Taking AOW immediately after taking OW course?

[asp9208]

I just want to get your opinions on taking the AOW course immediately (i.e. within a few days or weeks) after taking the OW course. I have heard varying opinions on the subject. I have been told by some not to take the AOW until a while down the road once you have become more experianced. On the other hand I have been told by others to take it immediately because it teaches you some extremely usefull skills such as navigation and what to do should you, accidentaly or purposefuly, go past your 60' OW training limit. Anyway I just thought I'de post this to see what some of you think of the subject and I apologize if this question has already been asked.

 

[gfisher4792]

There are a bunch of threads here that talk about that. Most (including myself) view AOW as basically OW II, which just gives you a broader range of skills and experience. For the most part, once you hit 20-30 post certification dives, you'll only gain limited usage from AOW. I would do a couple (10 or so) dives, then take AOW. Overall, useful to varying degrees (intro to night diving!), but a prerequisite for Rescue, which should be taken by all.

 

[fan(t)a(s)tic]

That's not a bad description.

I took the advanced course almost immediately after OW. The reason for this was, that I wanted the extra training and "experience", while still having someone to look after me.

 

[Scottri]

Take it when you feel it's appropriate. Just remember that AOW does not make you an advanced diver it just means you have advanced training. There is a big difference. My personal recomendation would be to go and get 10 or 20 dives in before AOW so that you can apply what you learned in the AOW class and not fine tuning what you learned in OW. To me it's better to concentrate on the advanced skills when your bouyancy is good, your breathing is under control and you are comfortable. If you go right after OW you will be struggling with fundamental OW skills as well as trying to apply AOW skills.


Scott

 

[murphdivers286]

asp9208,
I just want to welcome you to the board.
You must do what you feel is right!!! Good Luck!!

 

[mania]

I had the same dilemma. I wanted to do AOW fairly quickly but mu friend advised me not to. Start diving, he said. Get some practice. And he was right. I did AOW having 50 dives. As a new diver I had problems with buoyancy. After 50 dives I more or less mastered this part and doing AOW was easier. I could in fact learn much more than I would doing AOW right after OW. But this - as always - mainly depends on the instructor.
Mania

 

[DiveMaven]

asp9208,
You must do what you feel is right!!! Good Luck!!

I think that's great advice! I'm new to diving, being newly certified in April of this year. (I'm new to this board too!) My husband (and dive buddy) and I decided that we're going to do our Advanced next year once we have a few dives under our belts. We plan to practice the OW skills on each of our upcoming dives (a skill or two for each dive), work on reducing our air consumption and bouyancy, and hopefully carry less weight. Since we have a trip to the Keys and one to the Caribbean scheduled already for this year, we should get some good diving (and practice) in prior to returning to Maui next summer and doing our AOW.

Our dive instructor for OW recommended doing the AOW soon after OW simply for the supervision and continued practice of skills. He also agreed that since we have quite a few dives planned already for the next year that waiting is a good idea too, IF we continue to practice our OW skills together in the meantime.

 

[H2Andy]

what gfisher said

 

[Mako Mark]

doing the AOW pretty soon after your OW course is a great way to gain some experience and confidence, and you dont have to be an advanced diver to start.

I say "go for it"

 

[CelticRavenVA]

I agree with Cancun Mark, I did mine right after I finished my OW dives. I mean like the day after. I liked the dive staff there that much and felt really comfortable with them. I think it actually enhances the knowledge you learned in OW, and under the watchful eye of an instructor. Yes I would agree it was like OW II, but was alot more fun.

If you are doing padi and have the option on what you do for the specialties,
Nav and deep are required.

I would also do night diving, and have that experience with an instructor first.

Other then that, you can choose the specialties that are needed for your area or are fun for you. Example: if you are diving a dry suit alot, do the dry suit specialty.... if you are looking for a fun filler do the photography....