We are already divers after the OWD course so we can evaluate the various proposals ourselves. We probably chose the OWD course quite by accident. Now we know what good training means, how much we have learned and how we imagine the ideal instructor or ideal course. Know c such let’s look for it. Now a little more information about the AOWD course to know what we should evaluate and what we are looking for.
The name of the course AOWD or Advanced Open Water Diver sounds very highfalutin but it is simply a course that develops certain skills of a beginner diver. This course covers specific skills needed by every diver, i.e. how to plan and execute a dive no 30 meters and how to navigate underwater. In addition, the diver can, in consultation with the instructor, choose 3 dives from a palette of dozens of dives such as:
- wreck diving
- nightly
- in a drysuit
- nitrox
- excellent buoyancy
- buoy shooting
- exploration and mining
- diving from a boat
- photo diving
- diving with filming
- and many others
These “specialization” dives do not make the diver a specialist in a particular field, but they give the basic skills that the diver can later develop on his own or with an instructor in full specializations.Since the AOWD course follows the OWD course (Open Water Diver – a course for beginners) very often the question is asked when is the best time to do the AOWD course or after the OWD course or after making a dozen or so dives after the OWD course?
Da views are clashing here. Some divers believe that you should do a few, several dives between courses, others recommend the option of doing an AOWD right after the OWD course or after literally a few dives
However, when you look at the development of a diver, the approach do AOWD as soon as possible preferably right after the OWD course provides better development of diving skills. Let’s compare the development of two divers:
- one did OWD 50 dives and AOWD
- A second OWD and AOWD followed by 50 dives.
Both have about 60 dives each. However, the second diver knows more after those 50 dives gave him more because he knew more at the beginning of them. “Travel educates the educated”……..
What dives the AOWD course consists of
There are certainly two mandatory dives – deep dives and navigation dives. For this frequently chosen dives are (3 of these suggestions) :
- Excellent buoyancy
- Shooting buoys
- Night
- Wrecking
- Dry suits
- Photo and film
- Nitrox diving
Deep diving
Develop the ability to submerge and ascend while maintaining buoyancy and position control. Checking(through small logic tasks) the effect of depth on the narcosis we undergo. Observing how colors change underwater depending on lighting (natural/artificial).
Navigational diving
Learning how to hold the compass correctly and change course by operating the bezel on the compass. Maintain correct buoyancy and trim while the diver’s attention is focused on the compass.
Excellent buoyancy
Methods of balancing, mastering good buoyancy and trim while giving it only partial attention. That is, for example, combining a buoyancy exercise with something else. E.g. pivot plus mask blowing, Pivot plus buoy shooting.
Shooting buoys
Mastering one of the buoy shooting techniques. Octopus, exhaust, inflator hose.
Night
Navigating including maintaining contact with a partner during a night dive. Light handling. Showing diving signs by flashlight and by flashlight alone. Operating equipment in the dark.
Wrecking
Assessment of the wreck, its safe and risky places. Learning how to rappel with a reel or spool. Operating a handrail by torchlight.
Dry suits
Sizing a dry suit. Dressing a dry suit and howling. Practice buoyancy in the dry operating only the inflators of a dry suit. Swimming and submerging and surfacing in the dry
Photo and film
Learning how to film underwater. Paying attention to the problem of lack of light and color filtration (red fading)
Nitrox diving
Diving with nitrox on the AOWD course is only an introduction. It does not give you the authority to dive nitrox on your own, but allows you to get acquainted with [procedures] for the first time. After that, a full nitrox course will be a bonus.
Often diving from a boat as part of an AOWD seems strange to divers. But think you are going on a catamaran cruise in the Caribbean and want to find out what is important in organizing such dives. How to plan and assure them. As part of the AOWD course, do such specific training as ice, night, reconnaissance, wreck or photography and film. Think how much you can learn. You can do some of these dives in Deepspot.
However, it is not the exercises included in the dives themselves that are most important. AOWD gives a person who already knows the basics a swim around. How to pay attention to correct balance and trim. How to notice if I am swimming with a horizontal body position. Communicate with a partner and conduct a dive with attention to the air consumption of yourself or your partner.
After the AOWD course, you will be able to lead a dive with a partner in a wide variety of conditions on dive trips, paying Cu attention to navigation problems, air consumption, depth and its impact on your performance underwater.
After the AOWD course you will feel more confident underwater
However, training is not everything. When planning your diving development, also keep experience in mind. Courses teach a lot but are no substitute for experience. Let’s try, within a few months of completing the training, to go on tourist dives somewhere further afield to explore new places and develop our skills. If there is more than half a year between trips, let’s make sure to dive once a month or do additional diving training such as some diving specialization. If we do not have time then let’s try to come once a month for diving, for example, to Deepspot. By doing one training course a year, taking one dive trip and diving once a month, we will see how well we will dive after a few years. We are ready for really egotistical expeditions.
