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

[NothingClever]

And yet both RSTC and ISO standards require that an OW Diver is trained to be an autonomous Diver before they are given the certification. Is someone allowing the scuba agencies to ignore the standards?

Themselves, I think.

 

[NothingClever]

and had to meet a bunch of standards to pass AOW.

I think that’s a charitable outlook. Divers on boats show me their training experience could have been better.

 

[NothingClever]

And in 20 years you haven't found the time to complete a simple training course like AOW?

 

[Bob DBF]

And in 20 years you haven't found the time to complete a simple training course like AOW?

Hell, it took me 17 years of diving regularly to get an OW card, and that was because dive ops were getting tight about filling tanks without one. It took about the same amount of time to get an AOW card for a similar reason. Cards are handy if you are an unknown and there is no one you can reason with.

 

[Pedroo]

Hell, it took me 17 years of diving regularly to get an OW card, and that was because dive ops were getting tight about filling tanks without one. It took about the same amount of time to get an AOW card for a similar reason. Cards are handy if you are an unknown and there is no one you can reason with.

I think we would both agree that things are changing, including in the realm of diver training. Perhaps those 17 years ago, diving was only for the real machos who wanted to gain experience over many years to finally get the desired diving certification.

But... we are in 2024 and dive training is fun, easy and accessible to all. And I don't doubt your skills gained during these 20 years but maybe you would learn something new by joining the training. Cause, asking on a forum about someone who will authenticate lies by issuing you a certificate without training is just embarrassing....

And I even looked to see if North Carolina might lack dive centers where you could do such training, but it turns out there are plenty.

But if you still think that a diving course taught by a 21-year-old instructor is an insult to your honor, then I have another simple solution for you! Just buy your compressor, fill your tanks, dive alone and don't bother others with such shady proposals.

 

[happy-diver]

**** YEAH!

 

[Blackcrusader]

So for us it was PADI introducing a two-parts course for novices, called OW and AOW.
It must be noted that PADI hired existing CMAS instructors when landing here, and did ask them explicitly to NOT provide the complete training at OW, yielding back knowledge and skills to be sold during the second AOW course. Same for specialties, of course!

Do you know what year the Padi AOW course was introduced?

 

[boulderjohn]

Do you know what year the Padi AOW course was introduced?

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.

 

[Blackcrusader]

I was also wondering when the 18m depth limit on training courses for OW started and the 30m for AOW?

As others noted in exams that the max depth allowed was asked and the correct answer was 40m / 130ft.
I cannot recall if there was 18m depth limit on OW training dives back then.

 

[boulderjohn]

If you want to read a good history of the early days of scuba instruction, read the History of NAUI, written by the people who founded it. Be warned, though--it will explode loads of popular myths.