Post - Getting the PADI Advanced Open Water Licence

Getting the PADI Advanced Open Water Licence

In a previous post we explained how to go about getting the Open Water Diver certification with PADI. But what if you want to develop your skills a little more? Or dive a little deeper? What is the requirement for this? Well, it’s called the PADI Advanced Open Water and is also a PADI course.

There is always a debate about the title of this course. It does not mean you are an advanced diver. It means you have advanced from the original Open Water Course. So don’t expect to be an expert in diving just because you have completed it! Yes you will have more skills and will have developed more from the original course but you still have a lot to learn.

The more you dive the more you will be comfortable in your surroundings and be able to spot more wildlife
The more you dive the more you will be comfortable in your surroundings and be able to spot more wildlife

 

The First Step of the Course

As with the Open Water Diver, the first step in the Advanced Open Water Diver is the online course. In this you will be given access to a wide variety of what are called Adventure Dive course material. From these, two are compulsory to do on the course; these are the Deep Diving, and the Underwater Navigation. The other three you get to pick yourself from what is available. Or else talk to your instructor and they will recommend three for you.

Of course you can also do the full course material which we did as we were interested in learning about them! However for the dives we did Peak Performance Buoyancy, Multi-Level Diving, and Night Diving.

 

The Advanced Open Water Section

With this course, there is no requirement for the confined section. It can all be done in the open water. In some cases, individuals will have undertaken some of the Adventure Dives already. If so then these will count towards the Advanced certification. The difference is that when doing the course in the Advanced section each dive covers the first segment of the Adventure Dive. Whereas when you do the full Adventure Dive it may be three or four dives required to get certified in that particular skill.

Setting off to complete some of the tasks in the Advanced Open Water Diving course
Setting off to complete some of the tasks in the Advanced Open Water Diving course

For example, the Deep Diver specialty course will certify you to 40m by doing four separate deep dives. With this section in the Advanced course it will allow you to go to 30m and you only do one dive to this depth. So bear in mind that you will still need to advance yourself further by completing the various Adventure Dives.

 

Deep Diving

With the Deep Diving, the main concern is how you react to the extra depth you are going down. At this depth it is possible that narcosis may take effect. This will give you a drunken effect. Divers need to keep awareness about it so they don’t lose their concentration during a deep dive.

With the deep diving you need to pay close attention to your depths and your 'buddy' to ensure the depths aren't having a bad effect
With the deep diving you need to pay close attention to your depths and your ‘buddy’ to ensure the depths aren’t having a bad effect

You also need to monitor your depths and time limits as the deeper you are the less time allowed at a certain depth. You will also notice how the colours change as you descend more and you need to take note of this.

Once you surface you will need to take more time on the surface to ensure that decompression sickness does not occur. You will also have taken two safety stops on the way up instead of the one you took on the Open Water course.

 

Underwater Navigation

The Underwater Navigation will develop more on your compass reading skills and also on other aspects of finding your way in the ocean. You will learn how to judge distances not only from time traveled to a certain waypoint, but also by counting the number of kick cycles it took you to get there.

The navigation part of the course teaches you how to use various methods for finding your way around the ocean depths
The navigation part of the course teaches you how to use various methods for finding your way around the ocean depths

You will need to complete a square by using these methods and ensure you get back to the same start point that you left from.

Peak Performance Buoyancy

This is one of the most important skills of any diver and should be a must to do early after certification. This segment will teach you more about keeping your body perfectly buoyant and in a stable position in the water. It is vital for ensuring you don’t disturb any sealife or coral or kick up sand thereby clouding the waters and making visibility harder for others.

By getting peak performance buoyancy it allows you to get closer to the undersea life without disturbing them and the environment
By getting peak performance buoyancy it allows you to get closer to the undersea life without disturbing them and the environment

You will practice this by hovering, and by sitting in mid-water. To keep yourself buoyant you will learn the proper moments to inhale and exhale. Therefore keeping yourself in the perfect position just with the use of the air in your lungs.

Maintaining peak performance buoyancy
Maintaining peak performance buoyancy

As you progress you will find yourself getting much better at this skill and keeping your position without even concentrating on it just by knowing how much air to inhale or exhale through your regulator.

An octopus sits on the sea floor totally undisturbed by our presence
An octopus sits on the sea floor totally undisturbed by our presence

Multi-Level Diving

The multi-level diving teaches you how to manage your depths when planning a dive, and how to ensure you get the most time out of each depth. You will go to about 18m and then ascend to 12m after a certain amount of time.

In the multi-level diving you will need to evaluate your depths and bottom time limits
In the multi-level diving you will need to evaluate your depths and bottom time limits

It is up to you to judge how long to spend at 18m so that you can get the maximum time at the 12m mark.

 

Night Diving

As the sun sets and the darkness descends, this is when you will prepare yourself for the Night Dive. You will be equipped with a torch and shown how to read your instruments underwater in the dark.

Getting ready for the night dive as the sun sets
Getting ready for the night dive as the sun sets

Descending in the darkness can be a little un-nerving but you will soon be amazed at the colours you see with the assistance of your torch. The life you see may be different to the day as the nocturnal sealife will appear.

Another aspect of the night dive is finding your way back to your ascent point and how to use the lights as markers to help you find your way.

 

After the Advanced Open Water Course

So now you have your Advanced Open Water, but you still have a lot to learn! Now it’s time to start thinking about the other Specialty Courses. Such as Enriched Air Diver, Wreck Diving, Cave Diving, and many more. There is a large variety of these available for you to do.

Successful completion of the Advanced course gives you the oppurtunity to further enhance your diving skills
Successful completion of the Advanced course gives you the oppurtunity to further enhance your diving skills

Once you have done some of these, you can then advance onto your Rescue Diver course and even further to become a Divemaster if you wish.

Whatever you plan, one thing is for sure; each time you descend will bring you beautiful sights, and will make you want to learn more about the vast world beneath the waves.

 

Thanks to RDA Divenet

Our instructors for the course were RDA Divenet, and throughout the whole thing Raul and his team were excellent. We had done the online part ourselves beforehand, but the rest of the course we did with them. The open water dives were organized in Jeddah by RDA. Flights, hotel, and transport you need to book yourself as this is not covered in the cost of the course.

Throughout the course, the instructors were great; they made sure everybody was fully aware of what was expected of them on each dive and that everybody knew what to do before descending. There was no pressure from anybody and it was very relaxed and very enjoyable.

If you are looking to do your Advanced Open Water Course in Saudi Arabia then we would definitely recommend looking them up and contacting them.

To see RDA Divenet’s website please click here.

 

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