AOW to do the Grove..What's up with that!

[RonFrank]

When I checked in with Aquanuts they asked if I was interested in doing the Grove. I had dove this a week previous, but was not sure if my Cuz was interested in doing it. Tammy is a Marine Biologist and has been diving since the mid 70's, maybe before that. However I was not sure of what level of certification she has.

So I said, well we maybe interested, and they asked if Tammy was AOW certified. I said I really was not sure, but told them she has been diving for 20+ years, and actively dives on a regular basis. They replied that was not good enough, she needed an AOW certification... WHAT? :toilet

As it turned out, she had one, however what the Ell is up with That? Is this common at most of the PADI shops? I'm very positive that we could have Dove the Grove with a different OP even if we were both just OW (which we were not), but when does a card matter more than a couple decades of experience?

[JoeFL]

Hi,

That's the reason I haven't dove it. I want to though, so it will probably be the reason that I get my AOW... just have to come up with the $300.

I have been diving about 13 years now, but never got AOW (just NAUI OW1), mainly because of the expense. I am just an average diver, many are far better with a lot more dives than I have, and I'm sure many are worse, but all that matters to many dive shops is that AOW cert that just about any newbie diver could get within a month of basic OW certification.

I understand that due to liability issues dive ops want some insurance that the divers they are taking out are 'qualified' to make an 'advanced' dive, but an AOW certification can be pretty meaningless... It all depends on the diver. I think a log book would be a much better tool for the dive ops to use to judge someones skill level.

[Brian1968]

Sadly, for a lot of dive shops out there it is common.

But I'm sure that there are other shops in Key Largo that would have no problem taking Tammy out to the Spiegel based on her experience.

I'm assuming that she has some form of paperwork, log, or whatever to back her up. Just because you're staying with Aquanuts doesn't preclude you from going to another op to get to a site you want (been there, done it). If Aquanuts were staying in business then it might be another hint to them that some of their rules are a bit inflexible. (*Requiring* a computer on the deep dives is a particular thorn in my side). As it is....well....at least you'll get to do the dive you want.

[RonFrank]

I paid $125 for my AOW. It was a XMAS special, and included all CO dives, and the course materials with the DVD. In FL I've seen AOW for under $200 (can't remember if that included materials). The materials for the AOW can be found on Ebay sometimes for under $20 with shipping. If that does not include the DVD, I'd not worry about it. The OW DVD IMO is very good, however the AOW DVD is almost useless (PADI) and there is nothing in it that is necessary if you have the book.

[JoeFL]

I paid $125 for my AOW. It was a XMAS special, and included all CO dives, and the course materials with the DVD. In FL I've seen AOW for under $200 (can't remember if that included materials). The materials for the AOW can be found on Ebay sometimes for under $20 with shipping. If that does not include the DVD, I'd not worry about it. The OW DVD IMO is very good, however the AOW DVD is almost useless (PADI) and there is nothing in it that is necessary if you have the book.

The $300 includes the course material (I think) and 2 boat dives. I was rounding up also. It's probably more like $280.

Thanks for the tip on Ebay. I will look into that if needed.

[The Kraken]

I personally know of a father/daughter who got their OW together at a LDS. Bought a trip through the same LDS to do their certification dives and picked up their AOW's on the same trip.

Now tell me that these two are "qualified" to dive the Grove while someone who's been diving for 20 years isn't.

All they have to do is flash the card and down they go.

I think that pretty much sums it all up.

the K

[tedwhiteva]

I personally know of a father/daughter who got their OW together at a LDS. Bought a trip through the same LDS to do their certification dives and picked up their AOW's on the same trip.

Now tell me that these two are "qualified" to dive the Grove while someone who's been diving for 20 years isn't.

All they have to do is flash the card and down they go.

I think that pretty much sums it all up.

the K

So if you were a dive operator, what would you tell your insurance company you check for on "tougher" dives? How long does it take to write in a log book?

[The Kraken]

Ted,
Your point is well taken.
The gist of my post is that I think that there is an inordinate amount of difference between what a certification card "allows" a diver to do and what the diver is "qualified" to do.

I know this is something that probably will never change, but I truly wish there was some standardization among certifying agencies that could prevent such chasms between experience and certification and bring them all to somewhat of an equal footing.

the K

[Corigan]

I'm with the kraken on this one. I was at vortex one day. Some guy was working on his AOW. He had just finished OW the day before.

Matt

[mike_s]

I personally don't think that some of the dive shops in Key Largo want to let anyone dive the Grove.

They want them all to dive "easy" no current dives becuase it's easier on them.
We had our last trip boat operator (who was the shop owner) try that on us.

We wanted to dive the Duane, but he gave us the sob story about it so we said
fine, take us to the Speigel. We got out there and there were other boats on
the wreck, but he talked about how bad the current was and wanted us
to go over and dive the Benwood (which is a good wreck) and molasses reef.

Of course they had no problem charging us the $10 bucks for the stupid little
"dive medallion" they want you to purchase to dive the Grove.