AOW - while Cruising - Possible ??

[J&KCruiser]

I am doing some cruising in the Caribbean in Oct and then again in Jan with some stops being repeated. I would like to get my Advance Open Water and wonder if anybody as knowledge if it’s possible/feasible.

If I do a deep water dive can it be counted toward AOW or Adventure dive in the required set of skills for AOW?

BTW. I have couple of 60+ feet dives in South Pacific from this past Jan.

[Laurie S.]

As long you're certified and you maintain a log book, all your dives will count. Make sure to get the DM or shop to sign/stamp each log. I was certified right before going on my December 2009 cruise and with the six dives on that cruise moved on up the next level. The majority of my 96 dives have been on cruises and they all count. :)

[drew sailbum]

AOW is a different program depending upon which agency you certify through.

 

For some it is really a matter of accumulating enough logged dives and nothing more. For other agencies you must complete a specific set of skills or tasks under instructor supervision during a dive and some reading and book work may be required.

 

It is possible to coordinate a course between various dive centers during a cruise but it definitely is a challenge. Good communication well in advance is critical so the dive shops can meet your expectations. Formulate a back-up plan in case your ship misses one port.

[mystkittsdivebuddy]

Yes this is possible, I have taught AOW to my cruise ship guests.

Standards do differ with the different dive agencies. What I say here applies to PADI.

 

The Padi Advanced Open Water course consists of 5 dives. Two of these are mandatory, the deep dive and the navigation dive, you then choose 3 optional dives from the list below.

 

 

2 mandatory dives:

 

Deep (to 30 metres / 100ft)

Underwater Navigation

 

 

Select 3 from the following:

 

Wreck Diving

Boat Diving

Multilevel and Computer Diving

Peak Performance Buoyancy

Search and Recovery

Underwater Naturalist

Fish Identification

Night Dive

Underwater photography

(There are other choices as well, it depends on what the dive center offers)

 

Knowledge Component

There is a Manual and DVD to accompany the course. Each adventure dive has a chapter in the manual, you read the relevant chapter, complete the knowledge section and then discuss it with your instructor.

Alternatively the whole knowledge can be completed on line using the Padi eLearning system. This is a far better way for you, complete everything on line before your vacation, print your certificate and away you go!

 

A few points.

Knowledge must be completed before the dives (So none of your existing dives count as you have not done this).

You cannot do more than 3 training dives in a single day.

Each dive is a distinct component so you do not have to complete all 5 dives in a single cruise.

You will require a Padi training logbook (You have this if your OW was Padi) and it is your responsibility to ensure that every dive is certified as an adventure dive by the instructor. The instructor that takes your last dive will certify you but can only do so if you have the logbook correctly completed. (There is a special section for adventure dives).

 

My advice is to email some of the dive shops on your cruise, tell them what you want to do and see how helpful they are. Sometimes pressure of bookings can mean that this is not practical on the day your ship is in port.

 

It takes a bit of organizing, but no reason for that to put you off, go for it and good luck.

No advertising here so if you need any advice, or your Itinerary includes my island then pm me.

 

Terry

[J&KCruiser]

Yes this is possible, I have taught AOW to my cruise ship guests.

Standards do differ with the different dive agencies. What I say here applies to PADI.

 

The Padi Advanced Open Water course consists of 5 dives. Two of these are mandatory, the deep dive and the navigation dive, you then choose 3 optional dives from the list below.

 

 

...

 

A few points.

Knowledge must be completed before the dives (So none of your existing dives count as you have not done this).

You cannot do more than 3 training dives in a single day.

Each dive is a distinct component so you do not have to complete all 5 dives in a single cruise.

You will require a Padi training logbook (You have this if your OW was Padi) and it is your responsibility to ensure that every dive is certified as an adventure dive by the instructor. The instructor that takes your last dive will certify you but can only do so if you have the logbook correctly completed. (There is a special section for adventure dives).

 

My advice is to email some of the dive shops on your cruise, tell them what you want to do and see how helpful they are. Sometimes pressure of bookings can mean that this is not practical on the day your ship is in port.

 

It takes a bit of organizing, but no reason for that to put you off, go for it and good luck.

No advertising here so if you need any advice, or your Itinerary includes my island then pm me.

 

Terry

 

 

Terry

 

Thanks for the info on the process available on St. Kitts. Now my problem is out of the 39 days of cruising planned over the next 6 mths we are not stopping at St. Kitts.

 

My Stops are:

 

Oct 2011) St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel

Jan 2012) Cozumel, Roatan, Puerto Limon-Costa Rica, Colon-Panama, Cartagena, Grand Cayman

 

I will continue to research stops that are repeat for options. Question. I would need a dive instructor to be the dive leader and what effect would it have ***** other divers?

 

John

[mystkittsdivebuddy]

John

Shame on you, not coming to St Kitts.;)

Still the standards I outlined are PADI standards so apply to any PADI Instructor or dive center worldwide.

Your taking the course should have no effect at all on other divers on your dive boat. Your dives have to be undertaken by a PADI Instructor, leading dive tours for qualified divers can be done by divemasters or instructors.

You will probably get your own Instructor for the dives.

Start by researching dive centers in your ports of call, then see what answers you get from your emails.

When you find an operator or two that can do this for you, then all the details should be sorted by the Instructor who will be leading your course.

Are you aware of scubaboard? post your question in the forums there, you will probably find someone who will already have done exactly what you want to do.

Good Luck, Safe Diving

 

Terry