Did I just ruin my dive trip?

[countryboy]

When you "graduated" from OW.. You received a C-Card that is the equivalent of graduating from kindergarten... You were taught the basics of diving safely.. That is all.. You were given the green light to go and learn more.. Either through diving on your own (be careful of the situations / conditions) or through continuing education.

Taking the advanced class does not make you an advanced diver.. It gives you more experiences into different "types" of diving to further your education. Again, this is the start of more types of diving.. Deep, Night, Navigation, etc...

These dives will be in the direct supervision of an instructor. What better way to introduce you to new conditions... Safely and supervised.

Every place I have traveled to (Cozumel, Hawaii, Florida, etc..) have asked for proof of training / experience. Those that did not have AOW were NOT allowed on the deeper dives.. If people are traveling to places that do not check these items, I would put those operations in the $$$ category.. They don't care about your qualifications, they will take you diving as long as you pay. I feel this is even worse than those "pushing" training... I welcome an operation that requires proof of training / experience, the same as I challenge them for professional safe service (boat has proper equipment, Oxygen, etc.)..

Personally, I think all divers should be trained through the resuce level... at minimum.

 

[redacted]

Every place I have traveled to (Cozumel, Hawaii, Florida, etc..) have asked for proof of training / experience. Those that did not have AOW were NOT allowed on the deeper dives..

Would you please identify the dive op in Cozumel that applied special depth limitation to divers who did not have AOW.

Thank you.

 

[Hank49]

If the shop says you need AOW, tell them, "OK I'll go to that shop over there".

 

[Web Monkey]

Diving is an experience, not a destination.

Whether or not you are qualified for, or comfortable with any particular dive is not related to which card you have, it's related to what you have learned, what you have done, and what your comfort level is in the conditions you will be diving in.

Even if you rush and get an "AOW" card, it doesn't mean you're significantly more qualified for whatever dives you're thinking of doing, than you were before you took the class.

This means that if you have 30 fresh-water low-current dives and an AOW card, and a Dive Op "Someplace Warm" is doing a 100+ foot drift dive with some narrow swim-throughs in a stiff current, going on the dive isn't necesarily a great idea.

Some Dive Ops require a particular card as a minimum requirement. If you don't have the card, you can't go, however just because you do have the card doesn't mean that you should go.

For any dive that you're planning on doing, you need to know if the conditions are similar to what you've been in, and if you feel comfortable with it. Just because someone will "let you go" on a dive, doesn't mean you "should" go.

Note that I'm not saying that the classes aren't valuable. Almost any class with a good instructor is a valuable experience, however the classes are allmost all "learners permits" for the skills involved, and not certificatiosn that you know ll there is to know on the covered materials.

Terry

My Wife and I certified at the same time awhile back and have been avid local divers.
We decided last week to book a trip thru our dive shop to log some saltwater time down in mexico. I was totally physced about this dive trip until my wife went to the dive shop on her own for fills the other day and one of the instructors going on the same trip sold her on aow certs.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 . Now dont get me wrong here I want to
move on to instructor and plan on moving thru the certifications because i love diving and we have talked about opening a dive shop in the future because were so addicted. But I wanted my first dive trip to be enjoyable and all about having fun diving. but now it seems were going back to class again in a tropical local .the reason I ask is because ive read here alot of people saying the aow cert is a waste of time. to just keep diving and and further yourself
and Im curious as to what i need to be expecting for the cert dives
Is it just fun dives that you gain experience on? or is it more like the original cert classes??

any info would help thanks all

 

[billmach]

We'll be in san carlos.
thanks everyone For your inputs
I kinda thought the same about the AOW.
but it is somthing i need to do to move on
in the padi chain on my way to instructor one day
so if it is just adventure dives I should be looking forward to it :14:
I do however agree with the concensus of the hard sell to my wife
about the what you can and cannot do with the BOW
I knew you all would come thru for me
and thats why im here it's like a big extended family

 

[Diver Dennis]

In Puerto Vallarta the depth you dive is based on what the DM or instructor sees when you do the first dive, your experience level. They don't strictly adhere to the depth limit based on C-cards. They will ask you however, what depth you might be most comfortable at.

 

[Toadie]

It's best to just get it out of the way and focus on diving. It's not that you can't go deeper, or dive at night, blah blah blah.... it just means that you have at least once before with supervision. I encourage people to do it so they have the freedom to dive where they want without all the limitations. For example, I'm heading to the DR with 60 people and because I'm a DM I'm the lucky one who is organizing the dive part. Not everyone is a diver and not everyone has the same certs... but diving in Punta Cana from what I have heard is not the best. I'm encouraging all the OW's to get AOW because if the diving sucks, there are some deep wrecks and walls to do... which, for an OW is out of reach.

Just my .02 cents

 

[scubajcf]

AOW is an experience driven class. The book is very informative, but the lions-share of the learning is done on actual dives. That is unlike any other course. There are very few "skills" that you will work on as a part of the class (again this depends on your instructor). However, this class will build confidence AND give your first exposure to advanced dives with a qualified professional. That is worth the price of admission alone. Experiencing Night Dives, Deep Dives, etc. with an instructor has many advantages.

I spent 14 years as an OW diver. While I experienced a lot of deep and night diving prior to my AOW, I did not start my trek to becoming a better diver until I started advancing my education.

Thus when people ask when they should take their AOW ... I tell them when they feel ready, but there is no time like the present.

I do not think you ruined your trip. I think you have broadened your horizons.

Enjoy!

 

[GreenDiverDown]

Well here is how it works with most Arizona to San Carlos trips when going with a local shop...

It is the instructor staff and not the boat operator that will or will not require proof of AOW for deeper dives. The shop staff pretty much controls the diving and makes their decisions based on their knowledge of the diver. Even decisions on when and where the boat can safely go are usually joint decisions with the instructors and boat captain. So, if your shop has told you that you will need AOW certification prior to doing the deeper dives, then you will need it.

Now...for a reality check...there is very little deep diving in San Carlos when on a typical LDS chartered boat. Most of the dive sites that will be selected are picked specifically for training purposes. As a result, most of the customers will be students and will be there for OW certification. Out of necessity, the sites will pretty much have a floor about 60 feet or less. If the shop has some AOW students on the trip they will also plan at least one dive where deeper water will be accessible. But in all honesty the local diving and the diving around the island is relatively shallow and in most sites, to hit deep water, you must either plan to put the boat on it or be prepared for a long swim!

So...if you feel that your instructor is threatening you with the "you'll be in the shallow end while everyone else is in the deep end", then either the instructor is a bit twisted and is pushing a sale, has never been to San Carlos, or simply meant to apply his or her comment to diving in general with other locales in mind.

We have a pretty good shop on the west side, BTW.

 

[Lead_carrier]

Every place I have traveled to (Cozumel, Hawaii, Florida, etc..) have asked for proof of training / experience. Those that did not have AOW were NOT allowed on the deeper dives.. If people are traveling to places that do not check these items, I would put those operations in the $$$ category.. They don't care about your qualifications, they will take you diving as long as you pay. I feel this is even worse than those "pushing" training... I welcome an operation that requires proof of training / experience, the same as I challenge them for professional safe service (boat has proper equipment, Oxygen, etc.)..

Personally, I think all divers should be trained through the resuce level... at minimum.

I'm happy if they just ask for a c-card. I've can count on one hand every time that I've been asked for my card. Only once was I even asked if I was advanced.