16 replies to this topic

[Itsa]

Hi everyone,

I've been away for a while (had surgery a while back, but I'm doing great) and I'm heading to Curacao for more diving in about a month. I'm taking a refresher course here in Boston before I go, but I'm also planning to get my AOW. I'll admit it, I've only got about 12 dives under my belt and I'd like to get some more supervised experience before I venture out without a DM by my side (lots more, in fact, haha).

Anyway, I will have to do the deep dive and navigation, both of which I look forward to, but I'm a bit more up in the air about the electives. I plan on peak performance buoyancy for sure. Drift also seems like a good option. I want to take the electives that make the most practical sense for situations that might come up in ordinary diving. I think I'd like a bit more experience before I tackle night or wreck diving. I'm not sure I see much of a point to boat, and while naturalist and fish id seem fun and awesome, they aren't necessarily very skills focused. Would multilevel be a good choice?

I'm curious what other people chose, if you think my biases are out of whack, and what you all might suggest. Thanks in advance for your help!

Take care,
Itsa

[Diver Phil]

Hi everyone,

I've been away .....................and what you all might suggest. Thanks in advance for your help!

Take care,
Itsa

Itsa,


I would chose what you would want to try out, and also what you might want to have as a specialty later. Whatever specialties you try in AOW, that dive will count towards the specialty whenever (if ever) you decide to pursue that specialty. If you are interested in Wreck, Night, and Drift diving or Peak Performance Buoyancy.....choose those to see if you like them and decide if you want to pursue with the full specialty. It's all about what you want to try out. Remember, you will be accompanied with an instructor at all times during your AOW dives, that would be a great time to try new things.

Personally I don't know why instructors/organizations don't teach Peak Performance Buoyancy as part of OW courses. It sure would do the reefs some good, IMO.

Have fun with your AOW!

Phil

[TabeaK]

Hi Itsa!
My AOWD was not so long ago and I am a newbie myself. I did exactly the ones you listed. Deep, Navigation, Buoyancy and Drift.
Buoyancy was incredibly useful, before my AOWD, my control was really crap and my instructor spent a lot of time with me figuring that out. Drift was also nice - but, to be honest, my instructor let me of the hook easy. Only on my recent Maldives trip did I actually figure out what drift is.../> But, a lot of of the diving in the world is drift, so it is a good thing to cover. Specialties like naturalist and photography are imho a waste of time. Not skills focused and you are not gonna learn enough in a course anyway!

One thing I'd recommend is nitrox. Just get it over with, you are not gonna regret having that sorted!

[WreckWench]

Night Dive...your first nite dive should be with an instructor. AOW used to require nite as one of the main dives but since there are places in the world that don't get dark...PADI dropped that requirement.

GOOD INSTRUCTORS STILL REQUIRE IT TO TEACH THE CLASS.

You don't want your first night dive to be with a group of people you are diving with. You have to learn hand signals and there are so many other things to consider...everything that can happen at day will happen at night and its 100% harder to deal with it. DO THE NIGHT DIVE AS ONE OF THE SPECIALITIES!!!

[TabeaK]

Actually, Kamala makes an excellent point!

I did my first ever Night Dive as part of my OW - very helpful to have an instructor there.

Buoyancy and Night would me my choice then.

[ThatJoeGuy]

Buoyancy is a must. Night and navigation are both very useful. You might go for deep dive as well, if you are feeling nervous about going deeper.

[WreckWench]

I say bouyancy and nite are a must since they are no longer taught in OW. I think you have 3 electives if I'm not mistaken... so choose drift if you are going to be in a place that offers drift diving. If they don't then don't worry about it...you will learn it for free the first time you dive someplace that has drifts. And if that happens to be during your AOW class then you get it for free as part of the class anyway.

Don't choose:

Boat
Multilevel

[Jerrymxz]

I'm pretty sure Deep and Navigation are required as previously stated. I'll second the opinions of Peak buoyancy and night. When I did mine I did a search and recovery dive. We used a lift bag to raise a object and also laid line to use as a search aid. It was a good exercise in the use of a reel. That series of dives was the first time I ever tried to throw a bag; a skill in my 2psi should be taught in AOW. It's also a skill I'm going to practice the first time I get back to Dutch Springs this year. My bag throw attempts on the last SD trip to Chuuk and Palau were....Horrid

[MNJoe]

I was taught Deep Water, Night Diver, Navigation, Peak Bouyancy and Search and recovery. I was also recommended to read the entire book, not just the chapters related to the dives I was doing. Don't go with the goal of just earning your AOW, go with the goal of improving your skills and getting as much knowledge as you can get from the class and instructor.

[WreckWench]

WELL SAID!!! And this is the 5 STAR LINE UP OF ELECTIVES AND REQUIREDS TO TAKE!!!! These will serve you the best and help you gain the most value from your class. Most think that search and recovery is boring...who needs that? The first time you are separated from your group or buddy and you have to go up on your own...you'll be happy you learned to send up a safety sausage/surface marker bouy SMB or a lift bag. When you drop your _____ (fill in the blank) you'll be happy you learned how to do a search grid and search patterns thereby increasing the odds of finding it.

Good luck but the original line up is still the best! />

I was taught Deep Water, Night Diver, Navigation, Peak Bouyancy and Search and recovery. I was also recommended to read the entire book, not just the chapters related to the dives I was doing. Don't go with the goal of just earning your AOW, go with the goal of improving your skills and getting as much knowledge as you can get from the class and instructor.

[little mermaid]

Adding my 2psi to the others, I agree with the Peak Bouyancy, Night (personally my favorite) and I also recommend navigation - used to be taught at the basic AOW. I was recently in Cancun diving a couple of times - not with Kamala and group - with co-workers. 2 had not dived in a while and our dive master knew this. 1st dive was ok. 2nd our dive master lost our way, luckily I had looked at my compass and knew which direction we should be heading back AND he ran out of air and I gave him my octopus!! While neither of these were really life threatening - we were only in 40" of water. My dive buddies were very uncomfortable with these events.

All ended well and we still had fun. They did not know we were swimming in circles and were having fun looking at the plf. Most classes you can take will certainly help your skills. Happy diving!

[Greg@ihpil]

Itsa,
just another.01 of input...I agree with all the members here. I would suggest the Nitrox cert.It will definitly come in handy for the deeper dives,and it is something you can do here b/4 your trip.No diving req'd.The other elective you may consider is a drysuit cert.If you are going to dive in the local area stateside. Learn & enjoy your journey.
I enjoyed the diving in Curacao.lots to see..Bring bug spray....

[WreckWench]

Hey Greg...great ideas but there are other ways to accomplish the same thing. Nitrox is a simple online class these days so should not be considered an elective option if PADI even offers it.

And anytime a manufacturer is doing a dry suit demo days they help people who have never dove a drysuit try one. So again you don't have to use your electives for either of these.

BOTH ARE CERTAINLY GOOD...but hopefully you can find other ways of getting them without doing them as part of your AOW.

[jesterdiver]

Just another vote for the 5 STAR lineup! Deep, Navigation, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Night, and Search and Recovery.

If you can I would do Peak Performance Buoyancy first is that really is a foundational skill for all other skills.

I absolutely agree with Greg about the nitrox course and if you ever want to potentially do some local diving drysuit is also a great idea. Nitrox is worth it's weight in gold and really helps with bottom times especially over the course of a week of repetitive diving. But like Kamala pointed out, I don't think it's what PADI now calls it's Adventure Dives for AOW. It is its own full specialty course that can later count towards your Master Diver rating. Drysuit specialty I believe is the same scenario. So while those to me are recommended specialties to take, (definitely take nitrox as soon as you can!) they won't help you get the AOW.

There will never be a better time to do your first night dive than with an instructor by your side. So take the opportunity and go for it. Earlier this year a divemaster in St.Kitts got disorientated at night and started taking the group around in circles. I was REALLY happy I had paid attention to my Navigation, Night, and Search and Recovery classes! I realized she was lost, as she was mistakenly leading the group back to the boat, I went on my way with my buddy continuing on my bearings. At night I navigated to the wrecks, searched around a little bit and recovered the rest of the dive group as they came back around full circle />!

If you get through OW and Peak Performance Buoyancy I think you are more than ready for a guided night dive. Have fun!!

[Itsa]

Hey everyone,

I've got to say, every time I come here with a question I get such great responses and advice. I'm going to go with the 5 star recommendation so many of you have put forward. I've been going back and forth about the nitrox (as an add on, not one of the electives). A friend is coming along on the trip to get her OW certification and I had planned to dive with her for the rest of the week after we both finish up our classes. If I'm on nitrox and she is on 02 I imagine that won't work. Can you switch back and forth during a week of diving? I should note, however, that we still won't be venturing out without a guide. I still need a LOT more practice before I'll be comfortable with just a dive buddy.

Thanks again!
Itsa