PADI training courses on live aboard operations?

I have decided that it makes more sense for me as a single solo traveler to do live aboard trips this year to the Caribbean and Asia so that I can spend more time diving and having fun and save on cost as well. Do the live aboard operations such as Aggressor and Sun Dancer offer PADI advanced training courses on these trips? I checked the websites and did not see any listing for PADI courses.

I think the Aggressor and Dancer Fleets - same people really since Aggressor owns both operations - are SSI-based.

They used to be NAUI based (I know I ran ITCs for them), so there may still be some NAUI capability kicking around.

Wow so that must mean these live aboard do not provide any training just diving. Does anyone have a recommendation for a live aboard that has advanced PADI training provided as well as diving?

I believe that most liveaboards, while perhaps not demanding the card, expect most divers to be above the PADI AOW level.

I was on the Cayman Aggressor in October, 2011. The two DMs on board complained that they did not really have the opportunity to actually teach classes on board because most of the divers were already very experienced or brought their instructors with them as part of a scuba shop travel event. Both quit, one went on to teach in Grand Cayman and the other is back in the USA.

According to the Aggressor Fleet website,

"[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]All certification and specialty courses are taught in accordance with national training agencies such as PADI, NAUI, SSI, SDI, TDI, etc."[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]They use SSI as the certification agency. I'm mostly PADI trained but the SSI courses will provide equivalent training and will be accepted by PADI. PADI says they want the PADI course or "or qualifying certification from another training organization". Perhaps an interesting side note is that the Aggressor Fleet will only employ Dive Masters with SSI certification. [/FONT]

Here are the courses the Aggressor Fleet offers:

Certification Courses:

Hm .... prices aren't bad either. Thanks.

When I am paying big bucks for a Live aboard I generally just enjoy the Dives. What training is possibly more important than the things you may miss as you ignore the things around you in favor of a certification?

If you want to train on a boat try the Keys. The diving is very good but not $250 a day which is what a live aboard costs minimum. Keys diving will run $75 a day for 2 tanks plus hotel, food, airfare, but likely half the cost of a good Live aboard. You could do a live aboard out of CA but again I feel like its a bit of a waste. You can get training in most states in Summer and some in the winter.

I regularly teach the Advanced Open Water course on board liveaboards here in Thailand. We can also do Rescue courses aboard the boat, but I don't think that's the ideal use of liveaboard time. The AOW course, and by extension the Specialty ratings, are mainly about particular environments or activities, so, for example, a liveaboard is a great opportunity to get in lots of deep diver training, or really focus on photo, or hone navigation skills. We don't have Dancer/Aggressor boats in Thailand, but we do have them in the region, and we have other high-end liveaboards in Thailand where additional training opportunities are possible.

I would have to echo RonFrank's and Quero's sentiments exactly. There are less expensive and more ideal places to take dive training than on a liveaboard.

From my liveaboard experience the divers were a lot more proficient than I was as an AOW. While I was able to hold my own during the dives (at the time I had about 20-25 dives), I still was the weakest link in the tour group. I used the setting to just enjoy my time with my favorite DM Dive Buddy, aka my daughter, and just watch others and gain experience. The nice thing about the liveaboard was that it offered 3-4 dives per day within a very relaxed environment. I learned a lot just by observing the more advanced divers.

Now with that said I did take my PADI Master Scuba Challenge on a boat that we lived on durning the week...but it did not travel anywhere and was anchored in the same spot, thus not a true liveaboard by nature. Again the advantage to this was a lot of diving time to do course work. I did five specialty courses in four days with some fun dives to boot. The entire time the primary focus of this boat was training and very little else.

I would strongly encourage you to take your AOW first...then partake in the fun diving liveaboard experience in some exotic place. I think in the long run you will be happier. :dance3:

P.S. We are guys ... and guys by nature do not multi-task very well.

Happy Diving,

~Michael~