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I broke down and paid the money to get the AOW card so I could reduce my hassle when going out with ops that required the cert. For years I was able to talk my way onto many of them, show them logs, etc.

There are more dive sites/ops that require AOW now than there were 20 years ago.
 
I broke down and paid the money to get the AOW card so I could reduce my hassle when going out with ops that required the cert. For years I was able to talk my way onto many of them, show them logs, etc.

There are more dive sites/ops that require AOW now than there were 20 years ago.

Yup. Don’t get me wrong, I got a lot out of the course and I’m glad that I took it, but the primary reason that I initially signed up for it is domestic dive operators treating an AOW cert/plastic card like a gate pass at an amusement park. No pass, no entry.
 
It’s not uncommon for dive operators in the U.S to ask to see an AOW cert for deep and/or risky/non-standard dives. ex. Black water diving.
That’s kind of weird if you think about what AOW represents from the different agencies.

For PADI, it only means I’ve completed an overview of some specialties. Deep and Nav are included, but it’s not the same as a Deep or Nav cert. PADI AOW does increase the recommended depth to 100 feet, though.

For SSI, AOW means completion of 4 specialties beyond OW. Theoretically, I could take Coral ID, Fish ID, Sea Turtle Ecology, and Shark Ecology to get an AOW card. None of which would prepare me for diving deep, or in black water. The shop I used strongly recommended Deep, Night, and Nav as I already had EAN, so that’s what I did.
 
That’s kind of weird if you think about what AOW represents from the different agencies.

For PADI, it only means I’ve completed an overview of some specialties. Deep and Nav are included, but it’s not the same as a Deep or Nav cert. PADI AOW does increase the recommended depth to 100 feet, though.

For SSI, AOW means completion of 4 specialties beyond OW. Theoretically, I could take Coral ID, Fish ID, Sea Turtle Ecology, and Shark Ecology to get an AOW card. None of which would prepare me for diving deep, or in black water. The shop I used strongly recommended Deep, Night, and Nav as I already had EAN, so that’s what I did.

I went with NAUI. Their AOW is down to a max of 130’. My “deep” dive was 113’.

I think they’re really only looking at it from the standpoint of establishing exposure to greater than the bare minimum of training, which is OW. As has been covered in numerous threads...possession of a piece of plastic (c-card) doesn’t indicate that you’re an “advanced” diver. It just indicates that you’ve been exposed to more advanced skills and demonstrated the required proficiency to pass the course.

Most operators cater to PADI. I doubt that they’re aware of the limitations of the SSI curriculum that you mentioned. If someone wants to take a bunch of jerk-off specialities just to get the advanced card and get nothing useful out of the course, that’s on them.
 
That’s kind of weird if you think about what AOW represents from the different agencies.

For PADI, it only means I’ve completed an overview of some specialties. Deep and Nav are included, but it’s not the same as a Deep or Nav cert. PADI AOW does increase the recommended depth to 100 feet, though.

For SSI, AOW means completion of 4 specialties beyond OW. Theoretically, I could take Coral ID, Fish ID, Sea Turtle Ecology, and Shark Ecology to get an AOW card. None of which would prepare me for diving deep, or in black water. The shop I used strongly recommended Deep, Night, and Nav as I already had EAN, so that’s what I did.

The equivalent to PADI's AOW in SSI is Advanced Adventurer, not AOW. SSI Advanced Adventurer also increases the recommended depth limit to 100 feet.
 
Most operators cater to PADI. I doubt that they’re aware of the limitations of the SSI curriculum that you mentioned. If someone wants to take a bunch of jerk-off specialities just to get the advanced card and get nothing useful out of the course, that’s on them.
Even if most cater to PADI, I’m not sure that they understand PADI AOW any better. Especially if they are using that as a prerequisite to limited vis dives or dives deeper than 100’. PADI seems to be unique in what they call AOW. PADI AOW is not equal to AOW certs from other agencies. SSI and SDI actually require completion of 4 specialties. The examples I chose were intentionally absurd. I hope no one actually does that.

My point was that it simply makes no sense to require AOW as a prerequisite. I could see requiring a particular specialty if doing a bit more challenging dives or even having an alternate AOW or X number of logged dives. I realize they do it as a bit of a CYA. Just not a fan of arbitrary requirements.
 
Even if most cater to PADI, I’m not sure that they understand PADI AOW any better. Especially if they are using that as a prerequisite to limited vis dives or dives deeper than 100’. PADI seems to be unique in what they call AOW. PADI AOW is not equal to AOW certs from other agencies. SSI and SDI actually require completion of 4 specialties.

You are comparing apples to oranges.

PADI AOW = SSI Advanced Adventurer = SDI Advanced Adventurer

The three of them have the same program to increase the recommended depth limit to 100 ft.
On my limited experience, all operators that I saw requiring PADI AOW for a dive, would also accept SSI or SDI Advanced Adventurer.

I never saw any operator requiring a certification for limited vis dives and for dives deeper than 100', often AOW / Advanced Adventurer is not the prerequisite: deep diving specialty is.

You can check the equivalencies on the link below:

Recreational Sport Diver Equivalences - SDI | TDI | ERDI | PFI

As you can see, both SSI and SDI AOW are not a "level", but cards certifying that you completed a certain number of specialties.

My point was that it simply makes no sense to require AOW as a prerequisite. I could see requiring a particular specialty if doing a bit more challenging dives or even having an alternate AOW or X number of logged dives. I realize they do it as a bit of a CYA. Just not a fan of arbitrary requirements.

I do not think it is arbitrary but based on the agencies' recommended max depth training limit for AOW / Advanced Adventurer.
 
You have to do a NAV & Deep dive (and 3 others) to get PADI AOW. Problem there is my deep dive was to 63'. Maybe a dive to 100' should be required, but then again many areas don't easily (or at all) have access to a site with that depth.
I suppose any agency's AOW means at least you (probably) did 5 dives with an instructor. I guess that will satisfy a charter op's thoughts of liability.
 
That’s kind of weird if you think about what AOW represents from the different agencies.

For PADI, it only means I’ve completed an overview of some specialties. Deep and Nav are included, but it’s not the same as a Deep or Nav cert. PADI AOW does increase the recommended depth to 100 feet, though.

For SSI, AOW means completion of 4 specialties beyond OW. Theoretically, I could take Coral ID, Fish ID, Sea Turtle Ecology, and Shark Ecology to get an AOW card. None of which would prepare me for diving deep, or in black water. The shop I used strongly recommended Deep, Night, and Nav as I already had EAN, so that’s what I did.
The term Advanced can get interesting when BSAC Advanced Diver is brought into the equation. The course covers things like:
* Rescue management,
* Management of unknown dive sites,
* CBL and AS rescues from 20m,
* A minimum of 20 dives since Dive Leader to show experience of:
** diving from boats,
** acting as buddy pair leader,
** depth experience greater than 30m,
** Dives with mandatory deco stops.

There isn't a PADI/SSI equivelent
 
Even if most cater to PADI, I’m not sure that they understand PADI AOW any better. Especially if they are using that as a prerequisite to limited vis dives or dives deeper than 100’. PADI seems to be unique in what they call AOW. PADI AOW is not equal to AOW certs from other agencies. SSI and SDI actually require completion of 4 specialties. The examples I chose were intentionally absurd. I hope no one actually does that.

My point was that it simply makes no sense to require AOW as a prerequisite. I could see requiring a particular specialty if doing a bit more challenging dives or even having an alternate AOW or X number of logged dives. I realize they do it as a bit of a CYA. Just not a fan of arbitrary requirements.

The term Advanced can get interesting when BSAC Advanced Diver is brought into the equation. The course covers things like:
* Rescue management,
* Management of unknown dive sites,
* CBL and AS rescues from 20m,
* A minimum of 20 dives since Dive Leader to show experience of:
** diving from boats,
** acting as buddy pair leader,
** depth experience greater than 30m,
** Dives with mandatory deco stops.

There isn't a PADI/SSI equivelent

I guess everyone is focusing on the term "Advanced" instead of the actual equivalency. As far as I know, the equivalent to PADI AOW in BSAC is Ocean Diver.
 

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