I have no interest in getting a Rescue Diver certification, and virtually all the diving I do is around Cozumel. If and when I plan a dive trip to where AOW is necessary I'll get mine then.About all the skills gained from AOW can be accumulated with dive experience, however, AOW is also the doorway to a rescue cert, skills you won't gain through dive experience and that cert will make you an exponentially better diver, safer diver and an asset to other divers, not to mention open doors to dives you're restricted from, not in Coz but elsewhere.