I am in the middle of my Advanced open water right now. Either I am an incredible, highly evolved mind, or this is one of the biggest "certification" pranks on the planet. I find absolutely no challenge in the educational materials - I can take PADI's tests and pass them with 100% almost every time, without even reviewing their material. I am hoping that the dives are going to require me to do SOMETHING challenging. I actually wanted to become a better diver, and that is why I started the advanced module. I am now understanding why people branch out to other certifying agencies. I work in an industry where paper certs are common, and I watch unqualified people take down corporate enterprise networks every day. However we can fix a network. We probably cannot fix a diver that has been lulled into believing their skills are better than they really are by this advanced class and ends up in a situation that they were not prepared for. I took the Nitrox class in about an hour, and passed it easily without trying. Only new info in that class was the gas calculation which I already had from Wikipedia. Trust me, I am not bragging. I am at best an average diver, and I am no "great mind" I never thought I would say this, but I think I am going to be turning to GUE or a similar agency for future certifications. I understand that they have a much more rigid program. As I progress in diving skills, I am certain I am going to want to take on more challenging dives as my skills improve, and I want to be REALLY ready for it. I don't think Open Water cert should be a barrier to entry into diving, like the Morse Code tests used to be a barrier into Ham radio. (you now no longer have to know morse code to get an operators license) What I take issue with is calling something "advanced" when its really more like a review. Maybe I will feel differently when I get the mandatory dives logged, but I have done all the mandatory dives undocumented already, up down and sideways. Dont get me wrong,I think PADI is a great, friendly place/way to start diving, but beyond their open water cert, I think its a waste. If it took real skill, then yes I think its a great idea. Hopefully I dont offend anyone with this next comment, but my PADI experience so far is making me question all of their upstream certs such as rescue diver, and even Divemaster and Instructor.