How important is Advanced Open Water Certification for Palau diving?

[vladimir]

Or consider that maybe someday you might just take a trip where Nitrox could be a real advantage. AOW is your prerequisite for that.

AOW is not a prerequisite for nitrox.

I think nitrox will be a real advantage on the trip she's about to take, and probably on the trips she has taken, as well. Pretty much any time you squeeze 20 dives or more into a week, nitrox is a real advantage, in my opinion.

From another thread:

Actually, we are already nitrox certified.

 

[diversteve]

threads merged...

 

[DevonDiver]

Perhaps Judy is a vacation diver, like me.....she gets 15 days of vacation a year, maybe. If she does AOW, it will require sacrificing precious vacation time and dives. Five of her 20 dives in Palau will be spent navigating, doing fin pivots, doing math problems at 30 meters, or whatever else AOW dives entail, under close supervision. Not my idea of a vacation.

Wow... your AOW course must have sucked. Whole dives doing fin pivots and maths problems??

I guess imagination and creativity are in short supply

Here's how it could run...

Deep Dive: Student has to complete a narc test. Should take less than a minute. Student gets to enjoy a deep dive at a fantastic site. In Palau, that would mean a beautiful, coral encrusted wall dive, with a higher chance of pelgic sightings.. Student gets to see application of proper technique for conducting the dive safely, including a controlled ascent up the wall and safety stop in mid-water under the instructor's DSMB. Emphasis remains on enjoying the dive.

Nav Dive: Student has to complete a straight-line and square pattern navigation with compass & natural navigation. Instructor incorporates these drills into his overall dive plan. Student is responsible for using compass and natural navigation to take the team on a square pattern dive around an awesome coral reef. Emphasis is on enjoying the dive, whilst maintaining sufficient situational and navigational awareness. Student is encouraged not to maintain focus on the compass, to the exclusion of enjoying the dive... as this isn't how dives are conducted. The pace is slow and the team stop to view critters during the dive. The purpose remains to enjoy the dive, but the student has some additional responsibility to nav lead the team. No biggie...

PPB: Conducted on a shallow wreck, the instructor instigates a game of 'follow the leader', directing the student diver around, above and below various wreck features. Student is 'challenged' not to kick silt or make contact, whilst attempting various swim-throughs and maneuvres on the wreck structure. Student conducts hovers whilst observing the wreck. Instructor works with the student at the end of the dive, to perfectly tune their weighting whilst holding a stop with only their reserve gas remaining in the cylinder Nope... not a single fin pivot...that stuff ended when the student climbed out of the pool at the end of their OW confined training.

Digital Photography: Student is loaned a digital camera and escorted around an awesome dive site by an instructor who is expert in finding the most interesting photo subjects. Student takes 150 photos of various macro, pelagic and human subjects. Student's buoyancy training is further reinforced, to enable a stable shooting platform without contacting the environment. Student is shown how to process, edit and file their photos. Whilst enjoying a beer at the dive centre bar that evening, the student uploads their favorite 40 shots of nudibranch, shrimp, crabs, octopus, schooling fish, reef sharks...and a few diver portraits onto Facebook and instantly recieves jealous replies from their friends at home..

Night Dive: Student is taken for a night dive on a shallow coral reef. The instructor ensures that they are properly equiped and briefs them on the basic procedures for using lights and communicating in the dark. Student buddies with the instructor and gains confidence and reassurance to dive in the night time enviroment. During the dive, the student gets to witness the changes that occur on a coral reef iwhen the sun sets and enjoys seeing a diverse selection of nocturnal creatures that they wouldn't otherwise have seen.

That is my idea of 2 really enjoyable days on a fantasic vacation....

It just takes some imagination.... and imagination is what separates the good instructors from the bad...

 

[vladimir]

Wow... your AOW course must have sucked. Whole dives doing fin pivots and maths problems??

Yeah, simultaneously, so it was pretty challenging! I am pretty good at math, but when I'm concentrating on my fin pivoting I don't have much bandwidth left over.

Actually, I have never taken AOW, for the reasons cited above. I think if you're doing dives at the local quarry, why not? It just wasn't a priority when I dived locally. Perhaps the emphasis has changed since then, or perhaps the avenues for delivering the message have expanded. I took (but did not complete) Advanced Nitrox and Deco Procedures when I had a few hundred dives under my belt--the instructor saw fit to waive the prerequisites in light of my experience and the dives we'd done together. This seems like a sensible approach to me. A class that is appropriate for (conceived for?) a freshly minted OW diver is probably not suited for an experienced diver, notwithstanding the instructor's efforts to make it relevant. If I do decide to get my AOW, though, I will come to Anilao and take it with you. It sounds like a good course.

 

[DevonDiver]

Actually, I have never taken AOW, for the reasons cited above.

Those would be assumptions that you are citing then, not facts

Whilst the course offers the biggest benefits for very novice divers, I think the AOW course is very flexible to provide benefits to divers at most levels. That said, with your existing qualifications and experience, it'd be hard to factor a lot of value into it.

 

[highdesert]

AOW is not a prerequisite for nitrox.

Has that been changed? I was told it was when I did the Nitrox course ...

 

[DevonDiver]

Has that been changed? I was told it was when I did the Nitrox course ...

Yep, quite some time ago. It can be done straight off the back of an OW course now....

From the 2011 PADI Instructor Manual:

Linking Courses:

Enriched Air Diver – integrate knowledge development, predivesimulation and practical application exercises any time during course. Conduct optional Enriched Air Dive 1 as part of Open Water Diver course Dive 4. Conduct another dive beyond course dives to complete optional Enriched Air Dive 2 skills.

 

[BDSC]

If I were you Judy, and knowing what I know now, I would skip the AOW course.

My experience level was pretty close to yours when I took my AOW course. Actually, you probably have a little more experience than I had. But by the time I took the course, I had already done night dives, wreck dives, and a number of dives that were 100 ft. and more. I took it because I had heard some of the stuff you have been asking. Folks were telling me you have to have AOW to dive with many of the operators off the coast of NC or you have to have it for this or that. So I took the course. Other than learning a little more about using the compass, it was pretty much a waste of time and dollars as far as learning new stuff. I'm not saying I didn't have fun but just didn't see any worthwhile return on the investment. From what you have described, I'd much rather dive with you and have you as my buddy than dive with an "Advanced Open Water" diver who just completed their course right after the OW course.

 

[Bogtrotter]

Once you have your C-card you are pretty much set to dive anywhere for recreation, and in your case if you have a logbook showing significant experience and deep dives I would be very surprised if an outfit turned you down. Realistically the AOW is just 5 dives- tantamount to 3-4 hours of extra dive time. Effectively it isn't a qualification, it's basically a further check-out to see if you can go deeper, as well as some fun navigation, wreck, stuff. For a newly certified diver or those who have done little diving I think it certainly has value and would recommend it, especially if you intend to go deeper,or want to take some other courses. But for a certified diver with quite a bit of experience I'm not sure what added value you would be getting for your money in terms of actual experience, especially these days where the AOW are frequently just piggy-backed on the regular cert as an extra dive weekend. My advice- do it for fun and some extra tips, otherwise save the money and put it towards a dive trip or a new BC.

 

[rkj1969]

I didn't read the original question as "should I ever take AOW" but "do I need it to dive Palau"........I think there's a lot of reasons to pursue advanced certs and much benefit to be gained (from good instruction), which is why I'm Rescue Cert - but the OP will likely not find any particular cert level "required" by her operator.

Also - I did go back to my logbook and found that a couple of dives did go past 60' after all - ex. I was at 90 for a little while in the Blue Holes - but the DMs on the boat didn't actually check our cards as one of the previous posters mentioned, they really just based their decisions (and the groups) on the checkout dive we did on the first day.