What now? Adventure Diver? Advanced? Something else?

[matriga]

Hello everyone!
I'm new here. I dived yesterday and my love for the sport has grown significantly!<br>I have my paid open water certification since november and haven't done any course afterwards. I'm going on a diving trip to egypt in october. I don't know what course to follow? I don't want to specialize. My focus is to get more skills and develop the basics.&nbsp;<br>What would you say: the adventure diver or the advanced OW? Or is there another course I can follow with my OW certification?
Thank you!

 

[Shark Bait!]

Save your money on courses, and spend it on just going diving! Build on the skills you learned in OW and practice on your buoyancy and finning techniques. Try not to flail around with your hands and just relax and enjoy the dives.

 

[Bopper]

I think Advanced Open Water and Nitrox are great follow ups to initial certification.

However, I believe - if you really want to get good- then you'll watch threads on these boards and pay close attention. There is A LOT (overwhelming, really) of good knowledge on here. For me its like having 30 instructors discussing and arguing back and forth about a wide array of topics that you wouldn't even dream about as a new diver. Between the Basic and Advanced Scuba Discussions you'll have more than enough to chew on. What will really matter is your ability to listen and decipher what people are saying. Sometimes it's not so obvious.

 

[gcarter]

I did a full season of diving (and a lot of reading) to gain some more comfort and experience before going back to the classroom. I am glad I did, as I feel that I got more out of my AOW as a result.

 

[ajduplessis]

Nitrox and AOW will help a lot for your trip to Egypt!!

 

[matriga]

What is nitrox ?

 

[TSandM]

Nitrox is air that has had additional oxygen added to it, diluting the nitrogen so you don't absorb as much. It allows longer bottom times (or greater conservativism) in the middle depth ranges, between 60 and 100 feet or so. (It's not terribly necessary for shallower dives, and doesn't offer a great deal of advantage in deeper dives.)

I think the one thing that new divers really need to do is dive. Buoyancy is something you can't learn from a book or a class; you have to learn it by practicing, over and over again. A good instructor or mentor can make the process a little easier or a little faster, but you still have to put in the time. If you learn best in a structured setting, taking the advanced open water class will offer you that. If you learn better by trial and error, finding some dive buddies and just getting wet may be just as good, or even better. Sometimes the very best option is to find a good, solid diver to act as a mentor -- to be a buddy and handle the things you can't when you are learning, and to give you some tips on how to make things easier.

 

[matriga]

Thanks!

 

[supergaijin]

+1 for not doing a course and just diving.
Although I base my income around diving- I try to dissuade beginner divers from signing up for additional courses until they have shown that they are comfortable doing the basic skills.... which come from just diving.

This may sound like internet bravado, but I truly feel this way- it helps that I don't actually make that much from AOW courses

 

[spectrum]

Just go diving and be sure the dives you schedule are within the scope of your training. With your limited experience and infrequent diving further training is not going to be a worthwhile experience.

Pete