AOW recommendation Pensacola, Destin or Panama City?

Hey yall,

I'm interested in doing my AOW certification while I'm in the area next week. I'll be staying in Niceville with family and could travel pretty much anywhere from Pensacola to Panama City Beach.

Do any of you have any recommendations or personal experiences good or bad with any of the shops/instructors in the area?

Weather permitting I was hoping for a shop that wouldn't make me go to Vortex for the dives. I just don't like the cold water. Besides I've done Vortex a few times already and feel like I've seen it all. I think one of the shops bundled the boat dive (charter) in with the price of the course so that would be nice.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

I can suggest one shop that I know will take care of you. Call Anna or her staff at Emerald Coast SCUBA
503 Harbor Blvd
Destin, FL 32541-2327
(850) 837-0955
Scuba Dive at Emerald Coast Scuba in Destin Florida Home

i did my AOW with gary at dive pros in pensacola and we did our navigation and night dives at pensacola beach and went out to the navy tugs(ydt 15) and it was a great time and very good experiences with them as well.

Unless you are planning to go dive the Oriskany or Speigal Grove with someone who requires an AOW, I'd suggest just getting more experience in the water moreso than picking up an extra card. After OW, I'd suggest Nitrox and a Stress and Rescue Class... and then just get as much experience in the water as possible.

If you're looking to give the shops some business, I like ScubaTech in Destin, Dive Locker in PCB, and MBT in P'Cola.

You can do AOW with Down Under in Gulf Shores and add a dive on the Oriskany as part of the cert dives. The instructors are awesome!

SuPrBuGmAn:

Unless you are planning to go dive the Oriskany or Speigal Grove with someone who requires an AOW, I'd suggest just getting more experience in the water moreso than picking up an extra card. After OW, I'd suggest Nitrox and a Stress and Rescue Class... and then just get as much experience in the water as possible.

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Mat is right. All most AOW courses give you is a taste of a few different "types" of diving. If you want a good AOW course, make sure it includes some classroom time in addition to the dives. And while I understand not wanting to get into the cold water, fresh water is really the best place to practice your buoyancy control. If you can control your buoyancy pretty well in shallow, fresh water then you'll be able to control it anywhere. I suggest looking for an AOW class that's going to introduce you to several skills rather than several types of diving. Find an instructor who is going to teach you how to shoot an SMB, communicate during a night dive, improve your trim and buoyancy, etc. And if you can find an AOW course that includes Nitrox, that would be even better. Personally, Nitrox is such a common thing now days that I think it should be a part of all Open Water courses. Then take a Rescue course as soon as you can. If it's designed correctly, the Rescue course will be one of the best courses you can ever experience.