I am a PADI and NAUI instructor. I offer the advanced class as soon as possible after the open water. There are a couple of reasons for this.
1.to keep them diving
2. To ensure they don't create bad habits, I create copycats. If they dive exactly like I do I know they will be safe and confident divers. Lets say they went out on a boat trip with other divers who were trained elsewhere and may have picked up some bad habits along the way, these other divers have different views on diving and safety.
3. The best way to keep my students growing in their skills is to offer an advanced class in which they will refine their skills making them safer and better divers.
Why would you tell someone to dive until they are advanced level before taking the advanced class? That doesn’t make sense. The advanced class is designed for fine-tuning your skills. If you want to go further than that take the master diver class. It requires a more specific list of specialties and gets into more technical information.

My recommendation is to take the advanced class as soon as you possibly can after open water. You wont believe how much of a better diver you will become after those 6 specialty dives.

Rebecca,

While I agree with you that the best way to improve skills is to both keep diving and to continue with training/instruction, my disagreement is the training agencies williness to label a diver with less than 20 dives as an advanced diver by issuing them a c-card with that designation.

I now view an advanced diver as one who, regardless of the c-card they have, has both significant number of dives and bottom time hours and has mastered the basic skills of safe and comfortable diving. And that it's up to each diver whether he wishes that label to be applied to them.

--TexasMike

What I think it comes down to is that the Advanced Open Water course does not make you an advanced diver. It is still a VERY entry level course that is simply designed to present some of the options for various types of diving one can do and do a bit of fine tuning on your basic diving skills. There is NO course that you can take to make yourself and "advanced" diver. That comes with time and experience. Even though your card says advanced open water diver on it most people with experience will not assume that you have any appreciable amount of experience or are a particularly skilled diver. In reality AOW is just skimming the tip of the diving iceberg. Hope this was helpful.
Take Care,
Sean

SGHOWE,

Well stated, sir.

My 2 cents.....
Maybe the confusion is simply in the terminology used. Let's not confuse "Advanced Openwater Diver" with "Master Diver". (these are the names used by NAUI at least) I believe in completing advanced training as soon after open water as possible. What could be better for a beginning diver than to continue their education. What is even more important is that you gain more actual dive experience under the supervision of a qualified instructor before venturing out on your own. Of course, for Master Diver status, there are(and should be) experience requirements which must be met. Maybe they should just change the name of the AOW cert. to something less missleading. NAUI used to call there certs. OW1 and OW2......."Advanced" was the term used for what is now "Master". Oh well, what's in a name anyway?

Why do want advanced certification?

So that we may beat this into the rug:

I will have to say that PADI's term (and other agency's too) of Advance Diver is a bit misleading and has been the bane of the training sect. I prefer the NAUI labeling of OW1 and OW2. The thing that seems to deter students to continue with the PADI AOW is that the term "Advanced" scares them a bit right after taking the OW course.

The truth of the matter is this: if you stop educating yourself in diving, then you will not gain the knowledge and tools and skills necessary to deal with issues underwater, and you may not have the opportunity to explore new avenues of scuba that may interest you. PADI believes that divers may take the Adventures in Diving curriculum right after the Open Water course because, not only does it introduce new diving experiences, it also shows divers that the Open Water course is not the end of learning to dive. In essence the Open Water course from any agency is just the tip of the ice berg, giving you only the essential skills necessary to get you underwater. It does not teach you to deal with problems or how to prevent them, it doesn't show you that diving is more that just a bunch of skills done under the auspice of an instructor, it doesn't teach you about interests that you may have individually, and it doesn't teach you the skills that I personally feel every diver should know and use on every dive.

I personally feel that every diver needs to experience a deep and night dive under the auspice of either an experience buddy or a dive professional. I personally believe that all divers should attain the level of rescue or better; not only will you be a better diver yourself, but more importantly a better buddy. I want to know that my buddy can save me in the unlikely event I can't handle the situation myself.

While it by no means makes you an Advance diver, which has been stated above time and time again, it will make you a better diver. An Advance diver my definition would be one that has a lot of bottom time in a variety of different situations using a variety of gear configurations. And, and Advance diver never stops learning and pursuing new, more challenging dive experiences. PADI's definition of Advance Diver may not fit into the industry or an individual diver's view, however it does promote the need to continue learning and keeps divers diving (or at least that's the hope).

So, go on and take the course and enjoy the experience, but don't stop diving and seeking out new diving experiences. Put in all the bottom time you can, use your own equipment, seek out new experiences, and never stop learning.

Earlier in this thread, Rebecca said...

"If they dive exactly like I do I know they will be safe and confident divers. Lets say they went out on a boat trip with other divers who were trained elsewhere and may have picked up some bad habits along the way, these other divers have different views on diving and safety."

Gee rebecca, it must be nice being perfect and never making a mistake. And on top of that, it must be nice to have students who are SO smart and able to retain every single minute detail of how YOU dive that they never make a mistake again. Where can I find some students like this it would make my job alot easier if we never had to EVER teach a class again beyond Open Water Diver.

Honestly though, to say that once your students dive with you they can see how it should be done is like saying I could watch Evil Kenevil jump 15 cars on a motercycle then go drive a Harley.

I know many excellent instructors who teach class very well and still have students who have no business being in the water. And regardless of how ANYONE teaches their class there are some out there who just dont get it and probably never will.

[This message has been edited by Mac8 (edited 06-11-2001).]

Mac8,

I think you have taken Rebecca's quote out of context. She was merely suggeting that she creates "safe" divers, not perfect divers. She was emphasizing that she can make them increase their awareness and practice of safe diving habits by keeping them diving with her. The more you see, hear, participate..etc..the better you will be. By the way, why are you complaining about unskilled divers...perhaps you should consider not issueing them certification cards if they dont belong in the water. One last point..why is everyone confusing "advanced" with "experienced". Advanced simply means beyond beginning which is exactly why advanced certification should be done immediately after open water courses. Experience isnt a class, it comes with dive after dive after dive. But dont assume someone with 100 dives is more experienced than someone with 60 dives. It all depends on the type of diving and adversity faced during the dives.

Take it easy Mac8. It seems to me that every post you've put up in the past couple of months has taken a stab at Rebecca. I've said it before, I'll say it again... personal attacks on a message board don't help anybody with anything. Stick to the topic okay??

Hey maybe you can start a Rebecca bashing thread!! Just kidding....