What do you think about Advanced Open Water Diver Certification?

[aliengoods]

One of the requirments was to thread water for 5 mins without using your hands and of course no fins.

I just got PADI OW certified, and we had to do that for 10 minutes. Quite frankly that was easy for me. It was the 200M swim that nearly killed me (35, just quit smoking 5 or so months ago, and very, very out of shape, but I'm hitting the exercise bike every day now so I don't die by 40).

 

[CT-Rich]

The old program was more intense but also much longer. That may have done a lot to ease the burden of what was involved.

Pete

I remember getting trained over twelve weeks spending 1.5 hours in class and then the pool work. We had to work, but it was fun and we were a band of brothers (and a couple of sisters). While it was more of time commitment, you also felt like you were being trained, not just taught. I think that is something that is lost on the insta-diver programs and ala carte training. Divers get pumped through and miss out on the group satisfaction of having tread water with your hands being held out of the water or repeatedly trying to swim the length of the pool underwater. When you accomplished these tasks you were sharing the experience with a group of people who were working to accomplish the same goal. To me it added a lot to the class. I wasn't just being prepared to be hearded onto a cattle boat for a tropical 5 day vacation every other year.

Todays' training is what it is. A card is only as good as the diver who holds it.

---------- Post Merged at 10:05 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:04 PM ----------

I just got PADI OW certified, and we had to do that for 10 minutes. Quite frankly that was easy for me. It was the 200M swim that nearly killed me (35, just quit smoking 5 or so months ago, and very, very out of shape, but I'm hitting the exercise bike every day now so I don't die by 40).

hands out of water...

 

[aliengoods]

hands out of water...

Not hands out of water. My bad. But on that note, sure it is more difficult, but are there many situations where divers have to tread water for extended periods of time with their hands out of the water? Why not force them to do one-handed push ups as well.

 

[iguana751]

This is what the shop I dive with has to say about AOW.
Why take the PADI Advanced Course?
There are always good reasons to continue your diving education. The PADI Advanced Course is a great first step to gain confidence and expand your diving abilities.
Most divers are happy to find out that the Advanced program does not include lengthy class sessions or final exams. There is also less emphasis on the basic diving skills you learned in your PADI Open Water program (like mask clearing). So what is the purpose of the PADI Advanced program?
[h=4]Gain Experience / Build Confidence[/h]The Advanced course is designed for newer divers to assist them in gaining more diving experience with an expert instructor. You instructor will take you on your first dive below 60 ft (usually close to 100 ft.), show you the wonders of night diving and teach you how to have a better idea of where you are underwater with tips on underwater navigation. This will allow you to build confidence in your diving and ultimately will allow you to have more fun!
[h=4]Improve your Diving[/h]The PADI Open Water program is packed with all sorts of skills – Reg Recovery, Mask Clearing, Out of Air emergencies…these are all important skills to learn, however, as you progress as a diver, you will find that there are some core skills you will want to continue to practice. In the Advanced program we will focus on these core skills to help you improve your diving abilities.
These core skills involve buoyancy control, trim (your body position as you float in the water) and propulsion (how you move underwater). As these skills will give you more control, they ultimately become the foundation for any type of diving you will choose to pursue such as, underwater photography and videography, wall diving, deep diving, wreck diving, technical diving, etc. You will also notice other benefits such as improved air consumption rates and an increase in your underwater awareness (as you will be less preoccupied).
We have customized the Advanced program to include actual instruction in various areas of diving so students will actually develop their skill level as they gain experience. Ultimately, this gives the students more confidence and makes diving more enjoyable for diver in the program as well as after. The actual dives we will compete in the program are: Peak Performance Buoyancy, Wreck, Deep, Navigation and Night.
[h=4]Don’t Let the Name Fool You….[/h]Don’t expect to leave the program as an “Advanced Diver”. Taking a course is only one part of becoming a confident diver, you have to gain experience by diving. By successfully completing the program, you will have expanded your abilities, learned new techniques and received feedback from an instructor on how to get the most out of diving!

 

[Wolfie_47]

I think the PADI course is mostly an advanced sales pitch and most other agencies fit that bill as well. When you can go directly from OW to AOW and never make a dive without instructor guidance you are hardly advanced. I believe it is a huge disservice to the diving students, especially the younger and more impressionable ones, as many will believe that since they did one deep dive they are now a deep diver, they did one navigation dive so they will always be able to find their way back to the anchor line; after all, they are advanced divers right?. I can't help but to think that anything that say's advanced should be something you had to work for.

 

[DevonDiver]

I think I've stated this in every single AOW thread since joining Scubaboard....


Advanced Open Water.... not Advanced Diver.

It's an Open Water (i.e. entry-level) diving qualification. Nothing more, nothing less.

Far too much emphasis on one word, whilst completely ignoring two others...

 

[henryrendleman]

I think every diver needs to get AOW. Reading through the parts of the book gives the diver great information that you might have picked up on your own. They certify you because it allows you to be able to dive to those conditions. But, why not go ahead and pay some cash to make sure that you get an instructor or divemaster to go with you on that dive and log the dive as your first advanced dive? I did this while on a trip. One of my friends which is an instructor walked me through 5 certifications while on a live-aboard for a week. Not only did I get the dives for experience but now I can show that experience is had when I go on my next trip. BTW, there has to be some give to that or you could never dive off a boat without a boat diving certification.

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

This is what the shop I dive with has to say about AOW.
Why take the PADI Advanced Course?
There are always good reasons to continue your diving education. The PADI Advanced Course is a great first step to gain confidence and expand your diving abilities.
Most divers are happy to find out that the Advanced program does not include lengthy class sessions or final exams. There is also less emphasis on the basic diving skills you learned in your PADI Open Water program (like mask clearing). So what is the purpose of the PADI Advanced program?
Gain Experience / Build Confidence

The Advanced course is designed for newer divers to assist them in gaining more diving experience with an expert instructor. You instructor will take you on your first dive below 60 ft (usually close to 100 ft.), show you the wonders of night diving and teach you how to have a better idea of where you are underwater with tips on underwater navigation. This will allow you to build confidence in your diving and ultimately will allow you to have more fun!
Improve your Diving

The PADI Open Water program is packed with all sorts of skills – Reg Recovery, Mask Clearing, Out of Air emergencies…these are all important skills to learn, however, as you progress as a diver, you will find that there are some core skills you will want to continue to practice. In the Advanced program we will focus on these core skills to help you improve your diving abilities.
These core skills involve buoyancy control, trim (your body position as you float in the water) and propulsion (how you move underwater). As these skills will give you more control, they ultimately become the foundation for any type of diving you will choose to pursue such as, underwater photography and videography, wall diving, deep diving, wreck diving, technical diving, etc. You will also notice other benefits such as improved air consumption rates and an increase in your underwater awareness (as you will be less preoccupied).
We have customized the Advanced program to include actual instruction in various areas of diving so students will actually develop their skill level as they gain experience. Ultimately, this gives the students more confidence and makes diving more enjoyable for diver in the program as well as after. The actual dives we will compete in the program are: Peak Performance Buoyancy, Wreck, Deep, Navigation and Night.
Don’t Let the Name Fool You….

Don’t expect to leave the program as an “Advanced Diver”. Taking a course is only one part of becoming a confident diver, you have to gain experience by diving. By successfully completing the program, you will have expanded your abilities, learned new techniques and received feedback from an instructor on how to get the most out of diving!

I think I've stated this in every single AOW thread since joining Scubaboard....


Advanced Open Water.... not Advanced Diver.

It's an Open Water (i.e. entry-level) diving qualification. Nothing more, nothing less.

Far too much emphasis on one word, whilst completely ignoring two others...

I think the PADI course is mostly an advanced sales pitch and most other agencies fit that bill as well. When you can go directly from OW to AOW and never make a dive without instructor guidance you are hardly advanced. I believe it is a huge disservice to the diving students, especially the younger and more impressionable ones, as many will believe that since they did one deep dive they are now a deep diver, they did one navigation dive so they will always be able to find their way back to the anchor line; after all, they are advanced divers right?. I can't help but to think that anything that say's advanced should be something you had to work for.

Even with reading that whole "sales pitch" like Devon Diver says most will miss that last very important line! This is what I was told at the shop where I took my AOW, and also at my LDS and other dive shops I've been too. You are advance in your OW basic skills, not an ADVANCED DIVER who's ready to take on any challenge? And if there is any instructor out there that would tell you anything different, then you need to find another instructor.

 

[DevonDiver]

... And if there is any instructor out there that would tell you anything different, then you need to find another instructor.

Same goes for instructors who 'sell' the course based upon the "it allows you to go to 30m/100ft" deception.

 

[dbulmer]

I think every diver needs to get AOW.

With the greatest respect, I disagree because AOW is not the sole source from which a diver can obtain information and be taught how to use that knowledge intelligently in their diving.