AOW=completed

[Sirelroka]

vkalia -- over a beer, you say? Hmm... where do I sign up for your class?

I see where you are coming from on the keeping the classroom stuff to a minimum, but in my case there wasn't a whole lot of all that good stuff you mentioned being talked about on the boat or anywhere else either. I would have enjoyed/gotten a lot out of chatting about air consumption and finning techniques. I guess the class just left me wanting more information (which I suppose is the point, no?). Then again I've always liked learning and going further in depth than is necessary.

 

[BeachDiver]

Congrats on your AOW. Where in FL did you do your cert. dives?

 

[Sirelroka]

Over in Fort Lauderdale which is about 30 or so minutes from where I live. Having moved here recently I don't know a whole lot of dive operations. Then one of my friends from Michigan (who was also interested in AOW) was coming for a visit and we found one called Pro Dive online. So we used them and it worked out very well. Their boat was nice, they shop peeps were very patient and helpful, and the dives were very cool. I'm sure I will be checking out more places and hopefully some shore diving too. But I've never done that before in the ocean so I'm a little nervous about it. I really enjoyed it! How is the diving up in Orlando?

 

[clgsamson]

Woot! I just completed my AOW this past weekend. So I'm doin' a little dance. We saw a nurse shark on the night dive and on the deep dive we saw a huge greater amberjack. It was sweet! Maybe moving to Florida for my husband's job wasn't so bad after all.

Now quit posting and rack 'em dives

Oops, congrats!

 

[vkalia]

vkalia -- over a beer, you say? Hmm... where do I sign up for your class?

Heh, if you're buying the beer, then wherever you want

[quote[I see where you are coming from on the keeping the classroom stuff to a minimum, but in my case there wasn't a whole lot of all that good stuff you mentioned being talked about on the boat or anywhere else either. I would have enjoyed/gotten a lot out of chatting about air consumption and finning techniques. I guess the class just left me wanting more information (which I suppose is the point, no?). [/QUOTE]

To address your last statement, no - no class should leave you "wanting" for information. To be fair to your instructor, some agencies discourage teaching more than what is defined in the standards and depending on the type of insurance cover that their shop has, he may have been constrained by that. But this whole business of diving being run by lawyers is a different can of worms and we arent going there (I hope!).

However, the bright side is that you can acquire a lot of the information/knowledge skill that you want by simply diving. The best way to become a better diver, IMO, is to dive. Chat with more experienced divers on the boat, dive in different conditions, etc.

Happy diving,
Vandit

 

[Argos]

We're doing AOW soon. Did you find it fun or was it pretty laborous like the OW diving. I know you don't do the shared breating and mask floods and some of the more tedious things, but all in all was it fun or stressful?

It should always be fun and not stressful.....If you find yourselve getting stressed tell your Instr to slow down.........Its not a competition !!:14:

 

[Argos]

Thanks for the info. From what I understand there are three required courses, Deep, compass, and I think peak buoyancy; the other two are the shops picks.

The two required specs for PADI AOWD are Deep and Navigation.........the other three you can pick from a wide variety.

 

[Amberjack]

on the deep dive we saw a huge greater amberjack. It was sweet!

Yay, amberjacks! Seeing a big school of those things was the highlight of my OW cert. dives. (Hence the name.)

Thanks for the info about AOW - I'm looking forward to getting there at some point - need to do some more diving first though.

 

[Scuba Brad]

Wait until those LDS in Flordia see a newly certified student walk into their stores........you'll learn a new meaning for "just saw a shark".

Happy Diving

 

[ScubyDoo]

Woot! I just completed my AOW this past weekend. So I'm doin' a little dance. We saw a nurse shark on the night dive and on the deep dive we saw a huge greater amberjack. It was sweet! Maybe moving to Florida for my husband's job wasn't so bad after all.

\

Congrats... Time to sign up for Rescue now.. *S*