Nitrox Certification

[MargaritaMike]

AOW course (which increases your depth limit to 100fsw / 30msw)

Thank you for clearing that up. I always thought that AOW "allows" you to dive to recommended recreational Max depth of 130'/40m. I also didn't know that the limits are for salt water. Again, thanks for clearing that up.

Cheers - M²

 

[mwerle]

I always thought that AOW "allows" you to dive to recommended recreational Max depth of 130'/40m.

Depends on the agency. PADI AOW is down to 30m and they have an additional "Deep Specialty" course which then allows 40m. NAUI's AOW gives you 40m straightaway (or used to back when I did it anyway). Check your agency.

As regards Nitrox, I did the theory while outbound on a liveaboard, then first dive of the trip was the practical. Also doing the course on the boat itself gave me free nitrox fills for the entire trip as part of the course, so ended up quite a bit cheaper than doing it beforehand. I already had AOW and plenty of dives by then. Was an awesome trip! (Thanks @MikeBall)

 

[BlueTrin]

I learned how to calculate MOD in the Nitrox course but never learned how to calculate NDL? How do you calculate NDL?

I don’t think he meant calculating by formula, but using either software, tables or dive computers.

 

[Belzelbub]

Hi guys, I just got my OW certification about a month ago. planning to go for a trip to Bonaire. I am trying to get as many dives under my belt during by week long trip there. after much reading, I have learned that having a nitrox certification would help a lot with shortening breaks in between dives thus having more time to go to more dives!
Do you guys know if I can do the Nitrox certification online without going to a dive shop, like coming in to do an exam. I think dives aren't required anymore? not really sure.

If you can swing it, without a doubt do the Nitrox class. I don't know of anywhere that will allow it to all be done online, but the shop exam is really not that much. I did mine with SSI back in 2003 or so. I dive exclusively nitrox, and mostly EAN. Being 2003, it was back before the shift toward online, so I took home a book, and had one day to go into the shop to go over the material, take the test, and do the hands on tank analysis. It literally was one evening. It also counted for one of the 4 specialties I had to take in order to get my AOW card many years later, so I only had to do 3 at that time.

Depends on the agency. PADI AOW is down to 30m and they have an additional "Deep Specialty" course which then allows 40m. NAUI's AOW gives you 40m straightaway (or used to back when I did it anyway). Check your agency.

My first thought, was, Of Course PADI has an extra course to get you to the 40/130 limit. Now that I think about it a bit more, it's actually somewhat inline with SSI Advanced Adventurer, which makes sense as they are equivalent.
SSI AOW is actually 4 separate specialty programs. So, the depth limit may vary depending on whether or not Deep is included. In my case, I took EAN (previously), Deep, Navigation, and Night & Limited Visibility. Of those, only Deep has a fixed Maximum training depth and it's 40/130.

 

[Brett Hatch]

Thank you for clearing that up. I always thought that AOW "allows" you to dive to recommended recreational Max depth of 130'/40m.

Should have been more clear that I'm talking about PADI here, of course this will vary by agency. The point is that going out of your way to take a nitrox course while obeying a 60ft / 18m depth limitation seems like a weird (almost incongruent) list of priorities.

I also didn't know that the limits are for salt water.

I'm not aware of any differences in AOW depth with respect to salt vs fresh water. I kinda doubt that the OP is considering doing many sweetwater dives in Bonaire though

 

[Marie13]

Should have been more clear that I'm talking about PADI here, of course this will vary by agency. The point is that going out of your way to take a nitrox course while obeying a 60ft / 18m depth limitation seems like a weird (almost incongruent) list of priorities.

I'm not aware of any differences in AOW depth with respect to salt vs fresh water. I kinda doubt that the OP is considering doing many sweetwater dives in Bonaire though

All of the mainstream agencies have a deep course.

Why in the world would there be a depth limit for freshwater vs salt?! I’m a Great Lakes diver. I can assure you my cards don’t differentiate between freshwater and the salty stuff. I was certified locally.

 

[Brett Hatch]

Why in the world would there be a depth limit for freshwater vs salt?!

I have never heard of an agency doing so either, and cannot fathom a reason why they would.

 

[Kelton]

I have never heard of an agency doing so either, and cannot fathom a reason why they would.

Brett you're the one who said it in post #8 of this thread.

msw= meters SALT water.

 

[Damselfish]

I also didn't know that the limits are for salt water.

Freshwater is slightly lighter than saltwater (like one ATM is 34 vs 33ft.) Sometimes depth is expressed in fsw to be very precise what they're talking about, it would slightly change a pressure calculation. Practically speaking, it makes no difference except whether you need to rinse the salt off your gear.

 

[Marie13]

Or rinse gear period. I rarely do.