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The Advanced Open Water Course
This is one of the most popular courses going for newly qualified divers. It is important to state that the word ‘Advanced’ doesn’t mean ‘difficult’ but simply advancing-on to the next stage. Some have confused its description as indicating an experienced diver program but the opposite is often true. Essentially, when a student graduates from the Open Water course they will have had pool training and just four dives in the sea. They may continue to build experience in the shallows and in tame conditions but this may be time-consuming and restrictive to some who want to ‘get out there’ and dive with others who are already enjoying the rewards of the great dive sites around the world.
It goes without saying that we shouldn’t run before we can walk and The Advanced Open Water Course is designed to introduce the student to a wider variety of environmental diving conditions but under the close supervision and guidance of an instructor. There are no exams or long theory and skill sessions but briefings, knowledge reviews and, of course, the actual business of going diving. The Advanced Open Water course comprises of 5 dives, each with a theme to gain knowledge of that particular type of diving. Marketing guru, Mark McCormack, might have called this, ‘What They Don’t Teach You in the Open Water Course’.Now you may go a little deeper, drift dive in a current, learn more about the undersea environment, navigate underwater and even have the option of diving at night. The course centers not so much on kneeling in the sand and doing skills but on improving your general diving style and buoyancy in conditions outside the training sites where there is more to see. It is a great injection of knowledge and experience and will sharply speed up the process of going from beginner to Advanced level diver.
Additional information can be found on the PADI website about this course: http://www.padi.com/scuba/padi-courses/