Most divers, when they have completed their open water certification (OW), are keen to continue their education. The next logical step for them is the Advanced Open Water Course (AOW).

The AOW course takes the student and helps them hone the skills that they learned on their OW course. Also, it allows them to try different types of diving so that they have a better understanding of what is available to them.

So what is contained in the PADI Advanced Open Water course? It is made up of 5 adventure dives. Out of the five adventure dives you get to choose three things that you are interested in. The other two dives must be a deep dive and a navigation dive.

There are lots of different choices that you can take for the other three dives. It also depends on what kind of diving you are interested in doing. The most common choices are:

Peak Performance Buoyancy – this is because a lot of new divers suffer from buoyancy issues

Wreck  – wreck diving can be so much fun. This adventure dive is an introduction to wreck diving and does not allow you to penetrate the wreck.

Fish Identification – being able to identify the fish in your local diving area can make dives more satisfying and can help you spot alien species.

Boat Diver – this makes you more familiar with boats, how they operate and how to enter and exit the water from them.

Is the Advanced Open Water Course right for me?

If you are looking for a new challenge then go for it. Make sure that you find a great instructor because they will really make the course for you. It is a gateway into other types of diving and it could help you find a new way to enjoy your diving. So accept the challenge and become advanced.

What to do after the AOW?

All of the adventure dives are the first dives of their respective specialities so if you found something that you really enjoyed then why not do the speciality. Or if you are looking for even more of a challenge why not do the Rescue Diver Course.