When to take Advanced O/W Training???

[garyfotodiver]

Get some dives in before you take some more courses. Become comfortable with the skills that you have already learned.

Some might say that this approach narrows your choices of dive sites now, but I think not. When I spoke to my instructor about AOW, I knew exactly what I wanted out of it.

SSI allows you to take the courses, but doesn't let you get the card until you have 24 logged dives.

 

[mwpowell]

I think you will get more out of AOW if you do some dives first to work on buoyancy and trim, but the most important thing is to find a good instructor. Most of the AOW classes in my area are a joke.

Mike

 

[lostplanetairman]

Get some dives under your belt, practice buoyancy, oh and practice buoyancy. You'll get more out of AOW if you're comfortable with your diving, which will come via experience.

 

[surfsidedav]

I did AOW right after OW because some topics were covered in AOW that interested me. Also, there was an instructor there during the AOW dives that gave me some peace of mind while I was getting acclimated to my new sport. This past summer I've been going to a LDS with a 16' indoors pool. That has been invaluable as I've been experimenting alot with weighting and buoyancy and managed to drop 10lbs off the weight belt.

 

[MoonWrasse]

I think students get more from advanced courses when they have more dives under their belts.

I agree, get another 10 dives before taking AOW.

 

[tangfish]

I say go ahead and enroll in the advanced OW course, its never too early. After that, I'd get some more dives under my belt, get comfortable with buoyancy and everything else that comes with diving until you go for your rescue diver.

 

[Vayu]

I went right from OW to AOW and I advise that you wait. As an OW student I had good training and thought that advanced would be a good way to solidify those skills. In my case, due to explicit trust of instructors and an ability to suck down a full tank in less than 30 seconds, it almost ended in tragedy.

I think alot of information in AOW is out there and is good to learn, but I don't think it is a good decision to throw new puppies into a pit of rabid fight trained chows. There isn't anything down there that is going to make your skills better. Skill training can be done at any depth.

Keep learning and keep diving, but whatever you do keep personal safety as your number one priority. Its ok to be in advanced situations as long as you don't push them to the limit. In my opinion good gas management studies should be a pre-requisite to diving in deep conditions.

Keep your night dives shallow, avoid heavy wave action, and don't taskload too much. If you are looking for advanced training see if there are any DIR-F classes around your area. It is a fundamentals course that my "advanced" instructors probably could not pass. Learning is better when you start the right way. I havn't taken this class but plan to.

Also, experience will do more for you then any C-card.

good luck,

-V

 

[SadiesMom]

I have been certified since October 2005 with only the required O/W dives and 2 other dives. When do you recommend that I take the next Advanced course? I would like to improve skills, especially buoyancy which I still have trouble with correct weighting and tend to float up at end of dive with a lighter tank. My first goal is to address / correct that. Would appreciate any suggestions or comments about your experiences and whether it would be better to get more experience first, or go ahead and enroll now in the Advanced course. Thanks,
Gene

There are two schools of thought on this - those who will say wait and get more dives under your belt and those who say to take it now. Honestly, that's up to you.

Personally, I didn't feel terribly confident right after my OW to go right out and GET more dives under my belt, so when my OW instructor offered AOW right after my OW, I jumped at the chance to take it, mostly because I wanted to get more dives under my instructor's supervision. For *me* that worked out well.

One thing you might want to find out is whether or not one of the dives that would be offered is a Buoyancy dive....if so, take it right now!!!

I'd also check with your LDS and see if they're offering a Peak Performance Buoyancy class any time soon...that would really help you out as far as figuring out your weighting issues. I've not taken it myself, but in speaking to those I know who have, they seem quite happy having taken it.

One thing you should be absolutely clear on is that, despite the name "Advanced Open Water" you will NOT be an "Advanced" diver once you're finished. You will still be a novice diver. AOW is, as others have pointed out, really more of an "open water, part II" class. It exposes you to some important skills (navigation being a great one, IMHO), but only experience gained over the course of many dives (and additional dive education) will truly advance your skills.

Best of luck to you whatever you decide to do..and get out there and have fun diving

 

[Humuhumunukunukuapua'a]

I'd take it now and make sure one of your specialties is a Peak Performance Buoyancy.

AOW just gets you some more experience in a relatively controlled way. It's best done within 20 dives of OW class. Less dives is fine.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

If you take it now we'll have yet another "advanced" open water diver with less than a dozen dives