADI, which in turn became CNCA agency members."

As NAUI got its start in 1960, and PADI in 1966, it is not surprising that neither agency is listed in the 1962 edition of CNCA's opus.