how many dives until...?

[stuartv]

I couldn't see any point in taking an AOW class.

Instead, I took the individual specialty courses I wanted (all SDI):

Computer Nitrox
Advanced Buoyancy Control
Deep
Wreck
Dry Suit

Those were all completed before my 40th dive and I was issued an Advanced Scuba Diver card.

I did Rescue just after 40 dives. After my 50th dive, I was issued a Master Scuba Diver card.

Never had a reason to take an AOW (or the SDI equivalent, Advanced Adventure Diver) class. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to learn more about these different areas (like Wreck and Deep) than just what you get from one "adventure" dive in the subject area.

I've never been asked to show anything more than an OW card, and I have been out with several different dive operators whose website says something to the effect of "Advanced certification is required."

I started TDI Intro to Tech+Advanced Nitrox+Decompression Procedures at right around 50 dives. Finished it with my 82nd dive. Winter and instructor and student schedules really dragged that class out. Vacations to FL and Hawaii in the middle of it definitely upped my dive count between starting and finishing the class.

I started TDI Helitrox with 111 dives done and finished it with 4 dives and no messing around in between.

I'm finishing SDI Solo Diver next week with 120 dives.

 

[Compressor]

I'm getting old and can't really remember anymore. I know the dates (roughly):

PADI AOW 1984
PADI Rescue 1985
PADI DM 1985
NAUI Cavern 1989
NAUI Instructor 2002
SDI, TDI Instructor 2002
SSI Instructor 2002
NAUI IT 2004
NAUI Technical EANx 2003
NAUI Deco Techniques 2003
GUE Fundamentals 2015 (I enjoyed this one the least).

I always told my students to get some dives after their OW before doing AOW. Most listened to me.

 

[José Teles Reis]

Understand why you ask the question, but I may not be the best to ask.

I got the DM because I found myself doing a lot of instabuddying with new divers and I always was the lead and felt that the training would be helpful. It was never my intention to make money/career out of it. A good friend is an instructor and soon after the DM I started assisting him from time to time with a variety of courses.

I have noted that with some newer instabuddies that if you mention along the way that you are a DM it seems to make them more comfortable. I often do not mention it to buddies but if they are nervous about having a new buddy I may.

I have noticed that often times shops/boats etc grow some of their own DM and usually the DMs either become or are instructors too. Their is an argument to get trained in the area you want to work. You make more contacts that way also.

Did you keep paying the padi/sdi or ssi fees every year to be a Divemaster? what happens if you don't, will you lose your divemaster status?

 

[José Teles Reis]

I couldn't see any point in taking an AOW class.

Instead, I took the individual specialty courses I wanted (all SDI):

Computer Nitrox
Advanced Buoyancy Control
Deep
Wreck
Dry Suit

Those were all completed before my 40th dive and I was issued an Advanced Scuba Diver card.

I did Rescue just after 40 dives. After my 50th dive, I was issued a Master Scuba Diver card.

Never had a reason to take an AOW (or the SDI equivalent, Advanced Adventure Diver) class. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to learn more about these different areas (like Wreck and Deep) than just what you get from one "adventure" dive in the subject area.

I've never been asked to show anything more than an OW card, and I have been out with several different dive operators whose website says something to the effect of "Advanced certification is required."

I started TDI Intro to Tech+Advanced Nitrox+Decompression Procedures at right around 50 dives. Finished it with my 82nd dive. Winter and instructor and student schedules really dragged that class out. Vacations to FL and Hawaii in the middle of it definitely upped my dive count between starting and finishing the class.

I started TDI Helitrox with 111 dives done and finished it with 4 dives and no messing around in between.

I'm finishing SDI Solo Diver next week with 120 dives.

Simply amazed by your path as a diver How did you feel when you first got into tech?

 

[stuartv]

Simply amazed by your path as a diver How did you feel when you first got into tech?

I felt excited. I felt ready for it. I decided soon after I started diving that I wanted to dive the Monitor (one of the first ironsided battleships, from the U.S. Civil War) some day. The history there and seeing it in person just seems SO cool! That's a 240' dive that requires Advanced Trimix (i.e. hypoxic trimix) certification. Starting tech training was simply the next step for me towards that ultimate goal (hopefully, to be ready in 2 years from now or so).

Looking back 15 months to when I started tech training, a number of people here told me that I was not ready. That was without ever seeing me dive, just based on the number of dives I had logged. I still feel like I was ready for it. I had never felt especially challenged by anything up to that point. I always felt comfortable and that the required skills were easy and I was always ready for more. But, now, at the level I have reached, I feel, for the first time, like I have reached a point where I can sort of sense my limitations and now is the time for me to slow down and quit doing any more training for a while, and just dive and expand my comfort zone with the training I have already done. I am comfortable with what I am doing, but the next level will be diving with 2 deco bottles and I feel like diving with 1, now, is just taxing enough to my task-loading capacity that I want to spend more time doing it before taking on the next bigger challenge. All the training has shown me where my buoyancy control is weak and I want to get better at that before I try to do more.

You said you feel confident and positive about your skills. So, I would say, go for it. Knowing what your mid- and long-term goals are is really helpful. But, as you've only completed OW so far, pretty much any training that is available to you will be good for you, even if it does nothing but contribute to your expanding experience. So if YOU feel ready, then go for it!

I have no interest in becoming an instructor, so I have not pursued Dive Master. You mentioned pursuing that. If you want to become an instructor eventually, then that is a necessary step. But, who knows? By the time you have progressed far enough that you are eligible for Dive Master training, you might find that that has become less interesting to you and you might choose to go down the Technical path instead. Or do both! The world is your oyster!

 

[Freewillow]

I have seen PADI DM/INSTR graduate only one or two yars after the start and with a very small amount of dives.

I did not think a lot about them and no, I would not my daughetr dive with most of them.

But there are always exceptions...............

 

[José Teles Reis]

I felt excited. I felt ready for it. I decided soon after I started diving that I wanted to dive the Monitor (one of the first ironsided battleships, from the U.S. Civil War) some day. The history there and seeing it in person just seems SO cool! That's a 240' dive that requires Advanced Trimix (i.e. hypoxic trimix) certification. Starting tech training was simply the next step for me towards that ultimate goal (hopefully, to be ready in 2 years from now or so).

Looking back 15 months to when I started tech training, a number of people here told me that I was not ready. That was without ever seeing me dive, just based on the number of dives I had logged. I still feel like I was ready for it. I had never felt especially challenged by anything up to that point. I always felt comfortable and that the required skills were easy and I was always ready for more. But, now, at the level I have reached, I feel, for the first time, like I have reached a point where I can sort of sense my limitations and now is the time for me to slow down and quit doing any more training for a while, and just dive and expand my comfort zone with the training I have already done. I am comfortable with what I am doing, but the next level will be diving with 2 deco bottles and I feel like diving with 1, now, is just taxing enough to my task-loading capacity that I want to spend more time doing it before taking on the next bigger challenge. All the training has shown me where my buoyancy control is weak and I want to get better at that before I try to do more.

You said you feel confident and positive about your skills. So, I would say, go for it. Knowing what your mid- and long-term goals are is really helpful. But, as you've only completed OW so far, pretty much any training that is available to you will be good for you, even if it does nothing but contribute to your expanding experience. So if YOU feel ready, then go for it!

I have no interest in becoming an instructor, so I have not pursued Dive Master. You mentioned pursuing that. If you want to become an instructor eventually, then that is a necessary step. But, who knows? By the time you have progressed far enough that you are eligible for Dive Master training, you might find that that has become less interesting to you and you might choose to go down the Technical path instead. Or do both! The world is your oyster!

Thanks a lot for your opinion stuartv! Without a doubt what really matters is to feel safe and confident with all of the skills within your training limitations.
2 deco bottles? that sounds crazy and so cool at the same time it's great that you were able to understand your limitations and pace yourself! 240 feet? that's like 73 meters deep wow!

I booked my SDI AOWD for the end of the month!

Thanks for all the opinions guys.. really experienced divers with honest judgements!!!
you guys rock and so does scuba board!!!

 

[stuartv]

Thanks a lot for your opinion stuartv! Without a doubt what really matters is to feel safe and confident with all of the skills within your training limitations.

Feeling safe and confident is important before pursuing more advanced training. But, I think doing more training also does another important thing besides just giving you new knowledge and teaching you new skills. You may feel safe and confident in your current skills, but doing more training will ensure that an instructor is looking at you and he or she may tell you that you are aren't doing things as well as you think you are. I was a new diver 2 years ago and I recognized that just because I thought I was "good", that didn't mean I actually WAS good. As a new diver, I did not have enough experience to be a good judge. Going for more advanced training means someone who really DOES know (assuming you've found yourself a good instructor) will either validate your feeling of being safe and confident or correct it. Either way, it's a good thing. Personally, I thought my buoyancy control was good. The more training I got, the more I learned how "not good" it really was. Having good buoyancy control means a lot more than just being able to maintain a constant depth when that is all you are focused on doing. It means holding your depth even as you are doing all kinds of other things at the same time. Maybe all the while in water so turbid (low visibility) that it's hard to even read your depth gauge. It's easy when you're in a pool and not doing anything else. In the real world, it can be VERY hard.

Enjoy your AOWD class!! It just keeps getting more and more fun!!

 

[scubadada]

I have not done a lot of certification dives. I did AOW at 80 dives, personally, I think one might appreciate the experience after a fair number of dives. I did Rescue at about 120 dives. I did SDI solo at about 760 dives, mainly to solo dive with ops that do not know me. The best teacher is experience. Go dive.

 

[Erich S]

Being an old timer and having been certified in the lates 70s the first cert that I received was the Padi "Basic Scuba Diver" which allowed me to dive independently. In fact, I did many dives in the Keys with only this cert and never had a problem.
I was later certified OW and AOW.
So, is today's OW cert the same as the earlier Basic Scuba Diver Cert?