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PADI AOW
- Thread starter GameChanger
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AOW is NOT required for Rescue.
OP
Very true.
From PADI:
What are the PADI Rescue Diver Course prerequisites?
You need to be at least 12 years old, certified to beyond entry-level with proof of underwater navigation training, such as PADI Adventure Diver with the Underwater Navigation Adventure Dive completed, and be fit for diving to be certified as a PADI Rescue Diver. Any diver with the prerequisite training who is at least 12 years old may enroll in the PADI eLearning Rescue Diver online program.
Although this is probably the most vague & ambiguous "pre-requisite" that PADI has. I spoke with two different PADI shops in two different countries and I got two different answers. What are the PADI Rescue Diver Course prerequisites?
You need to be at least 12 years old, certified to beyond entry-level with proof of underwater navigation training, such as PADI Adventure Diver with the Underwater Navigation Adventure Dive completed, and be fit for diving to be certified as a PADI Rescue Diver. Any diver with the prerequisite training who is at least 12 years old may enroll in the PADI eLearning Rescue Diver online program.
The PADI shop close to me at first stated that I need to have completed the AOW course before I could enroll in RD. This is NOT accurate. I just need to have successfully completed the Navigation Adventure Dive. Also, you CAN enroll in the PADI eLearning course without the AOW certification or the Navigation Adventure Dive. I know, because I did it.
PADI "urban myths" abound indeed...
I did the AOW. I eventually did all 5 specialties and did not count AOW toward any of them. Goal was to dive as much as possible and learn as much as possible. While the specialties varied a great deal in how much I learned in all cases I learned much more with the specialty than with that same dive in AOW. The one exception was deep. I did the AOW version in a quarry. Instructor would not do specialty in that quarry. I did the specialty in the ocean but it was after a couple hundred more dives and went back to get it for my DM. By then I knew all the deep stuff from reading and diving.
T
The way this squares with your statement, "You need to be at least 12 years old, certified to beyond entry-level with proof of underwater navigation training, such as PADI Adventure Diver with the Underwater Navigation Adventure Dive completed" is that Adventure Diver requires three dives and is the lowest certification PAID has that is beyond entry-level. Almost nobody teaches/offers Adventure Diver because with just two more dives, you get the full AOW, and Rescue is the only thing for which Adventure Diver acts as a prerequisite. Boat operations won't accept Adventure Diver to go beyond 60 ft (if they have such a restriction) because Adventure Diver does not necessarily have Deep as one of its dives, and Adventure Diver is a prereq for the full Deep specialty.
So if you want to do Rescue with PADI, you need either the full AOW or the Adventure Diver with the Navigation dive as one of the three.
Like many urban myths, it is easy enough to get at the actual facts, you just need to not listen to hearsay and opinions.
This is directly from the current version of the PADI Instructor Manual:
The way this squares with your statement, "You need to be at least 12 years old, certified to beyond entry-level with proof of underwater navigation training, such as PADI Adventure Diver with the Underwater Navigation Adventure Dive completed" is that Adventure Diver requires three dives and is the lowest certification PAID has that is beyond entry-level. Almost nobody teaches/offers Adventure Diver because with just two more dives, you get the full AOW, and Rescue is the only thing for which Adventure Diver acts as a prerequisite. Boat operations won't accept Adventure Diver to go beyond 60 ft (if they have such a restriction) because Adventure Diver does not necessarily have Deep as one of its dives, and Adventure Diver is a prereq for the full Deep specialty.
So if you want to do Rescue with PADI, you need either the full AOW or the Adventure Diver with the Navigation dive as one of the three.
Like many urban myths, it is easy enough to get at the actual facts, you just need to not listen to hearsay and opinions.
I did rescue last year without AOW. I had to do deep, nav and search and recovery dives (adventure diver) in addition to rescue related stuff.
OP
Not confusing at all....
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I think lowering the prerequisites for Rescue is a good thing. I'm sure many recall as late as 2006 when I did it you needed 20 logged dives to do Rescue (also needed to do 2 Nitrox dives to get Nitrox cert.). That was dropped. As long as your are comfortable with general diving and the equipment, I think taking Rescue as soon as possible is best. Then again, when full AOW was required it was simpler and eliminated these discussions....
OP
So just for grins & giggles, I called a 3rd dive shop and I was told by the PADI GOD-OWNER that I need to have AOW THROUGH HIS SHOP! No Exceptions!
I politely thanked him, genuflected and ended the call.
I politely thanked him, genuflected and ended the call.
His shop, his rules. Those are not PADI rules.
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