Key Largo and AOW? What if we don't have it?

[wildbill9]

Our best friends, my wife and myself are going to Key Largo in 5 weeks I am the only one who is adv. Certified and we had planned for a week of wreck diving. None of us are newbies- we have all been certified for 25+ years and the most inexperienced still has 300 plus dives. My wife and I just got back from Little.Cayman (14 dives in July) and more than half 80+ feet. In May the 4 of us went.to Bonaire (16 dives) again half over 80 feet. Will a dive operator accept our dive logs and waive the AOW requirement? Thanks Bill

 

[5280Steve]

Most people/operators I've dived with in Largo will keep the group together and give you a good wreck dive at appropriate depths. Even the Vandenberg can be dove upon at depths from 45' to about 140 feet. The obvious long-term answer to the is for people who want to do wreck dives to get AOW certified and not have to worry with it ever again. However everyone, and even in Key Largo, will have different rules for each dive operator and those rules/guidelines are subject to change depending on the specific configuration of the group, demonstrated ability (which may have little to do with the total number of dives under a diver's belt), weather, visibility.... on any given day. Either way there is plenty to dive on around Largo.

 

[oldschoolto]

The way most shops are... I'll need AOW cards, boat diver specialty, wreck diver specialty and Deep diver specialty... I'm sure they have a few more they will make you get.. Like Down line specialist and Barnacle avoiding specialists..

Jim...

 

[divad]

Most people/operators I've dived with in Largo will keep the group together and give you a good wreck dive at appropriate depths. . Either way there is plenty to dive on around Largo.

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[sportxlh]

Before I got my advanced open water cert, several shops let me dive the deep wrecks given my experience and log book and the fact I was diving in WPB and Jupiter every weekend at 80+ feet and was Nitox certified. It's still easier to have than not since some shops have firm policies.

Once you settle on a shop, call them and see if their policies are acceptable to you.

 

[scubadada]

Our best friends, my wife and myself are going to Key Largo in 5 weeks I am the only one who is adv. Certified and we had planned for a week of wreck diving. None of us are newbies- we have all been certified for 25+ years and the most inexperienced still has 300 plus dives. My wife and I just got back from Little.Cayman (14 dives in July) and more than half 80+ feet. In May the 4 of us went.to Bonaire (16 dives) again half over 80 feet. Will a dive operator accept our dive logs and waive the AOW requirement? Thanks Bill

Some operators accept two or more dives to 80 feet or below within the last year (Ocean Divers is one example). Your log books from Little Cayman or Bonaire would suffice. I agree with the post above, contact the operator(s) by email or phone, well ahead of time. You don't want surprises later.

 

[CajunDiva]

It probably seems ridiculous, but there are advantages and disadvantages to having great diving in our own back yard. Go to Little Cayman and Bonaire and dive beyond your certification...that's one thing. They have their own way of doing things.

But to go and dive in the United States with a company that is operating within the United States legal system and expect them to do ANY LESS than the law requires is just not fair. In this case, I'm not sure what is legal and what is not, but I do know one thing. If a dive op takes them out to dive the Spiegel Grove and takes them down to 110' and something awful happens, who do you think would be the first to blame - the divers who wanted to dive beyond their certified limits or the dive op that took them there?

 

[gr8jab]

But to go and dive in the United States with a company that is operating within the United States legal system and expect them to do ANY LESS than the law requires is just not fair. In this case, I'm not sure what is legal and what is not, but I do know one thing. If a dive op takes them out to dive the Spiegel Grove and takes them down to 110' and something awful happens, who do you think would be the first to blame - the divers who wanted to dive beyond their certified limits or the dive op that took them there?

There is no law concerning this in the USA.

Maximum depths are recommendations by certification agencies.

The only issue is how much liability the shop is willing to incur, and what their insurance policy mandates.

Therefore, the OP should make contact with the local shop, share log books, and seek pre-approval to dive. If pre-approval is given, I would save the info (letter, email, whatever), so that there would be no confusion after arrival.

---------- Post added October 4th, 2015 at 12:34 PM ----------

Hey OP! I went to Key Largo in July and added AOW to my first few dives for an extra $190. This would be almost the same as just diving. i.e. Day 1 - wreck + navigation + night; Day 2 - deep (on wreck) + other

Admittedly, it was a (nice) cattle-boat. I was disappointed with the AOW class, as it seemed we were just going through the motions. I would have done it much differently if I had known better. But, if you need the card to make a shop happy, this is one option.

 

[1bubbleoff]

Ummm...5x Keys tripper ...leave Wed for 6th trip...no aow..no wreckin ...they DO check certs...for advanced dives. May wanna get that taken care of....or even better...complete WHILE doing the dives.

Bubs

 

[Steve_C]

From the Ocean Divers website:

Divers must present certification cards and logbooks upon registration.
		*Shaded boxes represent deep dives. Divers must have advanced certification or show proof of two dives to 80 feet or deeper within the last year to make these dives.

I have done a number of dives with them. Large boats but they will go as long as two divers. I like the extra room. The shaded dives are the spiegle, eagle, duane.