PADI Advanced Open Water Question

[Rhyno]

Hey, thanks for pointing out the dive count (50 for MSD). That’s easily solved. At the time of any certification, an instructor could enter the number of dives up to that date for that diver. Again, just software. It isn’t hard.

To get AOW via classes (5 adventure dives including nav and deep), you first need 3 adventure dives to qualify as adventure diver, the prerequisite for the deep specialty. Since the first dive of each specialty course qualifies as an adventure dive, if you choose good specialties with a good instructor, you have a more meaningful AOW certification.

It just isn’t done this way very often.

I agree it'd be easy enough to do, but at the rate I see PADI's development move (single sign on issues and 'coming soon' features of scuba earth) I won't hold my breath.

Looking at it that way it's blindingly obvious, but even as a DM I hadn't really considered that the specialties don't really require AOW first.

 

[DanielRJones]

I'm happy to see someone interested in a specialty-based AOW over the sampler platter.

There are one or two centers in the UK that actually offer this way and throw in the aow for free.

 

[mcohen1021]

I always felt that most of the specialties were a waste of time and money. I think if you were doing something truly advanced like cave/wreck deep penetrations, a special course should be required.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Master Diver also requires one to be certified in rescue. See 2017 PADI Instructor Manual p. 104.

Don't need to look that up, as everyone knows that.

 

[Steve_C]

I did the Adventure via SSI. Then I later redid the full classes because I wanted to max my diving experience. (deep, dpv, drysuit, buoyancy, and then something else. I would have to check).

 

[Marie13]

I always felt that most of the specialties were a waste of time and money. I think if you were doing something truly advanced like cave/wreck deep penetrations, a special course should be required.

I can tell you there was a huge difference between the PADI nav AOW dive people I know have done and the nav specialty (SDI) I did. One square against, among other things, a class including a nav course of 8 different waypoints, with legs of different distances.

I expect the PADI nav specialty would be more intensive, as well.

 

[RayfromTX]

While I do take issue with some of the ways that SSI is organized as a marketing tool for dive shops and vice versa, I will say that I appreciated their approach to AOW. I welcome being corrected on this if it is shop specific in which case kudos to the shop I worked with.

The course I took was four complete specialties with cards plus the AOW card. Those specialties were night, buoyancy, navigation and deep. It involved one pool session and seven lake dives including 3 dives to 100 ft. Most of the skills were used on all the dives such as navigation and buoyancy. In addition, the instructor required us to plan all our dives with turn pressures and time based on our sac, time and depth. We shot a buoy on every dive and had a thorough team debrief. We dove as pairs but also within a team so we were able to practice staying in contact and aware of many things at once. We learned from our mistakes and we all were much better divers at the end in spite of the small number of dives involved.

I will say that it was helpful that we already had a bit of experience with all of the skills other than proper dive planning prior to taking the course. We had already done three night dives and three dives to 100 feet with our dm in Cozumel and we had our buoyancy and trim sorted and we had spent about a dozen dives doing navigation in low viz. That helped us to get the most out of our time with our instructor.

I will say that I am in the camp of "it's the instructor not the agency" and that is my opinion only. I am not an expert with decades of experience but I am grateful for what I've been given by the experienced tech divers that have worked with me. We continue to use these skills on every dive and we plan each dive with depths times and turn pressures. Obviously, drift dives in Cozumel are a different animal but we still use many of the things we learned. I am glad we had the opportunity to work with a serious, no nonsense, awesome instructor. He will take us further as our schedules allow.

 

[Marie13]

SDI has the same approach to Advanced. Did SSI take the cue from SDI. I did the 4 specialty Advanced with SDI and just loved it. It wasn't easy, but well worth it.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

SDI has the same approach to Advanced. Did SSI take the cue from SDI. I did the 4 specialty Advanced with SDI and just loved it. It wasn't easy, but well worth it.

And it shouldn't be easy. On some FB group, a PADI CD commented "Take AOW, it is a quick and easy class." There was a fairly loud smack of my palm hitting my forehead. No class should be quick or easy. If either of those is the case, it was a waste of time and money.

 

[RayfromTX]

I have heard of an instructor for AOW that had his students hang out on their knees at the 30 foot platform. He then took them one at a time to a slate at 61 feet where they initialed the slate and then he took them back to the platform to get the next student. That is how they got their deep diver certification. There is a wide range of instruction available. Shop wisely.