AOW vs GUE Fundamentals

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Location
Oregon
# of dives
50 - 99
I am looking to continue my training and was curious if anyone had any feedback on how well the GUE Fundamentals cert is received when travelling? I travel to Florida, Caribbean and Mexico and would like to participate in some of the "advanced" charters. Deeper bull shark dives, etc...

I definitely feel I will be a far better diver after completing the GUE course compared to the AOW specialties, but I'm really curious is if it's worth obtaining both.

Does anyone receive any push back when presenting their GUE cert as an advanced and get limited to 60' depths, no drifts, etc.?

Thanks
 
Interesting question but I am long past AOW but would like to take the fundies class, it would truly be an advanced class.
 
I had this conversation with someone the other day who is in your shoes exactly. GUE Fundamentals teaches gas management for 100' depths, it teaches rescue elements, and certifies you for 32% Nitrox (GUE standard gas for 100'). The only time I ever showed my Fundies card was when I needed to show I had a Nitrox certification. In all, you're getting the equivalent of 4 classes for the price of one.

---------- Post added February 19th, 2015 at 03:24 PM ----------

AOW
Rescue
Nitrox
Intro to Tech

-And with higher standards than most agencies would hold you to.
 
what he said above, take Fundies if you want to go that route, though be mindful you will have very specific gear requirements for the course which you wouldn't need for a normal AOW course. I highly recommend going the GUE route though....
 
You may want to take both. Some dive ops ask to see that you possess an AOW card before they will take you to more challenging dive sites. It is a ridiculous requirement, as discussed in many previous threads. You will learn a LOT in GUE Fundamentals, but a dive op may not recognize a GUE Fundies card as a substitute for their requirement of AOW. GUE is just not that well understood everywhere. But if you want to advance your diving for your own satisfaction and not with the idea that it will satisfy any dive op's requirements, then by all means take GUE Fundies.
 
I have taken both AOW and GUE Fundies in the past 6 months (along with PADI Rescue).

AOW was a very simple extension of what we did in PADI OW. I didn't feel I learned very much. I learned 50x more in Fundies than AOW. There is really no comparison at all, the standards for a Rec Pass in Fundies is so much higher than AOW, and a Tec Pass is another higher level. I also felt that at least 1/2 of the people in both of AOW and Rescue classes should not have passed.

It boils down to how good of a diver do you want to be. You will be fine and have fun with AOW. But if you want to be challenged to really improve your skills, so much so that it is VERY noticeable to everyone you dive with, then Fundies is the way to go. But be warned, if I had to describe Fundies in one word, it would be "humbling". Not because the instructors gave me a hard time, just the opposite, they were very nice and encouraging. It is just that you start you see for yourself exactly how far your skills have to go. Fundies is the harder, less traveled path. But for me it was so much more rewarding.
 
Now that I read your question more carefully, I see this is exactly what you're asking. I think the answer is that you cannot be sure a dive op will recognize a Fundies card as being at least as good as AOW. I suspect at least some will not. Take both.
 
This has been an interesting thread. I know little about GUE, specificially GUE Fundamentals, so went and looked at their Standards.
I do not see that it is equivalent to AOW (no dives below 60 ft, no navigational work) nor is Nitrox training spelled out...it seems to be an academic subject without any hands-on practice at analysis, for example. I see a lot of Peak Performance Buoyancy stuff, and a little bit of Rescue.

So, from looking at the Standards, I do not see it as providing the equivalent of AOW, Nitrox, Rescue, and Intro to Tech. PPB, yes, and some Intro to Tech (if the Technical version is taught).

What am I missing?
 
Fundies is an assimilation course. It prepares you to dive with other DIR divers. The focus is on buoyancy, skills and procedures that are universal to DIR diving. The closest comparison of AOW would be rec 1 but even that isn't a good comparison. It's difficult to say where it is recognized or not as I've been all over the world and a small percentage recognize GUE just because it's a smaller agency. Obviously, a GUE facility does as do many technical oriented shops. To play it safe, either go on to rec 1 or 2, or take the AOW course. The confidence that GUE/UTD courses give you is immeasurable.


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Fundies will transform you into a rock solid diver with excellent trim and team skills. AOW is a lot of fun but doesn't come close to Fundies in terms of the training you receive and the skills you learn.
 

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