Certification Levels

[daniel1948]

I was actually surprised, upon first getting certified OW, that dive operators all encouraged me to go deeper than 60 fsw. My first dive trip after getting certified I told them that I was a brand-new diver, with about ten total dives including my OW class, and they told me No big deal, you can go to 85 feet no problem. That was Cozumel. My next trip I limited myself to 60 fsw because that was where I felt comfortable, even though they were telling me I could go deeper. That was Nekton Pilot.

Requiring AOW makes more sense to me than encouraging a brand-new OW diver to go to 85. (Although I have my doubts that the c-card really means all that much. Experience counts for more.)

 

[waterpirate]

Do you thinkyou would benefit from any additional training? That is the real question. If you are comfortable diving at depths that require a guide your choices are very clear.
1. dive with guide and convince them you have the skills
2. cert up and be happy

I travel dive alot and now schedule day one as a meet me dive with me day. Either the dive op is comfortable with your skills or not.
Eric

 

[Frosty]

I walk in the shop and hand them a tech card for decompression diving......Shop....."Great but do you have an AOW card"Me........"Your holding one".Shop....."No something from PADI or NAUI".Me........"I returned those" Shop....."if you don't have an AOW card the depth limit will be 60ft"Me........"can you read"Me......." I will need Nitrox"Shop...." are you an enriched air diver?"Me....... " yes, here is my card" Shop...." it only reads advanced Nitrox up to 100%"Me......."ok"Shop...."let me get a manager"The funny thing is I always dive with good ops on vacation?

That begs a question. With a dive card does it not display the OTHER training received as well as the last one?
If not then do you then need to carry all your cards?
On a kiwi drivers licence displayed is every licence you hold

 

[Frosty]

Question for the group. I was certified as an Open Water diver more than 15 years ago - have over 100 dives (I only do a few a year) including deep dives (below 100'), night dives, current dives, etc. I never bothered with the Advanced Open Water certification as, when I was certified, it wasn't a big deal. I'm not an "expert" diver by any means, but certainly not a novice either.

I just tried to book a dive trip and was told that, for the dive over 80', I'll need a guide with me, since I don't have AOW. The funny part here is, I've done this exact dive, with the same company 2 or 3 years ago. I have multiple dives below 100', but the company stated that was their policy due to insurance.

Is this a new trend and I should just shut up and get AOW, or is this the case of dives shops trying to sell more courses ?

Just curious.Thanks.

I guess the problem is that the dive op doesn't KNOW how you dive. The only thing they can go by is the card.
I did aow myself after 25 dives but it was because I'd had time to work out things I wasn't happy with with my diving. It was all 1 on 1 so I really got a lot out of the aow course but frankly 3 out of 5 "courses" were just ticks in a box.-I got more from the other stuff we worked on.
I think if you aproach AOW from that prospective -that on the whole its a tune up of the skills you should have been developing/developed anyway its worth while.
-Strictly my opinion

 

[Mayor]

That begs a question. With a dive card does it not display the OTHER training received as well as the last one? If not then do you then need to carry all your cards? On a kiwi drivers licence displayed is every licence you hold

I have cards form NAUI, PADI, PDIC, SDI, TDI, GUE, and PSAI. None list what other certs you might have. You would assume that with a trimix card one might get Nitrox fills? Or with decompression procedures all recreational depths would be covered. To be honest I just hand them a Rescue card and Nitrox to avoid the hassle. My point in the last post is the AOW has become the must have card but it really means nothing without time in the water. Even then it's still not enough to really open your eyes to the dangers.

 

[eponym]

That begs a question. With a dive card does it not display the OTHER training received as well as the last one?
If not then do you then need to carry all your cards?
On a kiwi drivers licence displayed is every licence you hold

Good question. As Mayor pointed out earlier in this thread, sometimes showing them a TDI card (advanced nitrox or better) just confuses the individual who's never seen anything but padi cards.

And an instructor card will not get you a nitrox fill. Although I would expect to be allowed to dive past 60 feet.

But it's starting to sound like you need the right piece of plastic sometimes. Anyone who has not yet seen "Hitler not AOW" can click here, thanks to ScubaSteve.

-Bryan

 

[dmeeve]

Hitler AOW



ScubaSteve :worship:

 

[k ellis]

Just to chime in one of my observances in life. I have been on cruises diving and most of the time the divers who cruise are vacation divers. They get certified and dive maybe 2 to 4 dives a year if they dive at all. Now if you think about it one of these divers can come up to you and say "I was certified in 1985. So why do I need to have AOW?" But they overlook convienently the fact that they may only have a lifetime total of 20 dives in the years since.

Ive seen divers certified in the 80s who claim to have been the best thing to ever happen to the sport. But they dont realize they have only dove 50 times in their life over 30 plus years. They dont realize nor can anyone tell them other wise that their buoyancy is way off. They often dont remember how to set up gear because its been 10+ years since their last dive. And they have to be reminded that they do have to stay in touch with their insta buddy.

As mentioned previously their is so many sue happy people in this country that it unfortunately has come down to the point that no one can walk outside their home anymore without someone trying to sue them let alone enjoy life.

Their are divers out their who have more dives then everyone I know combined yet only have an open water certification. Are they good divers? Yes but since most of the veteran divers over time start drifting away from their log books how can so many of these veterans prove it. The ones who can have then got to prove that the dives they have logged are not something they just sit down at a dive shop and had a bunch of friends sign off that they have more dives then they really do.

Sadly its gotten to where the only real proof people want is the plastic cards once reveared as collectors items. (Though many of the specialties still are)

 

[theduckguru]

So much for the idea that "you can't buy experiance". A PADI Advanced card doesn't mean much.

 

[aquaregia]

Funniest c-card experience I had was when I was diving with my girlfriend, who happened to have been my nitrox instructor. She didn't have her nitrox card on her and was getting heat trying to get a mix done, so I showed mine that clearly listed her as my instructor. The dive shop guy was "I dunno, I have to check with the manager"... manager had no issues with it.