Aow

[skybird]

Had posted a couple of weeks on my choice of rather to take the AOW now or wait. I talked it over with my instructor at the quarry and decided to take it now. Is quite different than taking it now at a dive shop, or organized class. One reason I decided to do it now, is financial. I still have to rent most of my equipment. As long as I am enrolled in a class there, any class, I don't have to pay to dive, rent equipment or get air fills. The other plus is that he is going to work with me on navigation so I can quit swimming around in circles. The biggest advantage with my taking it where I am, is that I told him i was in no hurry for the certification, so mostly what I have done the past two times, is just get in the water and "play" and work on my boyencey and kicking skills. Have been able to reduce the amount of weights needed and have hd a ball. No pressure, no stress. If I get my cert before the end of season here, great....if not, I will finish it next spring.

I am now just discovering the little pleasures of diving, such as following a fish around.

SkyBird ( still thinking I MUST change my name)

 

[mike_s]

why change your name? seems fine to me.


Seeing how most AOW classes will require 2 or 3 days of diving, if you
can get equipment rental and air fills for free with the class, that's
most likely a "deal". most dive shops require you to provide your
equipment and air fills/tanks for the class. Figure that you're saving
about $100 bucks or more doing it that way (based on $35 average rental
for gear and wetsuit per day, for two days, plus at least 5 tanks and
air fills, plus at least two days quarry fees at $15-$20/day)

 

[Jeff Toorish]

I just took the AOW course last weekend. It is well worth it, especially the navigation part. We also worked on peak performance buoyancy, which I found very worthwhile.

Safe Diving,

Jeff

 

[cmt489]

IMHO the AOW course (PADI at least) is of much more benefit to new divers than those who have been diving for a while. Will it help someone who has 100 dives under his/her belt? Likely not. Will it help someone who only has 10 dives under his/her belt? Most likely. Plus, it is additional time with an instructor which is very beneficial when someone is a new diver...

 

[mike_s]

I gotta agree with what both of you said.

The Basic OW class now days, regardless of most agencies, is pretty much
designed to get people in the water and certified quickly. They son't
dwell much on other good things such as peak bouyancy or navigation.
Unfortually because of the class outlines, the LDS's aren't allowed
by the certifiying agencies to change the class any either.

So ... I think that the Navigation and Peak Buoyancy performance are
two of the best choices to be taught in AOW...

 

[Shannon M.]

This is simular to a discussion on another thread. I cut and pasted my response becuase it may or may not have value here.

If I may add my two cents for what it's worth.

Each agency has it's pros and cons. I think that all the major training agencies aim to make a safe diver or they would eventually go away. Marketing? Some scrape every last dime out of you better than others....most are for profit and instructors need to feed thier family like everyone else. I will tell you that being an instructor can be a slow way to starve. I don't know any that are making a million. I personnaly choose to do it because I love it. I hope to make a decent living in the process.

With that said, like some of the others stated, it's all in the instructor, regardless (and some times in spite) of the organization they represent. Look him or her in the eye and asked informed questions. Make a decision, and don't always look for the cheapest price. You are learning to use life support equipment.

I would like to make a comment on the advanced class. Most people look at the advanced class as a Masters level program. It's not. It's the next logical level of training. The term advanced diver is miss leading. It's advanced training, nothing more, just that. In the open water course your situational awareness is limited to stuff like, always breathing, buoyancy and stuff like that. The aim of the advanced course is to get the diver comfortable doing other things, like actually learning how to use a compass and trying to experiance Narcosis for the first time under supervision. Continuing education is important for more reasons than to pay an instructor more money.

Anyway, that's my two cents. Bottom line, have fun and be safe. Keep diving once you finish your entry level course. It could change your life, it has mine. Happy bubbles.

 

[wetrat]

Hey Skybird,

I think you are making a good choice. I am also pursuing my AOW (SSI) and with only 26 dives under my belt, the first of the four specialty classes offered has been a real eye opener. The first I took was Night/Limited Visibility diving. Here in Southern California, just about all mainland shore diving is "limited visibility" no matter what people say. (Boat diving the channel islands is consistently better vis than mainland shore diving here.) Yes, we do get those rare 30' vis days, but mostly it's 10-15', and the deeper you go, the darker it gets. I learned that with the right attitude and equipment, limited visibility diving can be as enjoyable as those rewarding high-vis days.

I guess what I'm saying is, for maxiumum enjoyment of the sport, it's important to keep advancing, and the AOW certification gives me the logical steps to do that! Let us know when you finish and we'll throw an online party - WAHOOOOO! artytime

wetrat

 

[Flodiver]

Had posted a couple of weeks on my choice of rather to take the AOW now or wait. I talked it over with my instructor at the quarry and decided to take it now. Is quite different than taking it now at a dive shop, or organized class.

Hey Sky -

Did Tony say where you would go for the deep dive? Or do you still have to do a deep dive for advanced? I would imagine if that is still a requirement (which I think it is) maybe you could go to ABWA - you'd enjoy that. I say go for it....

PS - Congrats on the tunnell!!

 

[adrisen]

I took the advance course though PADI and felt that it opened my eyes to other diving possibilities. I have also found that when I wanted to do a boat dive I needed to have my advance becasue many of the wrecks that we were diving were diving below 70 feet. Now 80% of my dives are around the 80-90 foot depth. Beacuse of the course I developed an interest in Night and Drift diving which led to a speciality here and there. The advance course provides you the oppertunity to try different diving experiences that perhaps you may not have considered before or were a little nervous because you have not done them before or what to expect. I am not an instructor so I could not say that yos you should do take the course but it is a lot of fun and can be really exciting.

Can it help some one who has 100+ dives under them? sure why not. I believe that it can benefit anyone who is willing to take in what it is worth. The oppertunity to learn and experience something new no matter how many dives one has. Perhaps that person who has the 100+ dives has never learned how to use a compass, or done a night dive, or has never gone beyond 60 feet. Who knows what they are missing. Then again you don't know until you take the course

 

[Doc Harry]

I believe that taking AOW sooner rather than later is very beneficial.

You'll learn a lot of skills and give you a lot of food for thought.

It may also help prevent you from developing certain bad habits by exposing you to more advanced skills early.

HOWEVER, just remember that taking the course doesn't make you an "advanced" diver, just a better trained beginner.

Be careful not to get in over your head just because you've got AOW.

And remember to keep learning and keep updating your skills. Consider repeating AOW later when you're more experienced so that you can get even more out the training.

You will certainly gain some knowledge from taking AOW now, but you will certainly gain infinitely more if you take the course again as a more experienced diver.

Enjoy the course!