PADI AOW - why?

[Joni]

Originally posted by kwesler
More support for AOW in order to get to Rescue, which EVERY diver should have...

Joni-I am a little concerned about a new diver on the Spiegel Grove. Have I missed something, or isn't that a fairly advanced dive since it is on its side? IMHO you need excellent buoyancy control to do any deep dive, since the additional compression issues are best handled after you have a certain comfort level with your other skills.

This is a very good point that I forgot to respond to in my "trip report". I am blessed with a natural ability to dive and am proud to say that my instructors marvel at my buoyancy control skills after so few dives (with the exception of my struggles with my positively buoyant fins!). But - being a bigtime marine conservationist [shameless plug: see the website I work on - www.marinebio.com] who wanted to avoid damaging corals at all costs, it was the most important skill to develop quickly, so I worked on it in the pool until I mastered controlling it through breathing.

That said, I was comfortable with the Spiegel Grove because I was with several instructors and some excellent DMs, however, I would discourage new divers from doing this dive without some experience because I worry that the configuration of the openings in the SG would be tempting to people without wreck penetration training.

Also, there was quite a bit of surge during the safety stop, so with out a towline, that would have definitely been very challenging for a new diver.

I would caution new divers against diving the SG until you have had at least one supervised deep dive, and until you become familiar with the potential hazards of wreck dives.

Joni

 

[O-ring]

I am blessed with a natural ability to dive and am proud to say that my instructors marvel at my buoyancy control skills after so few dives

Have you signed up for the Doria yet? I hear it's a hoot...

 

[TCDiver1]

Just thought i would put my two cents worth in on this topic. The Padi advanced program is intended to give a diver "supervised experience" in different types of dives, Eg: deep, navigation, night etc. In many cases it may be the first time a student has done that type of dive & doing it in a supervised, more controlled, environment can be very advantageous from a safety & skills standpoint. That is not to say that a diver can not do any of these types of dives before taking an advanced course. Once you get your OW c-card it is your own responsiblity to dive within your limitations. An advanced course can "raise the bar" for the types of dives you are comfortable performing and therefore broaden your diving horizons. It is totally a personal preference if you chose to take the class or not. I do not like hearing things like "i could not get my OW c-card unless i took the advanced course"! That is NOT a Padi driven thing but most likely driven by that store or instructor. As a Padi instructors we are OBLIGATED to give you your c-card if you have met all the Padi course requirements and paid the agreed course cost. OW students are not obligated to take the advanced course by Padi, although Padi does recommend taking the course to learn new skills:blah:

 

[Joni]

Originally posted by O-ring




Have you signed up for the Doria yet? I hear it's a hoot...

Ha! Now that's one I'm not sure I'd ever feel skilled enough to do. Too many scuba fatalities on the Doria! Definitely beyond my skill level! For now.

 

[TCDiver1]

Originally posted by Joni


Ha! Now that's one I'm not sure I'd ever feel skilled enough to do. Too many scuba fatalities on the Doria! Definitely beyond my skill level! For now.

LOL, good answer! Can you say Trimix?

 

[O-ring]

I coulda sworn PADI was offering the Andrea Doria Adventure Dive as one of the choices for AOW...

Look in the table of contents of your AOW book...it is right after "Altitude Diving" and before "AWARE-Fish Identification"...see it..."Andrea Doria"...

..

 

[TCDiver1]

Originally posted by O-ring
I coulda sworn PADI was offering the Andrea Doria Adventure Dive as one of the choices for AOW...

Look in the table of contents of your AOW book...it is right after "Altitude Diving" and before "AWARE-Fish Identification"...see it..."Andrea Doria"...

..

Really LOL! Thats not booze in your cup in your profile pic is it?
PS, great handle "o-ring"!

 

[art.chick]

O-ring,
It is irresponsible for you to advertise this course to OW grads without insisting that they do it thru that shop that requires the purge mask & split fins.

 

[O-ring]

We do not necessarily require an OW cert to do the "Andrea Doria" adventure dive. We also offer an "Andrea Doria" snorkel adventure and just use a 300' snorkel...

 

[mattiedread]

the decompression information. In my case it had an additional benefit of having a 'private' instructor on 15 liveaboard dives (Similan Islands, Thailand, where the AOW cost $125 for TWO people).