Continuing education after OW?

[Imapseudonym]

Hi everyone,

i just finished up my OW cert and was wondering if anyone had opinions on what to do after. First off, diving is absolutely amazing and loved ever minute of class and the ocean dives. My boyfriend and I are looking into some gear because we would really like to continue our diving without having to rent everything every time we go diving.

I was wondering if it would be worth it to continue to work on some AOW classes to continue gaining confidence and experience or if you would recommend more dives before pursuing further education. I still don't feel the amount of skill that I wish I had which is why I wanted to continue with education.

Lastly, do you recommend that two new people explore local dives at beginner locations to build confidence or should we try to find local more advanced divers to go with to maintain safety. I'm just lost on how to further diving as I want to stay active in it.

 

[Robert Gillcash]

Simple answer? Yes.
More dives? Yes.
More practice of the skills every dive? Yes.
More education? Yes.
Do as many dives as you can as fast as you can and practice all the skills you learned until you know them stone cold.
Take some more classes to expand your circle of awareness and raise your comfort level.
More dives means better skills and more dive buddies.
More classes means better dive skills and more dive buddies.
Win, win, win.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

If you don't feel you received the education you should have gotten to make you a safe diver able to conduct dives with your equally trained buddy go back and tell the instructor you want what you paid for. If your basic skills are lacking taking an advanced class is going to do little more than go over those again. Plus do it on dives where you'll be introduced to new ones in different environments and conditions. Not an ideal situation from a task loading standpoint. I would say just dive lots of easy local sites and polish your basic skills before any other training.

 

[OtherHalf]

Simple answer? Yes.
More dives? Yes.
More practice of the skills every dive? Yes.
More education? Yes.
Do as many dives as you can as fast as you can and practice all the skills you learned until you know them stone cold.
Take some more classes to expand your circle of awareness and raise your comfort level.
More dives means better skills and more dive buddies.
More classes means better dive skills and more dive buddies.
Win, win, win.

I'll disagree, only slightly. Do as many quality dives as often as possible. Take time between dives to figure out what you want to improve, and do research on how to improve that skill. Doing the same dive poorly over and over again doesn't help.

Classes are a huge value adder. But only if the instructor understands and can conduct a course that caters to those skills. Taking another class by the instructor who didn't instruct the class to the level you expect and need doesnt help. Take a class to learn a new skillset. If you get a card, great. If you don't, you still learned a good skill.

A lot of good instructors will work with you for a coaching session that doesn't produce a card, but makes you a much better diver. ALL good instructors will discuss your diving goals with you. They will help you decide what course will help you get to where you're going, and will help tailor the course to meet your individual goals.

Same thing with more dive buddies. Look for buddies who share your goals and will help you grow as a diver. A buddy who is out to get great macro photography is no good if you want to explore the inner depths of a sunken vessel...

 

[Kharon]

"A certification - any certification - is no more than a learners permit allowing you to practice and perfect the skills you were merely introduced to in the class. Dive & practice one skill at a time till you get that one down. Only then move on to the next skill. Start with buoyancy. When that is perfect move on to trim - and so on."

This was advice given me by the best diver I ever knew. A very petite, older woman who was acknowledged in the area as the best diver around, ever. I wouldn't even think of taking additional courses (except perhaps Nitrox) until you have perfected all the OW skills and can almost do them without concious effort. In other words, till they are a reflex that you don't have to think about. You will get a whole lot more out of advanced classes if the OW skills are natural and rote when taking the advanced class.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I'm definitely in the "work on your skills first" camp ... I advise my students to consider another class only after they've become comfortable with the skills they were introduced to in the one they just finished taking. People who go from class directly into another class usually don't get what they paid for. They're so busy concentrating on performing skills they learned in the last class that they have little mental and physical bandwidth left over for the ones they're supposed to be learning in this class.

My advice is to spend your money on equipment, and go diving for a while. Limit yourself to relatively easy dives, keeping your depth limits and dive profile conservative. Focus on the things you were taught in OW class, and take some time on each dive to practice basic safety skills (like air sharing) with your dive buddy ... those skills can be done while you're doing your safety stop. If you're having difficulty finding someone to dive with, shop around for a dive club or see if your LDS does regularly scheduled shop dives. Both of those often prove to be good ways to meet compatible dive buddies.

Scuba classes don't really teach you how to dive ... they show you how to learn diving in the right way. The actual learning comes from practice ... just like every other recreational skill you've ever done. Nobody learns a skill by doing it once ... or even three or four times. You have to practice. And you learn best by building on what you already know. So practice your OW skills till you really know them ... then you'll be in a better position to get the most from that next class you decide to take.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[AdivingBel]

If your plan is to mainly dive locally, I would dive as much as possible as opposed to "chasing cards." If you have dive travel in mind, I would find a good instruction environment and get my AOW and possibly recreational nitrox certification. In some parts of the world dive operators will limit your dive selection without at least these certs. With these certs in hand, you'll have plenty of fun, exciting dive locations open to you and YOU'LL be the one making the decison as to whether you are comfortable with a particular dive. Then dive lots within your "comfort factor," use good judgement, but mostly go have fun. Good diving.

 

[Peter Guy]

I try to encourage my students to both dive and take at least a couple of more classes fairly soon after getting their OW cert. It's my experience that most OW programs really only provide you with the most basic skills and dive comfort and you need to both dive to gain experience (as NWG wrote) and get more education to expand the knowledge base. If you are within the PADI system, it is likely the AOW program may not provide you with more than a "taste" of the five "Adventure" dives but you do need to start somewhere. (Note, I'm doing an AOW program for a student this weekend that, in all honesty, will probably help her out most by introducing her to two new dive sites which should provide her with more comfort in expanding her diving horizons. Baby steps -- always baby steps.)

Getting your own gear should also provide you with more diving comfort in that you'll get to know your gear and how it feels, where everything is, etc.

Lastly, joining a local dive club may also provide you with some mentor buddies which can be a huge asset.

Good luck.

 

[Rich Keller]

Hi everyone,

i just finished up my OW cert and was wondering if anyone had opinions on what to do after. First off, diving is absolutely amazing and loved ever minute of class and the ocean dives. My boyfriend and I are looking into some gear because we would really like to continue our diving without having to rent everything every time we go diving.

I was wondering if it would be worth it to continue to work on some AOW classes to continue gaining confidence and experience or if you would recommend more dives before pursuing further education. I still don't feel the amount of skill that I wish I had which is why I wanted to continue with education.

Lastly, do you recommend that two new people explore local dives at beginner locations to build confidence or should we try to find local more advanced divers to go with to maintain safety. I'm just lost on how to further diving as I want to stay active in it.

I would recommend you get your own gear as you will get much more diving in without the logistics of daily rentals.

I would not recommend moving on to AOW until you have more hours in the water and fully understand and master the skills you learned in OW. Once you are comfortable with what you have learned you will be more confident and ready to move onto the next course.

I would do the local beginner sites before anything else as they will be easy, shallow, less stressful and less complicated. Put in the hours and get used to the equipment while you practice what you have learned.

Even if you never go beyond the beginner sites these are some of the best dives. You can dive shallow, long, in warmer water, in the best visibility, with 90% of the life in the sea existing within the first 33 feet.

Go slow and only as far as you feel comfortable and safe.

 

[underH2Oman]

Hi everyone,

i just finished up my OW cert and was wondering if anyone had opinions on what to do after. First off, diving is absolutely amazing and loved ever minute of class and the ocean dives. My boyfriend and I are looking into some gear because we would really like to continue our diving without having to rent everything every time we go diving.

I was wondering if it would be worth it to continue to work on some AOW classes to continue gaining confidence and experience or if you would recommend more dives before pursuing further education. I still don't feel the amount of skill that I wish I had which is why I wanted to continue with education.

Lastly, do you recommend that two new people explore local dives at beginner locations to build confidence or should we try to find local more advanced divers to go with to maintain safety. I'm just lost on how to further diving as I want to stay active in it.

I would like to say good job recognizing that you need/want to develop the skills to make diving safe and enjoyable. Knowing what you want to develop helps you put a good plan in place for you. Write down what you want to improve on and make a plan. You may be able to build the skills on your own, but if you think you need assistance just ask the right people. Gaining the knowledge can come from books or knowledgeable people. Developing them in water may require some guidance depending on what it is.

Once you have developed the skills taught in the OW program yes take your advanced. If you think you might want to further your training decide what your end goal is and determine what programs you will need to attain it. Taking programs for the sake of getting a certification is not the way I would recommend you go. There are lots of certifications that are not needed to complete the dives. Knowing the proper techniques for the dive is valuable but a C-Card not always necessary. An example might be photography. You do not need a certification to take a camera in the water but having good buoyancy and situational awareness is a must. as well as having an understanding of photography. A photo program has benefits to those wanting/needing to develop the skills and knowledge but if you have the skills and knowledge it is a waist of time and money that you could spend diving. If you made a plan and your goals change so should your plan. re evaluate your diving periodically and make sure your plan is still valid.

I would recommend you think about what and where your diving may/will take you. Make a plan that includes purchasing equipment, possible travel and training. If your plan includes some specialty areas of diving (cave,wreck,etc) they may require specialized equipment. Rushing out to buy a BC similar to what you have been using may or may not work for all aspects of diving-dependent on your goals. Everyone has there own interests and goals and what you want to accomplish can be done-you set the plan and go diving.

I am sure you will enjoy your diving as I have for so many years.