Advanced certification - what to take next?

[Sasha_K]

Hello

A quick question. Currently I am only basic NAUI certified and in the future I would like to go for an advanced OWA course % test and lastly take some advanced courses. I am wondering which one of the more advanced courses/certifications should I take, or if one of them is a pre-requisite for another. These are the courses offered by the local shop:

Deep Diver Ice DiverUnderwater Photography Drift DiverNight DiverUnderwater Videography Dry Suit Diver Oxygen ProviderWreck Diver Enriched Air-NitroxRescue Diver Equipment SpecialistSearch & Recovery
I am thinking of Dry Suit Diver one first as that one may come in handy considering I live in Canada.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated

Thanks

Sasha

[texdiveguy]

Originally Posted by Sasha_K

Hello

A quick question. Currently I am only basic NAUI certified and in the future I would like to go for an advanced OWA course % test and lastly take some advanced courses. I am wondering which one of the more advanced courses/certifications should I take, or if one of them is a pre-requisite for another. These are the courses offered by the local shop:

Deep Diver Ice DiverUnderwater Photography Drift DiverNight DiverUnderwater Videography Dry Suit Diver Oxygen ProviderWreck Diver Enriched Air-NitroxRescue Diver Equipment SpecialistSearch & Recovery
I am thinking of Dry Suit Diver one first as that one may come in handy considering I live in Canada.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated

Thanks

Sasha

Congrats on your current rating. Dry suit diving would be a good one based on your chilly location. Of course just logging dive time is a great instruction in itself! An AOW class would be of value as you know in the future. At some point you will want to consider a Rescue class also. But as a new diver just diving and having fun with your new skills is a good way to spend time.

[BuzzGA]

Dry suit makes sense for Canada but I would also look to AOW since that will give you lots of places to dive in warmer climates also. And now that I'm wrapping up Rescue I whole heartedly would recommend it to everyone

[ChrisA]

Your goal should be to complete the rescue class. But I think you should try and get inn maybe 25 to 30 dives on your own between each class. I've seen to many divers that have taken a "ba-zillion" classes but still can't dive because they only dove in classes. You want a balance of both training and experiance. On the training size Rescue is the best class but you will need AOW to get there.

If you are a NAUI diver the Maui master class is good. The book is good too and if you know everything in there you will have a well rounded dive education. So I'd recommend NAUI Master Diver after rescue class. (For those PADI divers reading this, NAUI master diver is not the same at all as PADI master diver)

If you need a specialty take it whenever you can. Drysuit is good if you need it and will be using a drysuit. many times the shop will give you the class for "free" if you buy a drysuit. Also Nitrox is a good class to have.

Summary. Do AOW, Rescue but get 25 to 30 dives between classes. Pick up drysuit and nitrox when you can and Naui Master Diver is a good longer term goal. This should keep to busy for a couple years

[dogseatmayo]

Deep Diver Ice DiverUnderwater Photography Drift DiverNight DiverUnderwater Videography Dry Suit Diver Oxygen ProviderWreck Diver Enriched Air-NitroxRescue Diver Equipment SpecialistSearch & Recovery
I think you should go for AOW, as you will get to try out some of these specialties. Dry suit diving sounds good, and you're definetley gonna wanna get nitrox certified.

[Vercingetorix]

After AOW, go for Scuba Rescue Diver

[crpntr133]

I love this. Everyone is saying take dry suit because you live in Canada. I am doing a trip/class to the Thousand Island area and we were going to do wet suits 3mm ta boot. But we are diving doubles so that isn't going to fly. BTW, water temp is 70 top to bottom.

But I would suggest that you take rescue when you get there.

[freeski4ever]

How about skin diving?!?!?!?

[James1010]

I am advanced and I am going to take more courses in the future. My first goal is to take all the courses of safety and medical. That way if something happens in different situations I will be prepared and know what to do and also so I don't rely on the dive master leading the dive. Also it will keep you calm in situations because you know whats going on and you can differentiate between severe and not so sever issues. If you didn't know what was going on you will panic and think your going to drown. After that I am going to start taking the more fun courses you can take.

[texdiveguy]

Originally Posted by James1010

I am advanced and I am going to take more courses in the future. My first goal is to take all the courses of safety and medical. That way if something happens in different situations I will be prepared and know what to do and also so I don't rely on the dive master leading the dive. Also it will keep you calm in situations because you know whats going on and you can differentiate between severe and not so sever issues. If you didn't know what was going on you will panic and think your going to drown. After that I am going to start taking the more fun courses you can take.

A Rescue Diver course is great.

Get hooked up with a quality DAN instructor and take advantage of their wonderful courses!