35 replies to this topic

[CuriousMe]

I did my AOW on a liveaboard (Blackbeard's). I had a great time and leared at the same time. It was a small percentage of my total dives for the trip, so I didn't feel like I was being cheated of my vacation.

The liveaboard is a great oportunity to get a lot of different kinds of dives in, so it's really suited to the AOW cert. I don't know that I 'd do, like Stress and Rescue.....but AOW was great to do on vacation.


Peace,
Cathie

[glendivesalot]

Responding to your earlier post, Sophia, people were friendly enough. But sometimes, people are traveling as a group and you are not part of the group. I make friends easily enough and many times,people will ask to dive with me as I am fairly experienced at finding marine life and also they like to dive with me as I am good with the navigation. I was doing five dives a day, which kept me pretty busy. But I also read a lot of books. It's also helpful to bring a game like Uno along, which is a good ice breaker .

[zendiver]

Sophia,

I really need to get you out to the Flower Gardens. Check out this website for TONS of information.

http://www.gulf-diving.com

-ZD

[Sophia]

Wow Wee! I had imagined that the gulf would be nice, but I never imagined that nice. I'd be up for diving on a weekend. Already have four weeks vacation scheduled this year. Three of diving.

Although, I was referring to the lakes not the gulf.

[mcm007]

No one ever offers me an all expenses paid trip. It usually the other way around..

Did you ever get that Dolphin ?

I someday will hopefully have one...

I m available for your trip if youre lonely : )

Mac

[Sophia]

Mac,
Yes, I got the Dolphin. Actually, I got back around April. Sent it in for a overhaul because I bought it used. It took forever to get the parts, but I'm picking it up this afternoon. Yeah! Yahoo! I am so happy. Going diving tomorrow!

That would be so cool to have a buddy on the trip. I'm going the week which starts in August and ends Sept 4.
Susan

[EbonyMermaid]

ZD Are there trips during the week (Tues, Wed, Thur) out to the Flower gardens? I usually work on the weekends, and would like to get some diving done during the week when it's not so crowded, but no one is available to go with me.

[canuckdiver]

ZD Are there trips during the week (Tues, Wed, Thur) out to the Flower gardens? I usually work on the weekends, and would like to get some diving done during the week when it's not so crowded, but no one is available to go with me.

man, it would be quite a commute, but I would sure be willing to go thru the week with ya!

LOL, some of us have no choice but to work weekends this day and age

[zendiver]

ZD Are there trips during the week (Tues, Wed, Thur) out to the Flower gardens? I usually work on the weekends, and would like to get some diving done during the week when it's not so crowded, but no one is available to go with me.

EB, MOF they do. This time of the year, they run non-stop trips of M-W, T-F, & S-S. I have a couple of scheduled trips that I will be working in the next couple of weeks. One is a T-F and one is a S-S. Let me know if you are interested.

-ZD

[WreckWench]

Hey a couple of comments:

1. I had a great experience with Peter and loved his liveaboard...I did Roatan and it was awesome. (I also knew the dive club from Richmond that met with such an unfortunate end so your assessment is correct.)

2. I am NOT a fan of taking extended certs on dive trips ie. AOW, Navigation, etc. On the other hand...taking photography or nitrox is cool and it allows you to have a better dive trip. In fact almost any of the specialities are cool on a trip to get.

3. One of the cool things about SD is that we offer discounted specialities on trips. We usually charge $75 which includes the c-card. Nitrox is more but we are always less then your LDS or other trip operators. The primary reason to add specialities to your diving portfolio is obviously additional education but also if you decide to pursue your Master Diving certification or equilivent.

4. Regarding AOW...do it via your LDS so that you'll REALLY get the skills down and mastered...especially the navigation and night dives and even deep....you'll appreciate them later when you need those skills.

Hope that helps....-ww

[mischievous]

sophia,
jim (narwhal) signed off on most of my AOW dives before bonaire and woody (from emerald sea) took me down to 100' at lake travis for my deep dive. i'm so glad that i did it in travis because it made me extremely relaxed when i was going past 60' last week. almost all my dives would have qualified for "deep diving" and it didn't even feel difficult or complicated at all. if i was out to do my deep dive on vacation, i'm sure i would have been apprehensive about it. like W2 said, getting it down before hand and understanding small complications or dealing with minor issues in an "old, familiar" environment allows to to enjoy your trip much more. i had a horrible night dive and a difficult deep dive where i rock-hopped because i was overweighted for my AOW, but it just made me appreciate my fantastic night dive with cyclingmike and robert from NY and handled my buoyancy at depth while on vacation with ease. complete your AOW at the LDS before you go. it'll be well worth it.
-chie

[neoaquatica]

Anyone have any recommendations about AOW in Dallas ? Any lone-wolf instructors interested ?

Travis would be nice.

Thanks,

Chris

[Sophia]

I took Nitrox at Emerald Sea Divers in Richardson, and I was impressed.

Based on this thread, I went to them to take my AOW. They said I already knew what was taught in that class. Even more impressive, that they were that honest.

In case you don't like the days that they have the class, I could give you the name of my rebreather instructor. He did a very good job.

[bluedestiny]

Is it a bad idea to take AOW during a diving vacation?

[Sophia]

Is it a bad idea to take AOW during a diving vacation?

The consensus seems to be yes, it is a bad idea.

But then you live in Iowa. Do they have water in Iowa?