I can think of a few non commercial reasons for this.
1)the "local" diving is mostly deeper than you are certified to be taken to
And what, pray tell, is that certification? Because Open Water sure as hell doesn't come with a depth limit.
This is the fiction pandered by the dive industry. So insidious that even the Pros themselves start believing it...
Sub-standard diving schools sell this notion that c-cards are "diving licenses". They are not. They promote this toxic notion because it is the only way they can sell their courses. It illustrates that their courses do not stand on their own merits educationally.
The diving consumer pays for
training. It is the training that matters. If a dive school has no confidence that the consumer will recognize any value in that training, then they will resort to the deception that the c-card itself is the product being purchased. They manufacturer a fictitious demand for the c-card as a 'license'... to manipulate consumer demand and create a smoke-screen that obscures the issue of sub-standard training provision.
A c-card is simply a
proof of training. It certifies that, on a given date, the bearer accomplished the necessary performance standards as stated for a given course. Nothing more, nothing less. It is not a "diving license". That is why PADI recreational c-cards
do not have limits printed upon them. That is why PADI gives
recommendations only - for the sole purpose of assisting the diver in setting their own prudent limits.
Diver competency and comfort are what determines the depth they should dive to, the conditions they should dive in, the equipment they should use. Training has a strong influence on that competency and comfort. A piece of plastic in your wallet has
zero influence on that.
I wish the diving consumer would wake up... see the scam for what it is.... and start paying for
training... and stop spending their money with the aim to "
get a c-card"...
2) Local dive boats don't take OW divers.
It saves having to do risk assessments, if you aren't bothered about your business losing money, I suppose.
3) They feel that where you plan to dive needs you to have more training
As previously asked... what does the AOW course have to do with "
more training"?
4) Your diving is demonstrably marginal and they really feel you NEED to be doing the AOW course.
Where they'll take you for 5 experiential, glorified 'fun' dives that have zero training component and there'll be a big difference, because?
I'm not saying any of my suggestions are correct but I'd be asking the question as to WHY they are pressuring you to take the next course
Because certain agencies sell their industry members/centers the myth of the 'loss leader' business model... and the notion that continued diver education (
...equipment sales and vacations) is the golden egg that'll claw back some profitability after you've initially sold your students an under-priced, unprofitable, Open Water course...
Desperation is as desperation does...