Getting AOW!

[Aloha Joe]

...I did mention that I wanted to cover more navigation skills during my 6th dive (PPB specialty) and we talked about using compass for search and recover. I’ll also make sure we cover trim and streamlining (now that I read the material). Hopefully I can prod enough questions to get what I need from the course.

 

[Aloha Joe]

Thanks Mainedvr. That makes me feel a little better I guess. I liked learning OW in a class dedicated to the skills. I guess I can look for private instruction if that’s what I want in the future. I’ll do what I can to encourage my instructor to teach (as I mentioned above).

 

[NorCalDM]

Why didn’t you read the material and review it before the dives? I think you may have got more out of it if you knew what the purpose was. PM me if you want some good shops to use when you get to the Big Island I think you will like the diving on that Island.

 

[Aloha Joe]

The dives keep changing. Today was supposed to be Deep and S+R, but ended up being Deep and Drift (due to conditions, but not what I had signed up for). So it’s hard to read the right material before we dive. Hopefully tomorrow is S+R and the PPB specialty which I’ve read already.

This instructor just sucks. No matter what I say he has to find a way to make it sound like I don’t know or he’s right. And it’s clear he doesn’t know all the skills and topics of each section. Even the DM that was with us: today I was in a hover position holding the rope and following the instructor to the surface, watching my speedometer. Everything was fine, and next thing I know someone’s grabbing me and pulling me off the rope. Later the DM said “I looked like I was out of control and going too fast”! I looked at the instructor and he said, “no, he was fine.”

The one thing he talked about most for the drift dive was the DSMB, and yet he said because of the current he couldn’t deploy it. No mention of entries or exits, he just talked about staying in a group and deploying the DSMB.

I feel like it’s a waste of money, but the reality is I’m getting experience diving. I can’t wait to get this over with and find someone else to dive with.

 

[Aloha Joe]

I found a local dive club that has instructors and specials on instruction. I got in touch and shared my experience with an instructor, and think I’ll get the chance to cover whatever I feel like I missed from AOW. A few key skills I want to cover:

*Buoyancy: how to control with different body positions/attitude, and I want to be able to deploy DSMB or change a mask w/o ascending.
*DSMB/Lift bag: practice deploying
*Navigation: general skills and how to apply to typical rec dives (dive planning and prevent getting lost, etc).

Maybe we’ll do 2-3 adventure dives from shore as part of an AOW class or something...

 

[Chilly_Diver]

We were going to do Deep first and Navigation second. It was a small boat and a strong current and they couldn’t tie off, so we ended up doing PPB first and Navigation second.

I’m kind of disappointed - PPB was basically “stay close to the bottom but don’t touch, and control breathing to control altitude.” I haven’t read the material yet but I have a feeling there’s more than that? We did one skill where I touched my reg to something on the ground. For navigation, we counted kick cycles at the beginning of the dive, and swam a square pattern using kick cycles right at the end. No mention of natural navigating cues or any review from the book. “Navigation is just to get close, like to find the area of a dive site or wreck or something like that.”

We didn’t do the square pattern until I was down to under 500psi. I was thinking he forgot, and if that had happened I”d probably say something to the shop. I feel like I”m getting the absolute bare minimum. There were several other divers who were just recreational diving, so my instructor was also their guide. I was the only student.

Am I too picky? Maybe Hawaii is so transient that it’s hard to find and keep good instructors? I know there are some out there. Or maybe there aren’t enough people taking advanced classes? With every dive I appreciate my OW instructor more and more - she was phenomenal, covering all the reviews, skills, and making sure we all were competent.

I honestly feel like this AOW cert I’m going to get is borderline pointless. I’d rather find a buddy who’s interested, read the material, and practice the skills together.

PADI’s AOW process is meant to serve as an introduction to the actually specialties and not meant to be a comprehensive overview of each subject area. In contrast, SDI requires 4 full specialties for their Advanced Diver certification.

 

[Aloha Joe]

Thanks for the reminder. I know my buoyancy interests are beyond the scope of the course (if that’s what you’re implying) but I did do the PPB specialty. As far as deploying an SMB and navigation, I believe both of those desires are within scope of the text/course.

I personally feel SDI’s approach is more appropriate. Having completed PADI’s AOW course (for the most part) I would not consider myself an advanced diver.

 

[ryanski]

Sorry you had what sounds like some bad instructors. During your Hawaii trip i am sure you will come across some good DM's that will give you plenty of tips and tricks. I am new to diving myself. I just got my AOW last year. I had what i feel was some great instructors though. I did wish i took my PPB first. That was one of my last courses during training. It sure would have helped out with the cavern diving i did that trip. Good luck in the future.

 

[Bob DBF]

PADI’s AOW process is meant to serve as an introduction to the actually specialties and not meant to be a comprehensive overview of each subject area. In contrast, SDI requires 4 full specialties for their Advanced Diver certification.

Yes, but Advanced Adventurer is the SDI equivalent to PADI AOW! so let's compare apples to apples. The only downside is that there are only four specialties in Advanced Diver, and the the student does not have to take Deep, so a dive op could restrict the diver from an "advanced" dive since they did not do a deep dive under instruction, a requirement of AOW / Advanced Adventurer.

It would depend on the time and money one had to spend on training how one decides to progress. There is nothing stopping anyone from taking the same route of progressing by individual specialties with PADI, or any other agency.


Bob

 

[TMHeimer]

In talking with and reading about shops offering AOW, it seems each place offers pretty much a set 5 dives. Sometimes that's understandable due to location of shop.