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

[agilis]

But here's the problem. If you have all that experience and want to go on a more advanced dive, the dive operator's insurance still says you need to have a card. You can argue with all the accuracy in the world that your experience is better, but if it comes to a lawsuit, the dive operator still allowed a diver without the required qualifications to do the dive.

If you want a dive log with 200 dives in it to work instead, I can whip one up this afternoon.

I see your point. In our litigious society much that is excessive is normalized. As for me, at my age I no longer do any demanding advanced diving, so the issue is moot.

 

[Kendall Raine]

Perhaps it helps the sticker/annoyance factor to think of BOW as a two part course: BOW and AOW. OK, using the name "Advanced" is silly/misleading/dumb, but you get the point. They really should call it BOW I and II (the way NAUI used to). Point being that but for cost/marketing/attention span reasons the content of AOW should be part of a basic/introductory certification. I suspect the insurance companies/operators are simply acting with that reality in mind (John's points above). In that sense, you're just going back to school to finish your degree (20 years and 200 dives after the fact).

How about just accepting an AOW cert as an inconvenient truth (like a college degree) and focus on picking the best instructor you can find and getting the most out it you can. Who knows, with the right instructor and the right attitude you might just learn something/have fun.

 

[Badger7]

While you're at it probably want to consider doing Nitrox as one of your specialty dives, take that test, pay for that class too, and then never get hassled about getting a Nitrox fill either. You literally only have to do it once, and just might learn something in the process and meet some people you'd enjoy diving with on your next 200 dives over the next 20 years.

 

[boulderjohn]

I was in a dive shop finishing the registration for a dive trip a few years ago and overheard a conversation with someone else who wanted to dive. He only had an OW card, but the dive required an AOW card. He said that he was actually an instructor, but he was one of the believers in the nonsensical notion that you should only show a low level card when diving. Unfortunately, the shop's Internet wasn't working, so they couldn't check his certification level online. They told him that their rules were ironclad--AOW or no dive, and they said it was all about their insurance. He finally got to to the dive by sticking with a DM.

 

[boulderjohn]

This looks like a good time to bring up an old favorite.

 

[ibj40]

This looks like a good time to bring up an old favorite.

See my Spoiler (Post #13), beat you to it!

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I once issued an advanced card to a diver with approval of the agency.
SEI would cross over military divers and issue them cards. Diver sent me a letter from his CO, copies of his logged dives from the official duty roster, minus the ones that were classified, and his Navy rebreather qualification. The AOW card was not hard to issue.
But, as I said, the agency approved it. And I still have the email of approval in his student file.

 

[rongoodman]

I love the shout-out to that “weird doctor lady”, TS&M.

 

[boulderjohn]

I love the shout-out to that “weird doctor lady”, TS&M.

It's worth an explanation.

Lynne Flaherty went by TS&M on ScubaBoard, and for most of her stay here, she was an accomplished diver and very helpful poster. I am happy to say we were friends and did some nice diving together, including cave diving in Mexico.

But she did not start out that way. She frequently told stories of the poor initial training she had. She talked about how she began each dive by descending backwards until she crashed upside down on the bottom and then rolled over to begin the dive.

Sadly, she died in a freak accident while diving with her husband. They got caught up in a strange whirling current that threw them around. When it stopped, they made aye contact from fairly far apart, exchanging a "WTF just happened" look. Deciding everything was OK, Peter took his eyes off of her for a while, and when he looked back, she was gone. They never found her.

Another ScubaBoard reference is for a very early poster, Warhammer. For those who don't know, I will leave you to look it up.

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

Another ScubaBoard reference is for a very early poster, Warhammer. For those who don't know, I will leave you to look it up.

What a crappy way to end a post.