I have to agree with what most said in their responses. I too posted the following on another thread:
I took the AOW a very short time after my OW cert. Obviously, I am a very new diver and don't consider myself "advanced" by any stretch of the imagination. What taking the AOW did for me was to give me an opportunity to continue developing my skills in a somewhat controlled envirorment (if any dive can be called that) with an instructor I trusted and respected.
As a newbie, going beyond the OW navigation was a tremendous benefit for me. One of our "non-madatory" dives was a search and recovery dive. I had to continue to develop and use navigation skills, bouyancy skills etc. Maybe I would have developed this stuff on my own, but I feel my development was greatly accelerated.
Even with an AOW certification I KNOW I'm a novice and won't exceed my capablities nor skill, but I am a much more confident novice than I was before the AOW.
I took the AOW a very short time after my OW cert. Obviously, I am a very new diver and don't consider myself "advanced" by any stretch of the imagination. What taking the AOW did for me was to give me an opportunity to continue developing my skills in a somewhat controlled envirorment (if any dive can be called that) with an instructor I trusted and respected.
As a newbie, going beyond the OW navigation was a tremendous benefit for me. One of our "non-madatory" dives was a search and recovery dive. I had to continue to develop and use navigation skills, bouyancy skills etc. Maybe I would have developed this stuff on my own, but I feel my development was greatly accelerated.
Even with an AOW certification I KNOW I'm a novice and won't exceed my capablities nor skill, but I am a much more confident novice than I was before the AOW.
