Cannot find a reason for AOW certification
- Thread starter wildbill9
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DivealotZA
Registered
I understand this, but if you're only OW and have been trained to a limit of 18m, they will have a reason to say you're diving outside of your trained limits...
Think of it like a car accident, if your insurance proves that you were speeding, they probably have a reason to not pay out, whether you still would have had the accident if you were driving less than the speed limit is a different story...
I mean yes we can go on good faith, but if your insurance is anything like ours, they fight to keep their money...
I know for my healthcare I have to state what depth I'm trained to etc.
I
I do not know what your health care program covers and what it does not, but DAN dive insurance written for the US market will cover you for diving accidents even if you have done something stupid or is not recommended. For example, there have been numerous discussions on SB about divers wanting to press or disregard the dive/fly guidelines recommended by PADI, the military, and others. Being a strong proponent of following the dive/fly guidelines, I called DAN to find out what happens if a diver knowingly violates those guidelines, and then gets bent flying home too soon after diving. Guess what? Even if the diver did something stupid like taking a flight a couple hours after a two tank dive, DAN insurance will still cover the diver. And one can argue all day what "trained for" means, but those in the know have consistently stated PADI certified OW divers are good to the the recreational limits of 130'. Of course that does not mean a newly certified diver that has not been below 60' should suddenly start diving to 130'. Training can come in a lot of different forms.
I do not know what your health care program covers and what it does not, but DAN dive insurance written for the US market will cover you for diving accidents even if you have done something stupid or is not recommended. For example, there have been numerous discussions on SB about divers wanting to press or disregard the dive/fly guidelines recommended by PADI, the military, and others. Being a strong proponent of following the dive/fly guidelines, I called DAN to find out what happens if a diver knowingly violates those guidelines, and then gets bent flying home too soon after diving. Guess what? Even if the diver did something stupid like taking a flight a couple hours after a two tank dive, DAN insurance will still cover the diver. And one can argue all day what "trained for" means, but those in the know have consistently stated PADI certified OW divers are good to the the recreational limits of 130'. Of course that does not mean a newly certified diver that has not been below 60' should suddenly start diving to 130'. Training can come in a lot of different forms.
urbaneve71
Contributor
i have been diving for over 15 years and never really found a reason to get my AOW -- but I am considering it now
DivealotZA
Registered
I'm not trying to advocate to do the Advanced, I'm merely stating why I would do it, and following our DAN here (yours may be different but I'd bet my buck they will apply the same rules):
What is not covered?
-...
-Diving to a depth outside your qualification and training or beyond the specified limit of your cover (max 40 m for Standard and Plus members and 100 m for Master members – DAN-SA must be contacted for all dives deeper than 100 m)
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- I just don't log dives
In in SE Asia, AOW a useful cert. We try to group divers up with experience using the # of dives, certification level (e.g., rescue, etc), and interests - mostly keep photographers together. In my experience, AOW certification is not always a reliable measure of dive skills. That said, I always have a better understanding of dive skills and air consumption after a checkout dive.
It will all depend on what is being taught in the AOW and who is teaching it. Not all AOW courses are the same and not all AOW agencies courses are the same either (NAUI's advanced course is called "Advanced Scuba Diver").
AJ
Contributor
In my experience certification is not a reliable measure of dive skills imo. It's about how the diver progresses after receiving that certification. I have seen DM/Instructors who were not worthy of even OW. I have also seen OW/AOW who were worthy of much higher certification. The proof is in diving, not certification. Certification is proof of training received (or payed for?), not much else imo.
If I have to go through it all over again I will still complete the AOW with couple of speciality courses but definitely NOT MSD.
DAN Asia Pacific Region.
DAN Divers Alert Network Asia-Pacific : Membership and Insurance for Scuba Divers
Read the small print.
DAN Asia Pacific Region.
DAN Divers Alert Network Asia-Pacific : Membership and Insurance for Scuba Divers
Read the small print.
In my opinion, AOW is neither a bad thing nor a necessary thing. My wife and I took it after 10 years and about 200 dives, including daylight penetration of wrecks, many dives below 100'. We did not learn anything new, but got some feedback on some of our acquired bad habits, and some info on the latest developments in gear, and set up. Main goal was the card, so we wouldn't get stuck on boats with newbies, but we did get a little more out of it.
For my kids, I'm going to get them enrolled once the twins hit 15,(as a bonus, it will save me the cost of two cards) they will all have about 40-50 dives by then, a good amount of experience, but still imprintable and should not have picked up all of mom and dad's bad habits.
Cert orgs if you're listening, some sort of advanced JR cert to eliminate the 60' ceiling for 13-14 YOs. Some additional training after a requisite number of post cert dives might be a good idea.
For my kids, I'm going to get them enrolled once the twins hit 15,(as a bonus, it will save me the cost of two cards) they will all have about 40-50 dives by then, a good amount of experience, but still imprintable and should not have picked up all of mom and dad's bad habits.
Cert orgs if you're listening, some sort of advanced JR cert to eliminate the 60' ceiling for 13-14 YOs. Some additional training after a requisite number of post cert dives might be a good idea.
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