Did I just ruin my dive trip?

[DiveMaven]

We just completed our AOW in Maui recently and felt it was worth the time. It was as everyone said, done through actual diving instead of theory. Peak Performance Buoyancy was an excellent module since we spent time fine tuning our weights and hovering techniques. In our case, UW naturalist was really good too as we learned about the marine life in Maui and gained new "eyes" to find the really cool stuff. Navigation was also good as it gave us confidence to trust ourselves a little more than we probably did. We had a really good instructor who knew how to balance fun and learning, so we definitely felt the time was well spent.

Next will be rescue, but we're going to wait a year or two until we're more experienced divers.

 

[craborn]

I teach for PADI and AOW is a great class if the instructor does it by standards and i am sure most do. AOW gives you an experience with Deep Dives, Night Dives, Ecological, Navigation, Search and REcovery, Lift bag procedure,, etc..... I can only speak for me and my students but after each AOW class I can see where my student are far more confident and there skills are greatly improved. To me that is how you become a great diver is by training and spending time underwater.

 

[*Floater*]

Some dive resorts won't take you below 18m/60ft unless you have the AOW cert, so completing it may make a dive trip more fun.

Also, if you tell the instructor that you want to have fun and pick dive sites for that purpose, then chances are you will have almost identical course dives to what your fun dives would have been, except you need to read a chapter from the book before each and do some exercises. It depends what dives you choose though. For example, night dive and wreck dive are fun and will probably involve nothing extra underwater. Navigation will involve more tasks, so that's unlikly to be a "fun" dive unless you enjoy learning new skills. Ask the instructor which course dives involve a lot of stuff underwater, and which do not. Anyway, it's only 5-6 dives in most agencies.

 

[utnapistim]

you dont wanna be taking the peak perfomace buoyancy with awful buoyancy.

i'd say that the worse your buoyancy, the more you can benefit from the peak performance buoyancy course.

ofcourse doing the course does not make you an expert in an hour, but it shows you what to pay attention to.

my2c.

 

[D_B]

I think one of the best times to get AOW is when you don't have a lot of dives because if you do have a lot of dive experiance , your not going to get as much out of the course
I did mine right after OW and I knew that I was a better diver for taking the class and ... it was Fun!

But ... Instructor , Instructor , Instructor .... It makes all the difference in the world
As ajames54 said : "The key is do you know this instructor .. do you want to dive with him/her.. do you believe he/she is NOT simply selling the course.. If you are comfortable with the answers to those questions then by all means take the course, the dives can be a blast"

DB

 

[Rick Inman]

I don't think the dive operators in Mexico care what your c-card says on it. The only time I went diving and needed to show a AOW card was in the USA.

Bingo!

By telling her you can only go on the boat at certain times because your only ow certed and you'll be the only ones in the shallow end while everyone else is in the deep end .

Nothing wrong with AOW.

There is something wrong with a LDS extorting one out of you by threatening a lower quality dive vacation. Why not just inform you of the benefits?

Well, here's why:

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[aquatica672]

Ok IMO here just go for it and have a good time. You do at some point need to do your AOW anyway so why not do it in the clear blue water of Mexico instead of a dark cold lake. I can assure you that you will have a good time..... Doing you AOW in Mexico will be fun....hey you are going to dive deep, boat dive, shore dive, night dive, drift dive and work on bouyancy any way so why not go ahead and get credit for it. And if nothing else it will now be done and behind you.

So bottom line here is GO HAVE FUN!!!!!!! and enjoy your vacation

aquatica

 

[halocline]

I think what you should do depends on where you're going. If you're going to a major dive destination like Cozumel, you'll find that some of the smaller better dive ops will usually want to "check you out" on a fairly shallow dive before taking you to the deeper spots, especially if you only have a few logged dives. I've never heard of anyone asking for a AOW card before. And, to be honest, many of the most beautiful dive spots there are not deep. If you get connected with a good dive op. you'll improve your skills tremendously just diving with a small group of divers and good dive master on a daily basis.

Another thing about Cozumel is that there are some great instructors, and all you have to do is search/post on the Cozumel forum here on SB and you'll get lots of recommendations. AOW with the right instructor there would be really fun; it woud not detract from your vacation at all. The wrong instructor could be a bummer, though. I know an excellent one; PM me if interested.

I understand the sentiment of getting more experience between OW and AOW, but I think the word "advanced" is a little misleading in PADI's intent. AOW was designed, according to a PADI instructor I know, to immediately follow the OW course. It would be a better description to call it "OW part 2", and in an ideal world, might be part of the certification process, as I feel that certifying divers to go unsupervised after four short dives(all mine were less than 30 min and less than 40 ft) is not such a great thing.

 

[carldarl]

Ditto to most of above. My family got their AOW on a live-a-board trip last month. My wife was nervous since my kids hadn'd dived in 6 months and it was a first for live-a-board, cold water and kelp as well. Scheduled it as a training trip and had a ball. "Classroom" time was sitting around the table with snacks and soft drinks learning new ways of looking at things. Cost was only $95 each. (LDS charges $165 for the same course)

Deep, navigation, bouancy, boat and drift dives are fun not work. The only problem was my daughter blew her night dive after I had to take her up due to a panic attackfrom the dark/kelp. She then "HAD" to pick another dive to replace it since it was our last night out. She had a ball doing the DPV "scooter" dive. Do the AOW and have fun in the process.

My only concern would be the "threat" of a lesser trip method the LDS used to promote it. My LDS uses this method of selling and it really turns me off. So much so that I will ONLY shop on the manager's day off now. The owner is great but the manager has a real attitude problem.

GO! GET WET! HAVE FUN! LEARN! BE A BETTER DIVER!

 

[redacted]

Well, here's why:

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

If you think you need an instructor to teach you deep diving, night diving, or navigation, Then AOW is probably appropriate.

But I'd be concerned about what the instructor said. Where in MEX are you going? I doubt that any MEX dive op will restrict your recreational diving based on whether you are BOW or AOW. I would verify this with the dive op and then decide what needs to be done next about the instructor.

I don't like being decieved.