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Only video I've ever seen of it.
SCUBA shop that will issue be an AOW card after a few days diving?
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It's probably an insurance "shakedown". The cost of dive insurance has gone through the roof recently and I suspect this is one of the results of that. Sure, you could prove all kinds of ways that you are a competent diver and at less risk of an incident by showing your dive logs, etc. But it's easier and more streamlined for the for insurers and therefore the dive ops to set the policy of "you have to show us an AOW card" in an effort to mitigate risk.
That is not the original video. The version in that clip has been heavily cropped. My understanding is that the person in the original video did not want it released and his friends did it anyway. Somehow, it appears that the video has been scrubbed from the place that it was originally posted. You used to be able to just do a google search and the video would come up.
It was something that you can't unsee.
FWIW course went exactly as I expected. Just a PADI shakedown scam. Did a couple days of decent diving but I’m going to be honest, AOW teaches exactly zero useful skills. Can’t wait for the Super Advanced Open Water card we all have to pay 400 bucks for in ten years to keep diving. Without your Turtle Identification speciality, your Introduction to Bowline Knot speciality, or your Converting Between Metric and Imperial Units speciality you will be SOL.
That’s my opinion, feel free to your own. Decent dives so I’m not mad but I think it’s a PADI money grab scam YMMV. Sue me.
That’s my opinion, feel free to your own. Decent dives so I’m not mad but I think it’s a PADI money grab scam YMMV. Sue me.
Barefoot_Lawyer
Contributor
Some people are just naturally better divers. I was the same as you and took AOW after 20+ years of diving to all depts listed on the RDP. I did feel like I learned a little each dive, but didn’t think it was “necessary” for me to be able to go do dives I had already done competently.
Bottom line is that operators can’t afford their liability insirance as-is and we need to give them some grace as they try to survive and continue providing the services we want in an affordable manner.
I’m not mad at operators who insist on it for insurance, if thats the way it is to get cheaper insurance I get it. Frustrated that the system is clearly suboptimal and those that learned before all of this and clearly are more experienced than some random AOW guy with 10 dives have to jump through hoops. No guarantees there won’t be more hoops in the future so be careful what you wish for. I mean AOW is super easy to get but doesn’t mean paying extra money to some certification agency that has a stranglehold on the market is a good thing.
As I wrote, both my sons did AOW on a LOB in Cairns just after having been certified OW here in Italy.
I think AOW is simply the second, more practical part of the first diving course, as taught by Cmas, Bsac and other no-profit organisations. Padi divided it in two parts, issuing two cards, for grabbing more money.
It is actually quite useful for a novice: after OW only, one is not really an autonomous diver.
Doing AOW after years of experience, instead, is substantially useless, as you have found.
But you needed the card...
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People breaking the ice ask if I've seen the hefty price of petrol, I say I don't care as I don't have to go anywhere
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