PADI advanced

[diver 85]

OP-------I'm thinking your 'adventures dives' won't count --ie have to do them in the weekend AOW class---------UNLESS-----you know the instructor well enuff(& made the 'adventures dives' with he/she) for he/she to let them 'slide over' to that weekend....

 

[Scott]

I suppose I should have mentioned that the dive center has said people who sign up for the night dive they are planning can either come and dive for fun, or pay an additional amount and do the night dive "course" and get that certification. So, my question is - if we do that and get night dive certified, then later sign up for AOW can we count that night dive course as one of the adventure dives for AOW even though we took it prior to signing up for AOW.

Yes, if you complete the night diving specialty, the first dive of the night specialty will count towards AOW.
From the Instructor Manual

Specialty Diver Courses to Adventures in Diving Program
Dive 1 of a PADI Specialty Diver course may credit toward the related Adventure Dive in the Adventures in Diving program if the diver has completed the relevant knowledge review (or vice versa).
Exception: For the Digital Underwater Photography Specialty, Dive 2
credits toward an Adventure Dive.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I suppose I should have mentioned that the dive center has said people who sign up for the night dive they are planning can either come and dive for fun, or pay an additional amount and do the night dive "course" and get that certification. So, my question is - if we do that and get night dive certified, then later sign up for AOW can we count that night dive course as one of the adventure dives for AOW even though we took it prior to signing up for AOW. I've left a message asking the instructor if we need to complete any book work before the night dive, but as of yet haven't heard back from him.

You already knew the answer, and that is that you need to ask the dive shop/instructor. That's up to them, and not something anyone can answer here.

I would think - but maybe I'm wrong - that when we sign up for AOW we would pay a certain amount for that, but then have to pay separately for the adventure dives (night, buoyancy, navigation etc) Or am I wrong - do most dive shops include those prices in the cost for the AOW course?

I think most shops charge a single price that includes everything needed for AOW, including the dives. But again, you need to ask the shop/instructor so that you can be certain. There are some shops that charge separately for taking you out on a boat, even if the dives are required for a course. Ask.

We're just wondering if we have to "declare" we are AOW students before we take any of those classes - or could you take night diver, or buoyancy, or whatever just because they happened to be offered at the dive shop - and then have those "checked off" when we do sign up for AOW because we've already done them?

Seems unlikely you could do that, since you need to spend time during the dive interacting with the instructor to accomplish the things that others (i.e., instructors) here have mentioned are course requirements. But again, ask your shop/instructor.

And would it matter if they weren't all done at the same dive center?

Seem hugely unlikely. I can't imagine you can do a night dive with one shop and then later have another shop sign off on your AOW certification based on a night dive done with the first shop.