AOW and possible liveaboard? Advice needed!

[Christian]

So I’ll chime in and say the opposite per forum standard. Of course it is better to do it all before, as each and everyone has stated. Otoh ... AOW is basically five normal dives except for the navigation. I think it is a course that doesn’t blow up a holiday like OW or rescue would do. And theory is not that heavy. A short chapter to read through on each dive and a multiple choice check point in the end (not exam). Each takes 45-60 mnts. Nitrox is theory only. Nice to have but not crucial. So if there are no options to do the AOW at home, do it on the boat.

 

[Diver0001]

Hi,

I originally passed by open water course all the way back in 2011 in Malaysian Borneo and stupidly, did not dive for many years.

Well, that has all changed as I went to Mozambique recently and did a refresher and a couple of dives. Now I have been bitten with the bug!

I would love to do a bit more diving and get my advanced open water. The natural place for me to do this is Egypt given I am UK based and the red sea is not too far away. I was hoping to do some diving in October/November sometime.

I have only just started looking into this and was wondering where people would recommend I do this e.g Sharm or Hurghada? What dive centres come recommended? I would also love to a liveaboard and am not sure whether I should spend a couple of days doing my AOW before, or do it while I am on the boat. If anyone has any opinion on this that would be great. Finally, could anyone recommend a liveaboard that would be suitable for a relative novice like me (I have done one deep dive before though). I would love to visit some sites with good shark sightings (seeing hammerheads is on my bucket list and I also heard two brothers is great for oceanic white tips). Also despite seeing several rays like eagle and blue spotted, I have never seen a manta ray but I am not sure the red sea is best for them. I'm excited to see what people suggest and hopefully get something booked! Thanks in advance.

Actually, if you're going to Egypt and you want to take an AOW course then I can't think of a better place to do it than Marsa Shagra. The diving is either from shore (house reef) or from a Zodiac. There are significant advantages to doing it like this because they have all the conditions you will need for navigation, deep and maybe night diving if you should choose. Plus a week in the camp will put you in a position to make up to about 20 dives if you wish which will really help cement your new skills.

As for manta rays, you'll be better off in the Maldives than in Egypt, I would think.

R..

 

[Christian]

I have seen manta rays on quite a few dives in Egypt (in summer), but there are not any cleaning stations (that I’m aware of) were you have more or less regular sightings. So luck is a bigger part of the equation than in some other locations.
Further south, in the Sudanese Red Sea, you can see the ”manta dance” in Mesharifa/Donganeb bay in september/october when the sea conditions are right. Unfortunatelly a time when the rest of marine life off Sudanese reefs are less interesting.
Maldives is a better place for mantas with several well known cleaning stations.

 

[Sunn]

So I’ll chime in and say the opposite per forum standard. Of course it is better to do it all before, as each and everyone has stated. Otoh ... AOW is basically five normal dives except for the navigation. I think it is a course that doesn’t blow up a holiday like OW or rescue would do. And theory is not that heavy. A short chapter to read through on each dive and a multiple choice check point in the end (not exam). Each takes 45-60 mnts. Nitrox is theory only. Nice to have but not crucial. So if there are no options to do the AOW at home, do it on the boat.

Of course it can be done onboard (that means money for the guide...).

In my opinion, this should be only if it's too expensive or difficult to take time where you live.
Doing it before means more experience, always usefull when you are on holidays... anyway, do it how you feel it, it's always the good way.

 

[DiveNacala]

I personally prefer doing training dives at my destination, and AOW certification dives allow ample time to enjoy the sites. NITROX certification doesn't require dives anymore and you can complete the curriculum online.