DIR- GUE SDI/PADI AOW worth it?

[Flamebut57]

Hello,

I’m going to Belize in February and my dive group is considering getting their AOW certification there.

It sounds kind of suspicious as the website lists PADI certs but when called they apparently only do SDI (and you can pay an extra charge to get a PADI cert) I guess.

AOW is about the highest I would go through PADI. I’ve heard GUE certs aren’t as widely accepted. I don’t know if this has changed in recent years.

Course availability with GUE seems to not be very flexible (so I don’t know when I would ever get to take a Rec 2/AOW course).

I’m basically going to be spending the same amount of money just going diving in Belize. I’ve also thought taking the course is going to be like paying for a free guide having the instructor there.

If I am wanting to swap over to GUE through the new Performance Diver course, is this worth it?

Will I have to spend more time unlearning bad habits?

 

[LI-er]

Will I have to spend more time unlearning bad habits?

I don't know about the rest of it but unlearning bad habits always takes more time.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I’ve heard GUE certs aren’t as widely accepted.

Heard from whom? I would think that any dive op in the developed world has at least heard of GUE, and if you're truly in some remote part of the world where they have not, they probably are not the type of dive op that asks to see an AOW card. Dive ops are motivated by their insurance and fears of litigation to ask to see an AOW card as a requirement for more challenging dives (generally, deep dives). Only in the US have I encountered a dive op that asked to see an AOW or Deep card.

If I am wanting to swap over to GUE through the new Performance Diver course, is this worth it?

It's a very new course, so not many folks here will have firsthand information. It might be of interest to many here on SB if you were to give it a go and write up a course report here.

Will I have to spend more time unlearning bad habits?

If you have any bad habits, then I would certainly hope so!

 

[tursiops]

Will I have to spend more time unlearning bad habits?

If you mean will doing AOW give you some bad habits you need to unlearn later....probably not.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Before you do anything more, I'd suggest taking a Nitrox / Enriched Air course.

And I wouldn't be concerned about the SDI / Padi thing. The SDI Advanced OW card is well recognized.

When I was in Little Cayman last May we had a very nice couple onboard that were doing their ADV course. They did their E-Learning ahead of time so as not to waste vaca time.

Then once at LCBR, it was just them and their instructor onboard with the rest of us for the first two days and it was basically not any different then having any other three person buddy team onboard. So basically it didn't seem at all like they wasted any of their trip taking the course and my guess is that most people on our boat didn't even know they were taking the course

Pretty sure they did Deep, Nav, Wreck, Fish ID and Buoyancy.

 

[Jake 10]

Many local shops will require you to have PADI/AOW when going deep diving, wreck diving, and/or anything beyond 60ft or 18m

 

[jonhall]

It sounds kind of suspicious as the website lists PADI certs but when called they apparently only do SDI (and you can pay an extra charge to get a PADI cert) I guess.

Both of my local dive shops switched to SDI a few years ago, but at least one of them will teach PADI, but it cost slightly more because of the teaching materials.

 

[boulderjohn]

Many local shops will require you to have PADI/AOW when going deep diving, wreck diving, and/or anything beyond 60ft or 18m

Many shops require you to have AOW or the equivalent, but the agency does not matter. It could be any recognized agency. They are not looking for ways to turn away paying customers.

 

[Jake 10]

Many shops require you to have AOW or the equivalent, but the agency does not matter. It could be any recognized agency. They are not looking for ways to turn away paying customers.

correct, thank you for the clarification. AOW or equivalent

 

[Barefoot_Lawyer]

Nothing wrong with doing PD and then AOW through GUE. It’s an investment of more time and money, but I did my (legacy agency) AOW in Belize and it was only slightly more worthwhile than doing 4 dives on my own. PD seems to be the best way to get a flavor of GUE diving without committing too much to it. If you’re already diving BP/W, it is a no-brainer.

Fundies was super fun for me, but I also had 500+ dives. For newer divers it could be overwhelming.