PADI AOW Certification: A Really Dumb Question

[caruso]

Where Do My PADI Dollars Go? - Scuba Monkey

 

[oly5050user]

To be fair, so do PADI and NAUI, that I know of, and quite possibly others. In 1980 PADI and NAUI could hold you accountable, withhold cert, for not knowing added material. PADI has since changed that policy, I don't believe NAUI has, but someone with more knowledge can clarify.

Not everything is in the book and it never addresses local conditions, I believe a good instructor will add the information to make you a better, safer diver.


Bob

True. PADI instructor can add appropriate material/ skills, that maybe useful for their area, but cannot withhold certification on abilities of added material . Of course he/ she must stay within training standards.

 

[JackD342]

Where Do My PADI Dollars Go? - Scuba Monkey

Thanks for the link. As my general impression is you are a basher and not a supporter, I was pleasantly surprised to find such a positive article at that link.

 

[Randallr]

@Randallr

Sir, you mentioned that you are diving for 35 years and you have less than 500 dives (if information in your profile is correct). This means that you were diving less than 14 dives a year. This is a very small number. If I would have 14 dives a year I would forget how to dive. It is the same as to have drivers licence for 35 years but to drive a car only few weekends per year. Definitely AOW course will be beneficial for you as I do not believe that you could have appropriate dive skills by diving only few times per year. You will spend 2 days during which you will have 5 dives. It is quite easy program but it will be a very good skill refresher for you.

Efka76’s overall point is correct - getting more instruction and refreshers is better than not - but in my case mostly moot. I did not dive for about 12-13 of those years in the middle. From 1984-1994, I did about 20-25 dives a year, and from 2011-today it’s been about 40 dives a year. In the past 8 years, I’ve dived Saba, Cozumel, Bonaire, Coral Sea, multiple parts of Florida, including deep, wrecks, hard current, shore, usually with a honking big photo rig. So I don’t need a refresher on basic skills.

That said, I’d love to do a Nav course, I’m sure I’d get some benefits from the formal wreck course I never had, and you can’t practice emergency maneuvers (buddy breathing, weight belt dropping, etc.) enough. I’ve had my regulator mouthpiece come off during a dive, had the chase boat lose me and a buddy on a drift dive, had my light flood on a night dive - I ain’t too proud to practice and learn new stuff!

 

[boulderjohn]

What does that even mean? The book doesn't cost the dive shop money if it's not purchased.

The books are purchased ahead of time and are in their inventory. They do not want to be sending away for books when a diver shows up to take the class. That is only done for courses that are rarely taught.

 

[tursiops]

And that the deep dive was to 70 feet for 10 minutes at most to open a lock or write your name backwards.

LOL. You need to find a new complaint; that sort of thing has not been part of PADI's AOW for many years.

 

[caruso]

The books are purchased ahead of time and are in their inventory. They do not want to be sending away for books when a diver shows up to take the class. That is only done for courses that are rarely taught.

Maybe the dive shop who offered to photocopy the knowledge and review questions doesn't keep books in inventory. Or perhaps they don't want to see student divers spending money they don't have to on top of the hundreds it already costs to obtain gear and the instruction needed for certification. Maybe they figure that the diver will be thankful and be more likely to use their services in the future because they see them as a friend looking out for them, rather than some strangers trying to squeeze more money out of them to enjoy a sport that is already rather expensive.

Just guesses of course I really don't know what motivates a particular dive shop to do something that seems to be frowned upon by some diving instructors.

 

[tursiops]

I really don't know what motivates a particular dive shop to do something that seems to be frowned upon by some diving instructors.

....and the law, by the way.

 

[caruso]

....and the law, by the way.

There it is. It's the LAW! Yeah and it's the LAW to completely stop at stop signs, and to pay taxes on every dollar you make, and to not drink an alcoholic beverage if underage, or partake in illegal recreational drug use, or hire a kid or illegal to do yardwork and pay them in cash, or urinate outdoors, or follow a gazillion other rules and regulations that govern modern society.

If you've ever driven 56 mph on the highway or failed to buckle your seatbelt or used your cellphone while driving (in a state that prohibits it), or played a game of poker for money, or crossed a street at a place other than a crosswalk, then you lack the credibility to make such a post.

 

[NAM001]

Peraonally I am all for doing AOW if not for the card alone. IMO it is a nonsense course. It should be a class that pushes to perfect many skills like nav night deep buoyancy perhaps dsmb's and understanding of dive table concepts. It is however teh first time for many to dive below the 30 ft they did in OW. that deep dive is worth it ecause each diver needs to experience not only being narced id it happens but that there are not monsters at 61 ft and high gas usage among other things that only doing it can provide. The existing content is ok for whats there but is lacking enough meat.