Aow

[reel-wild]

thanks for all the input. i have taking the stress+ rescue and the nitrox class ,i plan on taking the deep diver course and equiment care because i got the number of dives and that will make my qualify for the AOW card

 

[shotthebreeze]

I'm holding out on my AOW until I feel more comfortable in the water. I'm a cold water diver, so I need to get used to the poor visibility and my range with all the gear on before I plunge 80' into the abyss called Boston Harbor. It's a personal preference. I wish you the best of luck with it, though.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

someone please tell me whats the big deal to have AOW card as i see it you have 24 dives a couple extra skills classes be it photo or computer diving or boat diving plus equiment and they give you AOW card there is no special class

That's a SSI thing, the required dives and 4 individual specialties but you can get one at other agencies. I place a tiny bit more value on the SSI card as it at least proves you've been doing some diving, without an instructor. With some other agencies (yes the big one) you can earn the aow card a couple of days after doing your open water checkouts, so every dive you've done has been done with a professional. Easy and cheap.

But little value.

I had over 2500 dives before I earned a aow card. Honestly there wasn't a lot for me to learn but I picked up a couple of useful tips. But when I was declined a spot on the boat because I only had an open water card, well it was time. After being subjected to an instructor for two days I at that time decided to turn pro myself.

 

[Druid]

AOW is like a bufet, a little of this, a little of that. It introduces you to 5 areas you can learn more in. PADI requires a deep, navigation, and night dive in their AOW cert, the other two may be set by the instructor, or by you, the student. I have heard that many places will make it dificult to dive if you have only OW cert.
As has been stated OW 60 ft max. Dive operators will not take you deeper. AOW, 100 ft max. this opens up 66% more dive opportunities, since you can go 66% deeper. If you take the Deep Diver cert., (separately) you will then be allowed to go to 130 ft, the limits of rec diving*.

A night dive is no longer compulsory, and hasn't been for some years. My wife did her AOW in 2005 and didn't do a night dive.

* PADI AOW used to allow you to 40m/130ft when I did it in '97. Dunno when they reduced it to 30m, but it was none too soon.

 

[aic007]

Like some have said certain boats wont take you on dives depending on your cert level. Others though will. I was certified in NY and my checkouts were done in 1ft viz water in Far Rockaway.

My first dive after cert was in Cancun, I told the DM that I was new and didn't want to really push it as far as depth and I never had done a drift dive. He said not to worry and took us down to 85'. I didn't feel unconfortable, made sure to keep a close eye on my gauges to make sure I had plenty of air and made it through the dive ok. MY buddy kept a close eye on me and I knew that if I felt uncomfortable to call the dive but didn't feel the need to.

I went to Sharm last summer and the DM wouldn't let me go past 60' until the second day of diving with him, and I never really went passed 75-80'.

Gonna do my AOW when I go to Cancun at the end of the month. I could definately use some nav skills, have done a few night dives already, as well as taking pics underwater. If I am ever going to do some diving in NY some wreck experience would be nice as well.

 

[Theunis]

AOW is like a bufet, a little of this, a little of that. It introduces you to 5 areas you can learn more in. PADI requires a deep, navigation, and night dive in their AOW cert, the other two may be set by the instructor, or by you, the student. I have heard that many places will make it dificult to dive if you have only OW cert.
As has been stated OW 60 ft max. Dive operators will not take you deeper. AOW, 100 ft max. this opens up 66% more dive opportunities, since you can go 66% deeper. If you take the Deep Diver cert., (separately) you will then be allowed to go to 130 ft, the limits of rec diving.

I 100% agree with that. If you want to do the advanced dive, get the AOW!!
It is frustrating not having your AOW and be told "Sorry you can't do the dive"!!
It happened to me and guess what.... I've got my AOW. Now I CAN do the dive!!

 

[ZzzKing]

...after all the paperwork was done, last thing he said to his students was 'im a believer in balance and you need to be out there diving, not just doing courses'

cheers

Seems that almightyhusband is more interested in producing good students than cashing in on them. Good for him!

 

[wjknobles]

i'm actually heading out the lake in a few hours to teach an AOW class ... we're doing navigation and a night dive tonight.

i agree completely that AOW can be a benefit ... but it can also be nothing more than another card if it is not taught properly. I firmly believe that students in AOW must be doing dives outside of the class in order to build up their skills and comfort. Going from OW straight into AOW is just a bad idea ... and it bothers me that I see so much of it going on. I know a few "card collectors" ... and it bothers me when I hear them talking about what class to take next ... when they should be talking about going diving and geting practical experience.

From being on boats in the past I understand why some operations require AOW for certain dives. The flipside of that is that they usually just require the card ... not the corresponding logbook or dive experience ... so as someone mentioned earlier, a diver with 2500+ dives is given grief, whereas a diver with <10-15 dives and an AOW card is given the green light.

Even though it is a pain on occasion I do appreciate the operations that strongly request/ require you to dive with them before going on advanced dives. I feel that allows for a better judge of skill and competency than showing a card.

Just my .02psi

 

[PM-Performance]

I believe diving off NJ requires you to be AOW. I think I read that on most dive sites to make bookings.
Other then that it teaches you to use a rec reel, basics of wreck diving and the risks of penetration, navigation, night and limited vis (which is nice to know IMO)
We used ponies too to get a feel for them.
Other then that for the most part its just another cert

 

[Bob Vincent]

Go to your LDs and find out the real scoop since your instructor (for some reason) neglected to tell you the right progression in becoming a real diver.

A OW cert is like a learner's permit. An AOW cert lets you experience different things in diving. You can best learn what type of diving you would like to learn after an AOW class. It gives you a "taste" of diving.

The "BIG DEAL" is making you a better and safer diver! If you want to become a "REAL DIVER", then Deep, Rescue, Night, Nav, Nitrox, Divemaster, Master Scuba Diver etc are the Big Deal!!!!!!!!