AOW questions

[tursiops]

What's "recommended" varies based on who you ask.. lol.

No dive from your AOW (or adventure dives) is "wasted". They are logged in your dive log and count as one of the required dives if you do that specialty later (so the deep dive from AOW is one less dive you're required to do as part of your deep diver specialty course for instance).

Unfortunately, if the five adventure dives are done with one shop and instructor and then the specialty is done later with a different shop and/or instructor, the adventure dive (even if in the logbook) may not be counted. The PADI standard says the dive "may" be counted, not "must" or "shall." So it is worth checking with the new instructor before making the assumption the dive will be counted as one of the 3 (for Navigation) or 4 (for Deep) for the specialty. On the other hand, the price for the specialty might not change whether the adventure dive is counted or not, so you may as well just do the dive over; you will most likely learn something from it.

There is an AOW manual now. I used it for my AOW course earlier this year, and you can buy it here among other places (I got mine from the dive shop I did my AOW course through).

Yes, you are exactly right. I was wrong in what I said earlier. In fact, the new manual is mandatory, because there is now a section in it called "Thinking Like a Diver" that needs to be covered as part of the class.

 

[Surfraj]

Just get advanced open water. I teach the course at La Jolla shores.
It’s a simple 2 day course;
Should not be more than 200.00 dollars including th book

 

[Aloha Joe]

When you eliminate the charter cost, it definitely seems like a no-brainer! Not many shops seem to advertise that. Personally I like the shore dive idea since a) I've never done shore dives and it would be good to do in a class, and b) I'm more concerned about skills than sights.

 

[yle]

When you eliminate the charter cost, it definitely seems like a no-brainer! Not many shops seem to advertise that. Personally I like the shore dive idea since a) I've never done shore dives and it would be good to do in a class, and b) I'm more concerned about skills than sights.

If you've never done a shore dive, then working that into your AOW is a must. For my typical AOW class in So Cal, I do at least the navigation dive and night dive from the shore. You'll likely find many other instructors do the same. And the remaining three dives can usually be done from shore also (although getting to 100 ft depth for the deep dive is a little tricky... AFAIK, La Jolla and Redondo are the only two beaches around here from which this is practical.)

 

[joe10540]

Peak buoyancy is a real gem of a class. For me I thought I was halfway to where I needed to be since I could hold a safety stop within 3 feet before the class. Now after the class I’m not vertical, I’m horizontal and most days I can hold a stop within about a foot but I still tell my new dive buddy I have a long way to go. The more dialed in you get your trim and buoyancy the more small changes you’ll notice and want to make better. It’s a good thing really.
My AOW instructor only did one dive on peak buoyancy during my AOW class but I went back with him for the full class and we did 2 days of diving for a total of 4 more dives just adjusting trim and working on bouyancy. It has improved my gas consumption noticeably probably from not inflating and dumping the wing as well as being more in trim making it easier to swim along. It has also made my diving more enjoyable because now I can actually look at the wrecks and reefs and soon caves that I’m diving instead of focusing on staying at the right depth.

 

[Neilwood]

Peak buoyancy is a real gem of a class. For me I thought I was halfway to where I needed to be since I could hold a safety stop within 3 feet before the class. Now after the class I’m not vertical, I’m horizontal and most days I can hold a stop within about a foot but I still tell my new dive buddy I have a long way to go. The more dialed in you get your trim and buoyancy the more small changes you’ll notice and want to make better. It’s a good thing really.
My AOW instructor only did one dive on peak buoyancy during my AOW class but I went back with him for the full class and we did 2 days of diving for a total of 4 more dives just adjusting trim and working on bouyancy. It has improved my gas consumption noticeably probably from not inflating and dumping the wing as well as being more in trim making it easier to swim along. It has also made my diving more enjoyable because now I can actually look at the wrecks and reefs and soon caves that I’m diving instead of focusing on staying at the right depth.

Once you "get" buoyancy control life underwater becomes so much easier. I was lucky in my OW course as I was 1-1 with the instructor so could spend an hour just nailing the buoyancy in the pool. the effort back then has paid off on reefs/wrecks as I have had virtually no problems holding my depth while passing through openings etc without having to constantly think about it.

 

[Aloha Joe]

I can only imagine, and can hardly wait to take PPB. I’ve been looking at options here but feel like it would be better to do after I move - it’s an opportunity to meet people and plug in to the dive community (and it’ll be warmer!) I’m definitely doing PPB before AOW or anything else other than rec diving.

 

[mcohen1021]

I dove @ Sandals Resorts in 2014. Not a bad operation, however, they would not take my wife on any dive deeper than 60' ft without an AOW certification [even though she's been deeper than 100 ft many times over the previous 4 years]. So she took the course. Price was very close [give or take $50] to what she would have paid here in Texas, and there was no cert dives in a cold crappy low vis Texas lake.

Had she had all the specialties, I am certain, it would not have mattered and they would have still required AoW.

 

[tursiops]

Had she had all the specialties, I am certain, it would not have mattered and they would have still required AoW.

Is this speculation or fact?

 

[Neilwood]

I dove @ Sandals Resorts in 2014. Not a bad operation, however, they would not take my wife on any dive deeper than 60' ft without an AOW certification [even though she's been deeper than 100 ft many times over the previous 4 years]. So she took the course. Price was very close [give or take $50] to what she would have paid here in Texas, and there was no cert dives in a cold crappy low vis Texas lake.

Had she had all the specialties, I am certain, it would not have mattered and they would have still required AoW.

Most of the dive ops I have been with would happily accept Deep as opposed to AOW. What they are looking for is a bit of card which they can look at and make a decision on the level of tuition that person has had. Deep cert trumps AOW for depth so any diving op worth actually diving with should accept it in lieu of AOW.