Some Questions about the AOW Course...

[lewyafc]

Don't let a SB poster "snooker you" into not making the course fit your requirements. Since you appear to live in Scotland and are a new diver, having a "Boat Dive" as one of your AOW dives may be a very good idea -- ESPECIALLY if the instructor does his job and adds value above and beyond what is in your written materials. I know I'd be very appreciative of the information I received from an instructor who goes into detail about boat diving in your area -- how to read currents, what gas planning you should do, the various methods of egress/ingress on the types of boats in your area, etc.

lewyafc, I believe the key to a successful AOW class (whatever the agency) is to make sure the instructor goes beyond the written materials and provides you with value added especially as it pertains to your unique diving situation. Good Luck and keep asking questions here on SB.

Ye, as I'm going to be doing this course in the Red Sea (with Camel Dive Club) I thought that Fish ID would be a good dive to do. Anyone else think this? If not, what dives do you recommend that I do?

 

[Gen732]

Like the others have said, AOW is the sampler platter to get you into where you want to go with diving. For me, being a smaller guy (5'8" and 125 pounds), the current dive and drift dive were the best part of my AOW class. I tend to get pushed around by the slightest current, so learning how to use it to my advantage and how to counteract some of it were of tremendous value to me.

Talk with the instructor before hand and see what types of dives are required and what are your options for the remaining dives. The shop I'm out of requires a deep dive, a night dive, and a navigation dive. The remaining 3 are up to the instructor with inputs from the assistants and the students.

Best of luck in your course!!! However you go about it, just remember the two most important things: Be safe, and have fun!!!

 

[Crowley]

If you have never seen a boat before, boat diver specialty may well be worth doing. Some people forget that any divers are continentally land-locked and their only diving outlet is from shore.

As previously mentioned - the Adventure dives (from PADI, that is) are an introduction to somthing you might be interested in, and the specialties add to that. Some specialties are only two dives, some are four.

For something like digital underwater photography, any competent underwater photographer could explain that to a person without having to undertake a specialty course - but many divers will not have a spare photographer to hand, in which case, booking the specialty through a dive centre will improve your point-and-shoot ability no end.

I prefer Underwater Naturalist to fish ID, personally - but it is something I often teach in AOW class and one of the most interesting things to see is not just the fish but the way the whole ecosystem interacts.

Decide what interests you - talk to your instructors. Do not be put off by people who say that this or that has no value. Boat diving to me has no value, because I live and work on the ocean. Boat diving to people who have never even seen the ocean before might be one of the biggest thrills of their lives.

cheers

C.

 

[adambayam]

I agree with Corwley, the Underwater Naturalist sounds more interesting and encompassing. What with a fish ID class you won't remember the names of the fish the next time you are in the Red Sea. You'd get a lot more out of purchasing a Red Sea reef guide or a fish I.D. card before you go and learning with that.

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts about the Camel Dive Club, keeps us posted when you return.

 

[jstamets]

In PADI, each specialty course is made up of bookwork and a series of dives, each focusing on particular skills learned outside the water. For example, the deep course consists of a book and four dives.
PADI AOW requires you to take five "adventure" (specialty) dives, which consist of the first lesson of a specialty course and its associated dive. Underwater Navigation and Deep are required plus three other adventure dives that may or may not be chosen by the student, depending upon the class, facility, instructors, etc..
So in my case, I took the first deep lesson as part of my AOW, but later took the full deep course. You learn the critical tasks in AOW - the full course just fills in detail and goes into more depth - no pun intended.
As always, the instructor makes the class.

 

[lewyafc]

I agree with Corwley, the Underwater Naturalist sounds more interesting and encompassing. What with a fish ID class you won't remember the names of the fish the next time you are in the Red Sea. You'd get a lot more out of purchasing a Red Sea reef guide or a fish I.D. card before you go and learning with that.

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts about the Camel Dive Club, keeps us posted when you return.

That is a good point, I may just pick up a book with information about corals and fish in the Red Sea from my local dive shop. I will certainly post my thoughts on Camel Dive Club when I return

 

[sarahdee]

Fish ID is great though. I did it in my AOW and now I love teaching it. Its all about learning the families of fish and of all the courses takes the longest as I always spend quality beer time in the bar after going through all the fish books with my students.

A good instructor should let the student choose (within reason - you can't do a drysuit dive in Thailand ). If a student needs guidance the only one I ever push a little is peak performance buoyancy as it can really improve diving skills especially if the student has less than 20 dives.

With PADI the advanced dives are just an introduction to each speciality to learn a few more skills. You can go onto do the speciality in each if there is something you really like doing or you need to learn more to do certain dives (e.g. penetrate wrecks, cave diving) and normally the first dive will count towards it.

 

[bowtieman427]

AOW should NOT be called Advance Open Water. It use to be Open Water 2. Everyone gets all hyped up for the "Advanced" part. As others said if you have a choice take only what will make you a better diver in AOW. Do not waste your time with silly tangents. It is just a continuation of OW and nothing more. It will show you some different dives and make you more confident and comfortable diver. There is NOTHING advanced about anything you learn. It will all be at an introductary level. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Thalassamania]

"Advanced" in the title is sheer puffery, but given the abbreviated nature of the Open Water Course, taking the "Advanced" course immediately can be the difference between being able to enjoy diving and dropping out in frustration and even fear.

Take A/OW and then look at the kind of diving you want to do and take the appropriate specialties ... I'd start with BUOYANCY, NITROX and DEEP, that will help make up for the trim and gas management deficiencies that may exist. Be careful with your choices, courses like Boat Diving or Fish ID, etc. can either be a complete waste of your time and money or the best course you've ever had, it all depends on the instructor and the location.

 

[Diver0001]

You do not need a boat specialty or even a boat dive in aow to jump off a boat. Those entries are or should be covered in ow. Actually using it to count as a dive in the aow course is a bit on the stretching it side. As is uw photo. You should have your buoyancy down and trim I. Good shape before picking up a camera. The aow I teach offers an advanced skills dive, uw nav, night/low vis, deep, search and recovery, and buddy skills and assist. The last I guess could be an intro to rescue beyond what I teach on the ow class. Don't let a shop snooker you into fish I'd or boat or some other such nonsense. Pick dives that will improve your skills. And a course that will indeed teach you new ones. Not just take you on a tour. It will also help if your basic skills are pretty well down before aow.

Jim, what do you do on the advanced skill dive?

R..