Advanced OW, before or during a liveaboard trip? And two other liveaboard questions on the GBR.

[charlier]

Personally, if I have the option to do training in advance of a vacation, I will. I would rather use my vacation time to do the dives I want to do rather than doing training dives....

In your case (the OP), it sounds like you live where diving is convenient and at least somewhat comparable to the diving you'd do on vacation. If that is the case and it were me, I would do my OW at home. I would try to get a few dives in at home. I would research the local options for my AOW course to find an instructor that I think would do a good job. Your experience taking your OW course should help with that. Then, I would do AOW at home before going on vacation....

I am with Stuart here. If its convenient at home, I suggest taking your OW including theory, confined water, and open water modules before your vacation. Post-OW certification, try to get a few additional dives in at home. I have taught OW classes while on a LoB, I find that its sometime hard for students to focus on learning. For a new divers, a LoB is somewhat distracting. While on LoB's, it my experience that OW or AOW classes are a bit rushed, with dive briefings, scheduled meals, external distractions, or rushing to get on the dingy with more experienced divers. My personal feeling is that you will enjoy your LoB experience and have more fun on the trip after completing your OW class.

 

[David W Short]

It's been awhile since I've been to Cairns but I'd have a look into Deep Sea Divers Den Divers Den - Cairns and Port Douglas -Dive and Snorkle Day Trips, Dive Courses, Liveaboard Trips, on the Great Barrier Reef, they're the same as Pro Dive but a bit cheaper.

 

[drbill]

I would recommend getting the AOW cert in advance of your trip.

Back in 2001 when I was on a three month backpacking/diving trip around the Pacific the only c-card I had was the only one I'd ever needed here in the States, my Los Angeles County card from the 1960s. I got pretty tired of PADI instructors who weren't born when I started diving telling me they didn't recognize the LAC card and requiring I do check out dives for them. They had no idea what the LAC card allowed me to do dive wise.

By the time I got to Cairns, Australia, I knew I had to give in and get an AOW card. I went to several shops and at one there was a PADI instructor, Paul Crottie, at Deep Sea Divers Den who not only knew what my LAC certification meant but said my c-card was a museum piece. I asked him about getting a PADI AOW card and he said he would do the necessary skills while we were out on the Great Barrier Reef on their liveaboard and just charge me for the materials. Although doing the requirements while on the liveaboard limited my "free" dives, Paul did a great job.

I still show my LAC card when diving internationally and instructors seem to have gotten more knowledgeable about the card since then as I am rarely asked to show any of my other c-cards.

 

[Schwob]

I definitely would take any class (including AOW) not on the LOB, but prior to it.
I think it's a good idea to have AOW and Nitrox prior to an LOB. Also see the caveat @Kimela mentiones.
In addition to the in the thread already mentioned reasons, here is one more:

Say the AOW class from a land based place costs $250 (I am thinking US and it's just an example, not a real number), and the same on the LOB costs $300.- .. Then it is not just a $50.- difference!
The difference imho is that $50 plus 5 (costly) LOB dives!
The land based class gets you 5 dives that the LOB class does not really get you, since on the LOB you use dives for the class that you sort of already paid for with the LOB... So to me the land based class is a much better deal!
Then, on land, you have time to study the book, ask questions.. , google something, ... etc... That study time you may not want to have to invest in the LOB, where you may be dead tired after the last dive of the day or really much rather hang out with the others...
I think that investing the time and effort beforehand with a land based outfit is a much better deal, a much better learning environment and if you time it right leaves you time to digest and practise the learned and in either case you are free to enjoy the LOB then rather than sacrificing 5 already paid for dives towards the class and substituting high priced "fun time" for studytime.