Taking AOW immediately after taking OW course?

[hantzu701]

For everyone who is gunho about AOW, I have to ask you what you've learned that makes the class so valuable.

IMHO, there isn't much use to this class with the exception that it allows you to take Rescue. Granted, you might not learn certain skills (eg. search and rescue) without focused training, but there is little to prevent yourself from going out and practicing these skills yourself.

 

[jepuskar]

I have a buddy who has close to 100 dives and is about to take her AOW....it will be boring for her, but she wants to do Rescue soon.

I know plenty of students who start their AOW literally right after signing the paperwork after finishing dive 4 of OW. It is pushed on them by the LDS to continue their education...I do agree with this as this is really the only time this class is beneficial. You get to dive with a professional and gain more diving experience....

I guess it is a confidence builder but remember, its not the card and what it says on it that makes a good diver.

For instance, my buddy and I were wrapping up a dive the other week and this girl came tumbling down on me, while I was at 20 feet...I didnt see her coming..she landed right on me as she descended uncontrollably....she was taking her rescue class.

From what I saw, I bet her logged dives to date..were the 4 open water dives, the AOW dives, and thats all. I forgot the minimum required dives to have rescue, if any, but she looked like she needed rescueing.

 

[Tess]

As some people have already said, the padi aow is all about doing some easy and fun dives and very little about really learning something. So my advice would be to do the course as soon as possible - if it wasn't for the compulsory deep dive.

Doing a deep dive can be very difficult (and dangerous!) if you don't have your buoyancy under control. Especially if you're diving a dry suit, as I did on my advanced course. And also, bad visibility ("bad visibility" is very much an understatement when eight divers are holding on to a wreck that's buried in mud and can't keep their fins still) can add to the psycological stress.

So if I were you I would take the aow in a wet suit in a very warm place with crystal clear water! And only if I felt I had decent bouancy control. Then before you do any deep dives with drysuit in deep and murky waters, get a lot of experience in shallow water.

Since you live in Florida, I guess you should do the course there, and DO NOT come to the Swedish east coast for an advanced ow course! But if you want to do cool wreck diving when you've gotten some experience - you're welcome! =)

That's my advice - based on my experience.

/Therese

 

[Yeoh Chee Weng]

I heartily agreed with Scottri. I did my AOWD immediately after my OWD with only 5 dives. Fortunately, I opted for the Peak Performance Buoyancy. The most common problem among new divers is that they do not achieve neutral buoyancy quickly. I had this problem during my entire AOW - imagine that you've not achieved neutral buoyancy and yet you are going for deep, navigation and and night dives. Only after my 20th dive could I confidently dive because by then I was neutrally buoyant at ALL depths. I think PADI misnamed the AOWD, it's more like an intermediate course. Only after you have completed the Rescue course and done 50 dives, IMHO, diving with full confidence, could you say that you're "advanced". The certification cards doesn't really mean much - you can find many instructors who would take your money and certify you whether you're ready or not.

 

[ninjamuzo]

First of all the Advanced Open Water is exactly that OW part 2. Each dive is supposed to be the first dive of the specialty for that subject. So the Wreck dive is dive #1 of the Wreck specialty and it can be counted towards that specialty.

I agree with the post above that the evaerage time that people take to get nice bouyancy is typically 20 dives. I disagree that an unqualified 50 dives makes you an 'advanced' diver. I have hundreds of dives and still feel like a beginner sometimes.

I do recommend doing the AOW right ater OW if the student is a little wobbly during OW. The extra dives with an instructor typically gives them more confidence to go off on ther own with their buddy after that.

 

[terenceg]

would suggest you log a few dives and comfortable before you do AOW. many new divers rush this. roughly 20 - 30 dives before u proceed to AOW

 

[armyscuba]

Wait 10 years,, Then take the money you invested and buy some new equipment

 

[10X]

I think that to do this or not is very much an individual decision. As I stated above, I did AOW after only 7 dives and I'm glad I did. Here's why.

I don't have a dive buddy who's close. The guy I usually dive with is over 2 hours away and another hour to the nearest dive site. So my dive time is usually done on some of the weekly store dives to local inland lakes through one of the 2 LDS. Here I can just join the group and be assigned a buddy.

I am an official referee for the NRA at pistol matches so I don't have every weekend free to dive, due to these other obligations. I was certified one year ago and even with doing 10 dives in Hawaii while on vacation this year, I have only 22 dives total right now.

I can find time to dive perhaps once per month in Michigan's short diving season. Most of those are one tank dives, although I'm going to try to do more this summer.

I felt I wasn't really learning a lot with these infrequent dives, mostly because when I could dive, I was with someone who wanted to dive, not watch me practice. So practice was non-existent. But I wanted to learn more.

Taking AOW was my way to do it. I was able to practice and learn under the watchful eye of an instructor.

I was able to learn more about buoyancy by practicing doing nothing for 30 minutes other than balancing on a single fingertip. From then on I knew a lot more about using your breath to help control your buoyancy.

I actually learned something about navigation, rather than the brief exposure we had in OW training. I was able to successfully navigate in water where visibility was about 6". I actually ran into the object I was navigating toward, before I saw it. But my navigation was right on the money.

I was able to get below 25' for the first time and feel comfortable in deeper water and did my first safety stop rather than just know that I shouldm do one. This helped me a lot when I went to Hawaii and my first dive was to 97'.

I was exposed to underwater photography and have become addicted. I have since taken the underwater photography class.

So you can see why I feel that it was beneficial, in my circumstances, to do the AOW training when I did.

I was unable to dive again after completing my AOW in September 2003, until I got to Hawaii in January 2004. But when I did dive, I did so with more conifdence in my abilities than I had before. I still realize I'm a newbie and have no illusions that I'm not. I freely shared my lack of expereince with the dive shops before booking them and with the DMs before getting in the water with them.

However, being a newbie just makes me even more eager to learn. That's why I'm going to start on my Master Scuba Diver card. I've talked with the LDS about it have worked out a road map for what I want to accomplish. If you ask me why I need this rating, I'd have to tell you that, for my intended diving applications, I don't need it. However, once again I get to learn under the watchful eye of the instructor while I become a better diver. I know I won't accomplish this even this year, or maybe next, but I'll be diving and learning. And I find it hard to fault anyone for wanting to learn more.

The manner in which I chose to learn may be much different than they way others chose to learn, but this works for me and I'm happy with it.

 

[diverbrian]

..."right after OW" philosophy...

A "wobbly" student could use the extra time with an instructor/DM as their dive buddy. There is no question about that. But, why does it have to be a class? Our shop organizes "fun dives" which are run by a Dive Con or Instructor and are not a class. The max depth on these is about 50 ft. and there isn't the pressure of a class to learn these things. In on of the Navy schools that I went to we used to call this "run time". Just dive.

There is little reason to take the AOW class until you are starting to get your buoyancy control down.

That having been said...

There is a converse. Typically, an AOW course is nearly a waste of time if you wait too long. I have been asked by people with over 200 dives to help them find an AOW course because certain operators require that level of certification for their advanced dives. (Take your pick, every area has them.) At that point, buying an OW Part II course is really sort of a waste. I have dove with people with this many dives before and an OW card and they are typically superb divers as one might expect.

My "ideal time frame" for AOW courses is in the range of 15-30 dives. That way the diver has a little time under the water to not fight their buoyancy and not so much that they are already "in middle school taking a third grade class." I would almost rather see too soon than too late. Too late means for most of us that the habits are setting in. I have dove with one lady that has 13 dives (now) and her AOW, EFR and only needs number of dives for her rescue card. She was one of the better divers that I have been privileged to dive with.

I have dove with people with 200+ dives that are still complete disasters. It all depends on attitude and willingness to learn/try new things and new ideas.

Oh and 10X, come and visit us in the Great Lakes Wrecking Crew forum. There will be no problem finding dive buddies in there.

 

[cindye]

Do what you are comfortable with. I took OW in a five week course and turned around, on advise from my course instructor,and took the same course at a local college, 10 wk course. This gave me the confidence and pool time to get comfortable with my new gear before our vacation in Hawaii. After returning back home I signed up for the AOW, I needed more. The information and experience was just the thing I was wanting to make my next dive, in Cozumel. Some people maybe more comfortable in the water then what I was. During my discover diving, in the pool with all the equipment, I actually hung on to the side of the pool when we went under for the first time(we were in the shallow end) I now enjoy diving with my husband instead of going for a boat ride. PS. He enjoys me being his buddy also. Good Luck!