Taking AOW immediately after taking OW course?

[Gary D.]

Before they started busting up the classes into their little money making segments it was basicly two certifications. OW and AOW.

OW covered basicly everything up to what AOW + Rescue is today. AOW went way beyond that.

A large percentage of people trying to get certified failed. It was not as easy as it is today but the gear was no where near as reliaible either. Gear failure was not that unusual and in OW you learned how to deal with it from the very start.

So if you think your ready go for it. A lot of people can without any problems.

It's like driving. When you first get your drivers license your not restricted to a two seater (excluding MC). You don't have to get another certification to drive a 4, 5 or 6 seater. Only at 15 passengers or CDL do you need to advance.

Go for it. Besides your chances of having a problem is greatest before you even get near the water.

Gary D.

 

[jbd]

On the other hand I have been told by others to take it immediately because it teaches you some extremely usefull skills such as navigation and what to do should you, accidentaly or purposefuly, go past your 60' OW training limit.

I disagree with taking the AOW course to learn what to do if you accidentally go past a depth of 60 feet. The deep dive training that you get in the AOW course is to teach you how to properly go to a maximum depth of 130 feet.

One thing I notice with AOW students when it comes to navigation with a compass--they become so focused on the compss that they can not maintain the agreed upon depth. In other words their bouyancy control is not what it should be.

I have observed people rigging a lift bag to do a recovery or light salvage dive. They are all over the bottom destroying the viz--again bouyancy control is not what it should be.

As you can probably guess, I am of the school of thought that you should go out and do 15 to 25 dives in which you develope your skills and abilities before taking the AOW course. In the end you will be a better diver IMHO.

 

[ninjamuzo]

I did my OW and AOW back to back. SInce the AOW included a night, deep and navigation it gave me more confidence for regular diving.

What tends to happen if you leave too much of a gap as mentioned above is that (typically apart from the nav) you end up going deep, diving at night etc. without any prior training.

 

[Michael Schlink]

As Gary D pointed out, todays scuba courses are smaller pieces of the whole pie that used to be scuba training. The Aow course is designed to to be taken immediately after your basic OW course. Take the advanced course as soon as you can. Most people that take the course right after OW will agree that they learned more about diving and had a lot of fun. Go for it ASAP

 

[hantzu701]

I took the advice from a previous thread and waited 10-12 dives before taking AOW after OW.

Frankly, I don't think that I started diving until my 30th dive. The best advice that my instructor told me was to just dive. At the time, I thought that was pretty lame advice; but, it is true. With more experience, I got more confidence. I developed a fundamental base of oh-sh*t skills that I knew that worked. More importantly, I learned to question everything that I had learned.

If you're thinking of taking AOW, I suggest that you find a local dive club in your area and dive with them. You can also use this board to find buddies who will dive with you. Dive every chance that you can get and have fun!

 

[miketsp]

Just remember that if you do them back to back you haven't really got any experience so watch your comfort level. Not all operators will ask how many dives you have done or to what depth you have dived. I know too many people who got themselves into trouble after getting their AOW after a dozen dives in sheltered bays and then think they know it all.
I took up diving again a few years ago after a long break and my wife started from zero. We did the OW together and then after around 50 dives in gradually increasing complexity and difficulty did AOW formally a year later. We got more value for our money because we were able to use the class time more as a consultancy discussing far more issues & situations than was required by the curriculum. Of course the instructor enjoyed it much more also as the questions were far from routine and he actually learnt a few new things. Since I used to be a pilot and have had my amateur Master's ticket (nautical) for over 20 years the navigation part got quite technical. (There were just the 2 of us on the course - cost just a little extra but worth it).

 

[nalfein]

If you feel comfortable with taking it right away.... go ahead.

I took my AOW about 3 weeks and 6 dives after my OW cert... It gave me a few dives to get sorted out in my drysuit and drop some weight. So long as you're feeling good with the basic skills, there's no harm.

 

[10X]

I did mine AOW with only 7 dives under my belt. I wanted the extra training to help make me more comfortable with what I was doing.

I recently talked with a dive shop and they said the recommend taking it as soon as possible. That way, you get the additional training before you can develop any bad habits.

I've never been sorry that I did this so soon after getting my initial certification. However, I always remember that I'm still a newbie and I don't hesitate to let DMs know this.

 

[johlar]

I did mine AOW with only 7 dives under my belt. I wanted the extra training to help make me more comfortable with what I was doing.

I recently talked with a dive shop and they said the recommend taking it as soon as possible. That way, you get the additional training before you can develop any bad habits.

I've never been sorry that I did this so soon after getting my initial certification. However, I always remember that I'm still a newbie and I don't hesitate to let DMs know this.

I did my AOW after 20 dives. I was just starting to get a little more comfortable in the water, of course I'm old and slow (55) which may have contributed. I thought I was able to understand more as well as relate to some prior experiences. Although I'm sure 20 dives are not a lot of "experiences"

I would not recommend doing it in December in RI however. Water temp 44, air temp 48 and wind speed of 20 to 30 mph. BRRRR!

 

[Scuba Duke]

I say go for it!! I just got certified recently and have my AOW tentatively planned for the first weekend in August. I hoping to have a few dives in by then. Give time me to get comfortable with my gear and basic skills. If you're comfotable underwater, I say DO IT!