ADVANCED OPEN WATER DIVER COURSE & CERTIFICATION
If you are an Open Water Diver the next step in your underwater adventures is to complete the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (AOWD) course. This course prepares you to dive in different conditions where more specialized training is needed. Completing the AOWD course will help you improve your skills, become safer, and continue to grow your love for underwater adventures.
BEFORE YOU ENROLL IN A PADI AOWD COURSE
Open Water Divers at least 12 years old may enroll in the Advanced Open Water Course. If you are not currently a PADI Diver, that’s okay too. It is likely you completed your initial certification course with an agency acknowledge by PADI and the process of switching agencies is usually quite simple.
While the course says Advanced, it does not necessarily mean you need to be an advanced diver to take the course. We strongly encourage Open Water divers to gain more experience after the completion of their course before enrolling in their next course, however, this is not a requirement.
WHY DO A PADI ADVANCED?
There are many different training organizations throughout the world, so pick PADI for your Advanced Open Water Course? PADI stands for the Professional Association of Diving Instructors and is the world’s leading scuba diver training organization. With more than 50 years of training experience certifying over 27 million divers, PADI has developed a comprehensive curriculum featuring books, videos, and materials in almost every language. Enrolling in a PADI course taught by PADI Instructors ensures that you are learning in an industry-leading environment in regards to safety and quality of teaching. Lastly, their certifications are acknowledged worldwide, making it possible for you to use your PADI certification around the globe. We are proud to be a part of the PADI team and transform lives through scuba diving.
THE ADVANCED OPEN WATER DIVER COURSE
The Advanced Open Water Diver (AOW) course typically takes 2-3 days. It covers five specialized areas of diving, of which two are mandatory and the other three you select with your instructor. Through this course, you will expand your knowledge and skills as a diver, helping you become more advanced in specialized conditions.
As you probably have learned by now, no two dive sites are alike. In fact, as you look at all the possibilities of underwater exploration throughout the globe, their environments and conditions are quite diverse. As such, PADI has developed specialized curriculum training called specialty courses that provides the knowledge and skills to take your diving to the next level. Some examples of specialty courses are cave diving, deep diving, drift diving, enriched air, night diving, search and recovery, underwater navigation, and many more. While most specialty certifications require 2-4 dives, the PADI Advanced Open Water Course serves as an introduction to the specialty. For each specialized topic, divers read the corresponding chapter in the AOW book and complete the adventure dive.
The PADI Advanced Open Water Manual covers the introduction to 26 specialties. While it contains a great deal of useful information, you are only required to read the five chapters that correspond to your five adventure dives; two of which are the mandatory deep and underwater navigation adventure dives. As an alternative to the book, you may also choose to complete your theory by using PADI’s e-Learning platform.
As part of your course, your instructor will provide you with a copy of the PADI Advanced Open Water Manual, or provide you with access to PADI’s e-Learning platform, and inform you on which chapters to read. Like your Open Water Manual, you must answer knowledge review questions at the end of each chapter. Once completed, you and your instructor will review the questions and then prepare for the corresponding adventure dive.
PADI E-LEARNING
As an alternative to the book, PADI e-learning utilizes interactive modules to study the same knowledge and information through listening, reading, and responding. To complete your theory using e-Learning, the only thing you need is an internet connection. E-Learning provides you with the flexibility to start anywhere at any time, and to progress at your own time and pace. We highly recommend completing your e-Learning prior to the start of your vacation and scuba course.
To learn more about e-Learning, send us a message and we are happy to help you.
As part of your certification, you will complete five adventure dives. Adventure dives are an introductory specialty dive; they provide a brief overview of PADI’s more comprehensive specialty courses. As such, not only do they give you credit towards your AOW certification, adventure dives can also give you credit towards completing specialty certifications. For example, if you’d like to take the deep diver specialty course, you can submit proof of your deep adventure dive and it will count as the first of the four required training dives.
So what can you expect on an adventure dive? Well, after completing the knowledge review, you and your instructor will prepare for the dive. During the briefing, your instructor will review the knowledge and skills needed for the specialized dive. Unlike the Open Water Course where a majority of your time underwater was spent practicing your skills, the AOW course has a great balance between fun and learning. It is also an ideal course to complete on your diving holiday as its training dives will allow you to explore the underwater environment in ways you’d be unable to as just an Open Water diver.
MANDATORY SUBJECTS
There are two mandatory adventure dives in the Advanced Open Water course, deep diver and underwater navigation. Diving deeper provides numerous benefits but does not come without additional risks. Some of the benefits of diving deep are opportunities to see different marine creatures, observe changes in color as the light starts to disappear, and to explore wrecks and different reef formations at a deeper depth. As we go deeper there are significant changes in pressure and light that pose additional risks, which is why the deep dive is mandatory in your AWO course. By completing the deep adventure dive, you will be certified to a depth of 30 meters, or 21 meters for Junior Open Water divers.
Besides diving deep, advanced divers should also be able to navigate underwater using a compass or by following natural formations. Above water, we are used to using the sun, signs, and various landmarks to help us move from one place to another. Underwater, currents, changes in depth, light, and visibility, and the movement of marine life make it easy to become disorientated. As such, to become an advanced diver you must understand how to measure your distance underwater and use a compass for navigation.
Not interested in doing the deep dive or the underwater navigation dive, but still want to complete five adventure dives? Then you are eligible to become an adventure diver. As an adventure diver, your skills and knowledge are more developed than an Open Water Diver, but you cannot be an Advanced Open Water Diver without completing these two mandatory adventure dives.
FREE OF CHOICE ADVENTURE DIVES
While the deep dive and underwater navigation dive are mandatory, there are still three other adventure dives you will need to select with your instructor. What choices do you have? Many of the adventure dives are designed for specific conditions that may or may not be available in your region or dive center. For example, to complete a wreck adventure dive you will need a shipwreck, which might not be possible. At the start of your course, you and your instructor will discuss the options available and decide together what three adventure dives you will do.
Before selecting your adventure dives, our instructors also like to discuss your current skill level. We often like to include peak performance buoyancy as an adventure dive, especially for divers who struggle with air consumption or buoyancy issues. We are here to help you make the best choices to improve your skill level and help you advance your diving abilities. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you might have.
Here is a comprehensive list of potential adventure dives: Adaptive Support, Altitude, Boat, Cavern, Deep, Delayed Surface Marker Buoy, Digital Underwater Imaging, Dive Against Debris (AWARE), Diver Propulsion Vehicle, Drift, Dry Suit, Enriched Air, Fish Identification, Full Fask Mask, Ice, Night, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Rebreather, Search & Recovery, Self-Reliant, Shark Conservation (AWARE), Sidemount, Underwater Naturalist, Underwater Navigation, and Wreck.
A full set of diving equipment is needed to complete your Advanced Open Water Course. Student divers must have a wetsuit, mask and snorkel, fins, BCD, regulator with pressure gauge, and a dive computer. We encourage divers to use their own equipment, but if you do not have a complete set we can supply full, partial, or individual rentals.
Depending on your selected adventure dives, additional equipment may be needed. For example, a torch is required to complete a night dive and a camera is needed for digital underwater imaging. If you have any questions about additional equipment you might need, please contact us.
Your PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course is complete after you successfully finish all 5 knowledge reviews and adventure dives. There is no theoretical exam, however, you must complete the mandatory deep and underwater navigation dive to receive your AOW certification. Upon completion, we will submit your application to PADI and they will email you a digital certification card. Your certification card proves you are an Advanced Open Water Scuba Diver and can be used to continue your diving adventures at dive centers throughout the world.
WHEN ARE YOU A JUNIOR AOWD DIVER?
If you are a certified Open Water between the ages of 12 and 14 years old, you qualify to become a Junior Advanced Open Water Diver. Junior Advanced Open Water divers are certified to a maximum of 21 meters, and there are some adventure dives they may not meet the minimum age requirement for. But as soon as your turn 15 years old, your depth limitations are automatically adjusted to 30 meters and no additional coursework is needed for them to become an Advanced Open Water Scuba Diver.
WHAT IS AN ADVENTURE DIVER?
If for some reason you are unable to complete all five adventure dives, it may still be possible to receive an Adventure Diver certification. Adventure divers must complete the knowledge development and training dive in three specialties. At the conclusion of each adventure dive, your instructor will provide you with proof of completion that can be used as proof of your level of training to enroll in a PADI Specialty Course or to complete your AOW course at a later date.
YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Our team of instructors at Deco Divers has an outstanding reputation for providing fun, safe, and transformational courses and experiences. What makes us so great? Well for one, our team of instructors was trained under the guidance of PADI Course Director Ahmed Mamdouh. Our team strives to be the best instructors in our region and with Ahmed Mamdouh’s guidance, we constantly seek professional growth to increase our knowledge and enhance our instructional skills, so we can continue to deliver the best instruction to our students.
For our team of instructors, diving is more than just a career. Many of us walked away from professional careers to pursue our passion for diving. That passion has led us to pursue training in a wide variety of the PADI specialty courses, with most of our Instructors certified to deliver at least five different specialty courses.
Please contact our team to learn more about the different specialty options we have for your AOW course.
DOING THE ADVANCED OPEN WATER DIVER COURSE ON VACATION
There are destinations that require or strongly advise an Advanced Open Water certification. The AOW course is a great course to take on diving holiday as its training dives will allow you to explore the underwater environment in ways you’d be unable to as just an Open Water diver. Some divers worry they will be burdened with course work on their holiday, however, most of the training skills only take a few minutes, leaving a significant amount of time for underwater explorations.
We offer a wide range of destinations within Egypt and throughout the world that are great for completing your AOW. Please contact our team to learn more about the different destination options we have for your AOW course.
NOW YOU ARE AN ADVANCED DIVER, WHAT IS NEXT?
As a newly certified advanced open water diver, it’s time to expand your opportunities for underwater adventure. Through your training, you gained the skills and knowledge needed to dive deeper, and in more varied conditions. As such, more options within Egypt and throughout the World are now available to you. We recommend continuing to develop your skills as a diver and look to complete some of PADI’s Speciality Courses. PADI’s Enriched Air Speciality and Deep Diver courses are two of our favorites.
There are also options to enhance your knowledge, improve your skills, and improve your safety as a diver by completing PADI’s Emergency First Response and Rescue Diver courses. Combined, these two courses teach you how to provide first response medical care and how to prevent and respond to diving-related accidents.
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