Advanced Nitrox.... can this be done online like Nitrox

[Father]

Do you have to do "practical" exercise and dives to complete this course or can it be done online like PAD EANx?

 

[KevinNM]

I hope not.

 

[boulderjohn]

You do have to do dives for Advanced Nitrox, and there is a good reason.

There is one very big difference between regular nitrox and advanced nitrox. With regular, recreational nitrox, you have one cylinder, so once you submerge, there is nothing different in the dive from diving with air. With Advanced Nitrox, you are usually using the gas for accelerated decompression, so you are carrying it in a separate cylinder. You have to learn how to make a safe switch while doing a decompression stop.

With TDI, Advanced Nitrox is usually taught along with Decompression Procedures, so the skills required for the dives for the two courses can be mixed together in a way that makes a lot more sense than if you took the courses separately.

The academic portion of the class can be done online.

 

[tbone1004]

probably, but why would you take that course without deco procedures? Pretty useless certifications when they aren't combined together, but at least with deco procedures you can do back gas decompression

 

[hroark2112]

The answer is no. There are mandatory dives involved.

From the TDI Standards:

Open Water Execution
1. Four dives are required with a minimum accumulated bottom time of 100 minutes
2. If advanced nitrox is taught in conjunction with decompression procedures*, only a total of 6 dives are
required, more may be conducted at the discretion of the instructor, with a maximum depth of 45 metres /
150 feet

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

probably, but why would you take that course without deco procedures? Pretty useless certifications when they aren't combined together, but at least with deco procedures you can do back gas decompression

You can get RB certified with just AN without Deco. You can later take Deco and go deeper than 130 feet.

So there are reasons to only take AN without Deco. You can jump straight into a rebreather without doing Deco - some folks will adamantly argue perhaps but this is one reason I can think of to just take AN without Deco...

 

[RyanT]

As boulderjohn said, adv. nitrox is a completely different beast than basic nitrox. Although the description sounds like just the "next step" so that you learn the theory of going up to 100% O2, it involves a lot more technical training and dive planning.

 

[Centrals]

I suspect even PADI would agree that the idea has stretched far beyond imagination.

 

[kensuf]

I can only speak to the agencies I'm an instructor with.

IANTD and TDI require skills dives. Some of the skills include bottle switching, which people have screwed up and killed themselves by doing incorrectly. That's why there's practice and oversight with an instructor.

NAUI no longer has Advanced Nitrox. Advanced Nitrox and the decompression course were integrated into a single "Technical Decompression Diver" course.

 

[tbone1004]

ken, aren't you specifically forbidden from doing bottle switching in TDI's advanced nitrox unless taught in conjunction with DP? The limits specifically state no staged decompression