AOW courses to take?

[Karibelle]

can someone please explain to me what exactly do you learn in Boat Diver and Underwater Naturalist courses?

Won't comment on boat.

Underwater Naturalist is about what you see, what it is doing, where to find it and when, and what else you might find in conjunction. I see there are a lot of "haters" on this course, and also Fish ID. Well for me, I love them both. I work in a tropical location with lots of life. Our divers (i daresay ALL divers) have more fun and dive more if they have positive experiences while they're diving, and here at least, seeing critters is a big part of that. Knowing that if you look inside a corkscrew anemone you'll often find a snapping shrimp is cool. JMO. Knowing what a corkscrew anemone is, and what a snapping shrimp is are also cool, and things not everyone gets immediately. Knowing what fishy sex looks like. Knowing what egg casings are, where to find yellowheaded jawfish, knowing whether you saw a sea snake or a sharp tailed eel... these are things that you'll learn in UW Naturalist. How to find a painted elysia. Where to look for seahorses. What conch eyes look like. What was that bar jack doing swimming on top of that ray? Where do I find juvenile spotted drums? Why does that eel open and close its mouth all the time? Where's the best place to find xxxx?

That's what you learn. Maybe you know all of that already, and if so, that's fantastic. :blinking:

kari

 

[spectrum]

Pete. Overall I agree but I kinda like basket weaving and I think including one speciality that is a special interest for the student is worthwhile, along with the nut and bolt basics of scuba.

To me scuba diving would be the special interest.

However if the basker weaver instructor were on par with Albert Donalson I'd conceede.

Pete

 

[Karibelle]

DevonDiver, I'd say that a proper Photography course would fall in to Factor #1 as well... there is no way to teach people to take good photos without teaching them the importance of good buoyancy and proper environmentally friendly diving techniques.

 

[spectrum]

DevonDiver, I'd say that a proper Photography course would fall in to Factor #1 as well... there is no way to teach people to take good photos without teaching them the importance of good buoyancy and proper environmentally friendly diving techniques.

I have seen too many novice divers jazzed with photography bumbling along as divers while futzing with a camera underwater. The camera IMO definitely wants to come after control and poise is developed. I think anyone can understand that photography requires being steady, in control and possessing the bandwidth for the distractions and task loading involved.

Pete

 

[Karibelle]

I think anyone can understand that photography requires being steady, in control and possessing the bandwidth for the distractions and task loading involved.

Pete

You'd think, wouldn't you.

 

[DevonDiver]

DevonDiver, I'd say that a proper Photography course would fall in to Factor #1 as well...

PPB should take care of that IMHO. Yes, Photo does further stress buoyancy... but that shouldn't be the motivation to select that option. Assuming someone takes photo...because they're interested in underwater photography, then it's a course where a specialist/experienced/expert instructor can offer some very serious value-for-money.

Any dive-bum instructor (or DM) can run a D.U.P adventure dive. "Go see fish..take photos...enjoy". That's a rip-off, I think.

Dive with a passionate...published...photographer and you're likely to get much more instruction on the subject. Only with instruction do benefits like buoyancy get covered. Any credible D.U.P. instructor with expertise is going to cover buoyancy/trim/control/stability as their number #1 area for improvement. It's the foundation of any underwater photo/video skill.

With regards to PPB...in 22 years, I've never seen a single recreational diver that couldn't benefit from buoyancy refinement, including many instructors. Depending on your base-level of buoyancy/comfort, potential development really depends on the expertise and experience of the instructor. I see a lot of instructors who don't know how to effectively coach refined core skills. Swimming through hoops won't do a lot for anyone really IMHO. A well-versed technical instructor can work wonders - as can an instructor who is trained/enlightened on DIR-type standards.

 

[NAM001]

Here is my input... youhave 10 dives you need to concentrateon important skills before basket weaving merit badges

Night Diver-----------------too early and disorientating with out navigation skills
Fish I.D. =--------------basket weaving
Photography ------------- needs good bouyancy so too early for this course
Videography---- see above
Wreck Diving wait till you get nav and aow done
Boat Diving -------- YES YES
Peak Performance buoyancy ---- YES YES YES
Search and Recovery . good for after navigation
Deep Diver you are not even aow yet so >100 ft has to wait
Drift Diver basket weaving again
Underwater Navigator YES YES YES
Underwater Naturalist dont know about this but not a priority with 10 logged dives

 

[DevonDiver]

That's a great graph, where did you get it from?

I just made it

---------- Post added May 5th, 2013 at 11:10 AM ----------

...needs good bouyancy so too early for this course

Bare in mind, this is AOW Adventure Dive, not a full specialty.

If the diver does something like a Photo/Video adventure dive... they'll get a more realistic understanding of the foundational skill-set necessary for that specialist activity. Through that revelation, they can being a process of self-improvement with the ultimate aim of enrolling upon full specialty training at a later stage... when they are ready.

AOW can be useful for research/investigation. A good instructor will use the 'special interest' type of dives to help prime the student diver for development. I don't think anyone assumes that a single introductory dive is likely to create much tangible competence..

 

[btw2459]

I took PPB, search and recovery and wreck. PPB is a no brainer, wreck wasn't that important, however I liked the search and recovery because I got to see how a lift bag is used.

 

[Mike.D]

Quick question,

Boat diving specialty... Do you feel this is really necessary? Most of my dives are boat dives so i feel that it's another basket weaving course. Can anyone whose done this course please shed some light in this....