When to take AOW?

[mi000ke]

I did my AOW after about 25 dives, primarily because I wanted to gain experience doing deep dives with an instructor. Where I dive in GC, almost all of the dive ops do a deep wall (100') first dive followed by a shallow wall/reef dive. Luckily I was the only one taking the AOW course at the time, so got a private instructor for what it would have cost to do five normal uninstructed group dives - a great deal. And while I had to choose the three additional dives beyond deep and nav (I did boat, peak buoyancy, and wreck), we agreed to treat all five dives in essentially the same way: my instructor would diagnose my skill level and we would work generally on making me a better diver - in addition to whatever specialty that dive was focused on. We started with peak buoyancy, as that is something we wanted to work on with every dive. And all of the 5 dives were boat, deep, and involved fine tuning my buoyancy so there really was no distinction (except doing the nav figures before we went deep). For me, it was a very positive experience and really improved my buoyancy control, weighting, trim, SAC, general body movement, confidence, etc.

 

[tursiops]

I did my AOW after about 25 dives, primarily because I wanted to gain experience doing deep dives with an instructor. Where I dive in GC, almost all of the dive ops do a deep wall (100') first dive followed by a shallow wall/reef dive. Luckily I was the only one taking the AOW course at the time, so got a private instructor for what it would have cost to do five normal uninstructed group dives - a great deal. And while I had to choose the three additional dives beyond deep and nav (I did boat, peak buoyancy, and wreck), we agreed to treat all five dives in essentially the same way: my instructor would diagnose my skill level and we would work generally on making me a better diver - in addition to whatever specialty that dive was focused on. We started with peak buoyancy, as that is something we wanted to work on with every dive. And all of the 5 dives were boat, deep, and involved fine tuning my buoyancy so there really was no distinction (except doing the nav figures before we went deep). For me, it was a very positive experience and really improved my buoyancy control, weighting, trim, SAC, general body movement, confidence, etc.

Great story. The way it should be!

 

[Belzelbub]

Although you may have been required by your instructor to do those specialties, SSI does not require any particular specialty in AOW. It is a recognition cert.

You are correct. I thought it was a requirement at some point, but it doesn’t appear to be so on the SSI site. Master Diver does add a requirement for Stress and Rescue, but not AOW.

I agree it is a bit confusing using the same names for different things. If SSI AA is equivalent to PADI AOW, is there a PADI equivalent to SSI AOW?

 

[tursiops]

I agree it is a bit confusing using the same names for different things. If SSI AA is equivalent to PADI AOW, is there a PADI equivalent to SSI AOW?

Yes, sort of. PADI Master Scuba Diver requires AOW plus five (not four) full specialities plus 50 logged dives.

 

[Angelo Farina]

My opinion is that it is better to make as quickly as possible the whole sequence: OW, AOW, Deep, and Nitrox.
All this should be covered in a serious, old-style recreational diving course, but nowadays everything is subdivided in small chunks.
So let's reconstruct what a correct rec diving course should be. Of course, some not-course dives between each of the 4 stages are useful. But all these 4 certs should be obtained in less than 1 year, possibly in just a few months (which was the original duration of a diving course).

 

[rob.mwpropane]

I did my AOW after about 25 dives, primarily because I wanted to gain experience doing deep dives with an instructor. Where I dive in GC, almost all of the dive ops do a deep wall (100') first dive followed by a shallow wall/reef dive. Luckily I was the only one taking the AOW course at the time, so got a private instructor for what it would have cost to do five normal uninstructed group dives - a great deal. And while I had to choose the three additional dives beyond deep and nav (I did boat, peak buoyancy, and wreck), we agreed to treat all five dives in essentially the same way: my instructor would diagnose my skill level and we would work generally on making me a better diver - in addition to whatever specialty that dive was focused on. We started with peak buoyancy, as that is something we wanted to work on with every dive. And all of the 5 dives were boat, deep, and involved fine tuning my buoyancy so there really was no distinction (except doing the nav figures before we went deep). For me, it was a very positive experience and really improved my buoyancy control, weighting, trim, SAC, general body movement, confidence, etc.

My AOW felt like a money grab. I did it right after OW because the instructor at OW said I looked comfortable in the water. He was nice enough to pull me off to the side to say it away from the group to make me feel special....now did he do that with everyone?, lol...maybe, who knows.

My AOW was silly. I really wish it had been like the above post, but really so should OW, and it was not. They both felt more like herding cattle and doing the bare minimum.

It's ok, having not such stellar instructors / classes has made me appreciate / look for better in my next all that much more.

 

[scrane]

Get the AOW for the additional supervised open water dives it offers and for the doors it will open with certain operators. Sooner better than later.

 

[mi000ke]

Great story. The way it should be!

Forgot to mention that I also did nitrox cert at the same time as AOW, and used nitrox on all my AOW dives. I recommend this, and with some dive ops, the nitrox add-on is discounted. In my case, other than the PADI fee, I don't recall the dive op charging anything extra, as the dives (and gas check before each dive) were part of AOW.

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

Not sure if diving instruction has evolved or devolved. @Sam Miller III NAUI Advanced class in 1979 was 18 ocean dives (from San Diego to Catalina to Monterey and throughout Orange County), a chamber ride to 160', and 54 hours of classroom work and lecture.

 

[Belzelbub]

Yes, sort of. PADI Master Scuba Diver requires AOW plus five (not four) full specialities plus 50 logged dives.

Sounds like it’s closer to SSI Master Diver than AOW. 5 specialties, one has to be Stress & Rescue.