Should I go into AOW right after completing OW???

[ReneeC]

Mem - I always like the way you think - you're on my same page!
I agree that you should get some dives under your belt before moving on. How many is a personal thing - some people are born comfortable and others need time to build confidence and skills. As for others who will dive with you - join a local club, talk to people on this site, meet others from your dive shop. Most divers don't mind diving with a newbie and you should use the opportunity to learn from them. There are lots of skills you can practice within your OW experience including bouyancy, effective breathing, navigation, critter identification etc. etc. And every time you get in the water practice your OW skills - remove replace your mask and reg and practice sharing air. Just because your class is over doesn't mean you are done with those skills. If you use these first dives to not only build confidence but to hone your neccessary skills then you will breeze through your AOW! Good luck and welcome to our big club!

 

[CathyI8205]

I think that AOW should be taken on the heels of OW. I think there's information you need in AOW. OW teaches you how to use the equipment and AOW tells you more. Don't expect dive operators to tell you anything. I've found that they can't be bothered. We were told that since we were certified we should know what we are doing. I think that AOW would help you know more when you do go boat diving.

-Cathy

 

[Mako Mark]

But I dont know if it is worth conserving the 3 or 4 lungfulls of air that you will use to inflate ur BC. WOW you added another 40 secs dive time! (maybe useful in a cave diving emergency, but we aint talking cave diving).

I hear what you are saying Jack and agree with you.

Re the cave diving reference (smelling a bit of speculation here) If I leave it that fine that 40 seconds of air will make the difference, I deserve to die at the entrance of a cave. On a 100 minute cave dive, a one beat per minute increase in heart rate would be more than that.

 

[DiveMaven]

I agree with the recommendation to get a few dives in prior to doing AOW. My husband and I got our OW certification earlier this year and plan to do our AOW when we have 15-20 dives under our belts. We're finding that each time we dive our bouyancy improves as does our air consumption, which we know will help us get more out of our AOW training.

Cathy, can I ask for clarification on something you said? You recommended AOW right away saying it will help you when you finally boat dive. Are you referring to the 'boat diving' part of the AOW certification, or is there something I missed?

The reason I ask is because other than the "confined" skills portion of our OW dive instruction, my husband and I have only been boat diving. All of our OW dives were from a boat, and all our subsequent recreational dives have been boat dives. Having been spoiled by boat diving, the idea of beach diving holds little appeal.

 

[DiveTyme]

There are different reasons some people take the AOW class directly after OW. They don't have a dive buddy, they are still a little nervous about diving without the instructor, or they "fired up" and want to learn as much as they can. Personally I would rather have the OW diver have a few dives under their belt before AOW but I would also rather take one right out OW than an "experienced" diver that has been inactive.
Tim

 

[ReneeC]

Dive Me - Boat or beach depends on your location. I took my OW in Massachusetts where "shore" not "beach" was the norm. Boat dives were part of the AOW. Now I am in Florida where the accessibility of boats makes it the preference for OW BUT there are some incredible beach entries which some instructors do use. Often the Dive Shop has a boat here and so they want to encourage new divers to dive the boat. Some location would consider "shore" dives to be advanced because of strong surf, surge or current, rocky entrances or steep inclines just to name a few challenges - so it is all where you are geographically.

 

[bradb21]

For those that say you should do AOW right after OW training let me tell you this story.

I've been PADI certified since 1987, and consider myself fairly experienced. I dive in Lake Michigan usually two dives per weekend most of the spring -fall. I decided just for the heck of it to get AOW, and I completed it this weekend.

Let me just say OMG!!@@@###!

The people in my class of 6 people (besides my dive buddy who has also been certified since 87 and we dive together every weekend) were totally clueless. From what I gathered most had just recently completed OW cert a few month earlier and had no experience but their OW dives.

I felt that these people were dangerous and out of control. They did not have the basic skills down and were very much a hindrance to the class. I spent most of my weekend waiting for people.

I was very aggravating for me, and I can't believe these people will get AOW certs. I don't know how many times I almost got my mask kicked off or reg ripped out of my mouth. It was a very bad weekend, and it will be my last PADI cert dive. They need need to put a requirement in for a certain number of logged dives or something. It really showed me what PADI is about!

To all that think this doesn't apply to them since maybe they didn't cert thru PADI. It still does. The only way you can master the skills to dive is thru experience, and your open water dives are not enough water time to master your basic skills.

 

[one90proof]

I completed SSI OW a few weeks ago and now have 9 dives under my belt. SSI requires 4 specialty classes and 24 dives to acheive AOW. Due to an upcoming Key Largo dive trip, I will probably have about 15 dives completed before I begin tackling the specialty courses needed for AOW.

Initially, I had wanted to start AOW right after completing OW but now I am glad that I have waited. I am now learning how to fine tune my bouyancy and as a result trying to adjust the amount of weight I carry for best results.

I still find myself totally preocupied during my dives concentrating on the "basic" skills I have learned and feel that it would be best to get a bit more experience before trying to master the more advanced skills.

 

[saltwater taffy]

100% go for it. It will keep you with an instructor and build your confidence. Absolutely, absolutely go for it!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great time, but be really, really safe!!!!

SWT

 

[CathyI8205]

ICathy, can I ask for clarification on something you said? You recommended AOW right away saying it will help you when you finally boat dive. Are you referring to the 'boat diving' part of the AOW certification, or is there something I missed?

DiveMe, in our experience, which isnt' a lot, is that our first resort/boat dive they didn't really want to deal with the brand new diver. You had to pay for any special attention from them. Again, since we were certified (newly) we should know what we are doing. But that comes with experience which we didn't have