Going Deeper. Next step advice?

[RonFrank]

You have received good advice on next steps for your training.

My suggestion is dive as much as possible before your trip. We had a newbie Diving with our experienced group in Coz. Many of the dives average over 80' at the beginning. He did not like our group because we typically were UW for over an hour, and this guy was running out of air in 30min or less. He ended up sitting in the boat with the captain who did not speak English well.

My suggestion is to dive with folks that are your level. There is nothing wrong with doing shallow dives when you first start. You may turn out to be a good breather, but the more you dive the better you will get. There are some great dives in Coz in the 25-50 foot range.

You can also rent AL100's.

Good luck and safe diving

 

[Cairns]

Diving beyond 60 feet is not a main concern in Cozumel because most of the interesting things are above 60 feet. For Coz I suggest perfecting your boyancy control, get nitrox cert, and maybe get some practice in with a small camera.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

There is really nothing to add to the training information and suggestions given. Now for another important line of input. GO DIVING! Leave your dry suit home, Cozumel has never seen one, I'm sure. The fact is lots of open water divers dive at depths up to the recreational limit. That is not a good idea early on, but if you dive any walls at Cozumel, you can be sure you will going 90 feet anyway. Don't worry about it, you will be fine. After my last certification dive in Maui, my next dive was at Molikini Crater and we bottomed out at 79 feet. Viz was 120 feet or more, and it was a great dive. My wife has an open water diver certification, but she has hundreds of dives and over half have been to 60 feet or more. More than 10% have been over 100 feet, because what we went to see was at that depth. I will note she dives with me and I have been a PADI pro for more than 11 years. I endorse and encourage continuing diver education, but our sport is about skills and competence, not just what cards you carry. There are people with AOW cards that are not very good divers. There are open water divers (like my wife) with experience and skills that can do any recreational dive profile they plan. Of course technical diving and mixed gas diving always require proper additional training. So get some bottom time, enjoy some diving, learn from every dive, and then as an area appeals to you, take some more courses in them- wreck, photo, drift, and many other specialties offer meaningful additional training that will focus on the diving you like to do. Dry suit is that way, if you dive in colder water alot. In any event, it is clear you are jazzed by diving and want to "jump in with both feet." Be active, get some experience, and take classes in areas that interest you. Learn from every dive, even those you aren't getting a c card for taking.
DivemasterDennis scubasnobs.com

 

[RTee]

+ 1 for the next step after going deeper is to do it longer. While I have not seen a drysuit there in my previous two visits, I recall one individual diving with a full face mask.

 

[buddhasummer]

You've gotten some good answers about your AOW class. May I make another recommendation, since you are interested in deeper diving? Please read THIS article about gas management. This material will NOT be covered in your AOW class, but it is some of the most important information you can acquire with regards to diving deeper.

Coincidentally I actually stumbled upon this article yesterday I found it very helpful. The more I think I know the less I realise I know.