So what is an Advanced Open Water diver, and why do we even need to have the certification. If you plan to dive frequently or Dive to Escape and add adventure to the Monday to Friday grind, I hope it’s not a grind. Becoming an advance open water opens up new realms in your diving, making it the natural next step after Open water certification and does enable you to add more adventure to your whole dive experience.
The course is called an Advanced Open Water diver is not that the diver is advanced as in a high calibre of diver. Instead, the course advances your knowledge from the Open Water course and exposes the diver to new conditions and further training. Although the Open Water course is designed to get people in the water diving safely, the advanced Open Water course starts to add to your breadth of knowledge in terms of how to deal with depth, navigate in the water, and plan dives. It will also cover how to control your buoyancy and so many other necessary skills to make diving enjoyable.
Several agencies offer the Advanced Open Water course, and I took mine through PADI at Diver’s Den in Tobermory, Ontario, Canada. The course is formatted over two days and five dives, and you’re required to do some bookwork. However, it’s minimal bookwork from a book called Adventures in Diving, where you can pick five topics/dives that you want to do on the course. Two of them are mandatory topics, buoyancy and navigation. Then you’re able to select from a variety of other dives. This is where you’re going to be able to pick the topics that will benefit you. What you choose will depend on the kind of diving you plan on doing, whether it will be a Reef dive, wreck dive, night dive, or deep dive. These are just some of the courses you can choose from in your Advanced Open water.
Prerequisites are always a significant concern. Relax! because the only prerequisite you need to become an Advanced Open Water diver is to be an open-water diver. You can start your Advanced Training as soon as you finish your Open Water course. If it’s within the realm of possibilities, I highly recommend doing it soon after finishing your OW. It will supercharge you and get you excited for your Adventures in Diving. It will add a lot of experience safely to your dive knowledge, that’s so important to make safe diving enjoyable, and that’s what’s going to keep you diving more often.
I did my Advanced Open Water course in Tobermory, Ontario, with Diver’s Den in 2010. My instructor was Mike Marcotte, now the owner of Divers Den as of (2022). I would say that I had a fantastic time because of Mike Marcotte. Mike was one of the most conscientious and thoughtful instructors I have ever had (I have taken several courses since my AOW). He has diving in his blood, and he can communicate his passion well. Mike has a real attention to detail. He was the first instructor and one of the best instructors I have ever had. He walked me through buoyancy control in a recreational setup (jacket BCD), which completely changed my diving from that day on.
When I did the Advanced Open Water, the Five adventure diving topics chosen were: Buoyancy, Navigation, Wreck, Night dive, and Deep dive.
Buoyancy
The Buoyancy dive of my Advanced Open water Course was structured nicely by the instructor. The reason was that only my buddy and myself chose to do Buoyancy dive in our adventure in diving. This was nice because we had the instructor’s full attention as the other five students decided on different adventures in diving topics.
Mike Marrcote was the first and only instructor that showed me how to control my buoyancy. Once in our equipment and properly weighted, you should be managing your buoyancy by just using your breath.
So Mike, the instructor, first explained in a very patient manner what it feels and looks like when you control your buoyancy with just your breath. Then he presented a hand gesture he would do underwater to show us when he was exhaling and inhaling. This helps us realize how there is a slight delay underwater when you inhale and slightly hold your breath, how long it takes to start to float up or ascend because of the breath, and the same for when you exhale. There is a slight delay before you begin to descend.
In part of the briefing, Mike explained how there was going to be an arching piece of rebar in the water near a small wreck that we would use as a prop to practise our buoyancy. Once underwater, Mike swam up to the arch, and as he got closer to it, he slightly exhaled (gestured with a hand air out). Once he slowly descended, he could swim under the rebar feature. Once his feet passed the rebar, he then slightly inhaled (gestured with his hand slightly inhaling), and we could see that he slowly ascended to his starting depth before going under the rebar. Without ever touching his Buoyancy Compensator Device (BCD), all this blew my mind and changed my diving. The amount of air I can conserve without using my BCD as an elevator and the control my breath provides. This was a real game-changer for me, that I could control my micro-adjustment underwater with my breath once neutrally buoyant. Some of that changed for me when I went to double tank set up, and the learning curve continued once my setup changed, but no one had ever explained and demonstrated buoyancy control as well as Mike Marcotte did that day.
Using your Breath for diving adds a calming and meditative component to diving maybe that is why I like this skill and how it was taught so much.
Navigation
The navigation dive is a fundamental skill because if you can’t navigate when you’re driving. You’re probably utterly dependent on your buddy or your divemaster, and if you’re diving regularly, you don’t want a leash. So navigating is an essential skill, learning how to use your compass, keep it level, and take a heading underwater. How to take a heading when you start your dive so you always know where land is can be helpful. As well as how to count your fin kicks to estimate your distance travelled while navigating.
My Navigation dives took place at the Lighthouse dive site in Tobermory, Ontario. And the instructor set up a course where he would be able to see us at the bottom of the bay. The water was so clear that it was effortless for Mike, our instructor, to know if we weren’t following his instructions.
First, we had to do a Straight line Navigation, so we were told one diver navigated and held the heading while another diver counted the fin kicks. So we were to count 50 fin kicks and then do a 90-degree turn using the compass and fin 50 kicks. If we did it correctly, we were to end at the same spot we started, which I recall went successfully.
The second navigation demonstration was to navigate a 100-foot square underwater. We didn’t use a reel for this skill. Some instructors may require it. We were asked to take a heading, then kick 50 kicks north, then 50 kicks east, same for south and finally west, ending at the same spot, give or take 20 feet, as this can be challenging in real-world situations. Because we are already certified divers and demonstrating a navigation skill, not a life-preserving skill, it is acceptable for the instructor not to be in the water. Mike only watched to see if we could demonstrate the skill. You can repeat it if you fail the first time.
Wreck Dive
If you have the opportunity to do a wreck dive on your Advanced Open Water course, I highly recommend it. There is nothing better than seeing a piece of history on the bottom of the ocean/Lake and knowing that you’re one of the few people in the world that’s seen it. Diving on wrecks has there inherent challenges. The course teaches what to be aware of when diving into a shipwreck, when not to penetrate a wreck, and situations that may trap you. How to avoid getting cut or hurt in a wreck and The kind of wildlife that likes to hang around wrecks. I took this course to give me some knowledge of all the things to be aware of when wreck diving. I had already dove wrecks several times before this course, but I did learn new things that were helpful in the future. Our wreck dive was on the Niagara II in Tobermory. This wreck was purposely sunk for divers by the Tobermory Maritime Association, and it is a must-see if you visit Tobermory. Because this wreck is pristine, it’s a giant playground for divers. The inside of the wreck is made safe for exploration, all the doors have been welded open many hatches have been cut in the hull so there’s light access at almost every point. You can have a lot of fun as a recreational diver. That’s why our instructor picked this spot, and it was fundamentally a great experience.
Night Dive
The Night dive is one I hope you choose to do. I am happy I did it and my Boyance dive because I learned a lot on those two dives. Night diving involves a lot of different emotions and skills. Because of that, I think it is an intelligent choice because you will have a good dive briefing, and an experienced instructor supervising you may alleviate some challenges.
We did our Night dive on the Niagra II wreck. This is the same wreck we had just done our wreck and deep dive course. This is part of our instructor’s plan as it’s often stated that one should do night dives at a dive site they have done before. This way, it isn’t wholly new. As I quickly found out, when you night dive, your dive site is entirely different than when you are there during the day. The first challenging thing was how dark a night dive is. That sounds funny, but when underwater at night, the only thing you will see is wherever your flashlight beam hits. This can be a little scary if you point your light in front of you, yet you look to your side. You will see nothing but pure pitch black. This may lead you to ask why even dive at night then? First, from a reef diving perspective, the wildlife that comes out at night is very different from what is on the reef during the day. Secondly, it can be common to be in a blackout situation if you penetrate a shipwreck or become cave trained. Mostly it is just another way to experience the underwater world. If you have a favourite dive site, and it starts to get boring, dive it at night one day, and you will see how it becomes a whole new dive just because of the narrow perspective of just seeing what the flashlight shines on.
One of the main challenges I encountered on this dive, and I hope I’ll save you the grief I went through, was task overloading. Task overloading is when you perceive that you have more than one task to attend to underwater while you are mentally registering that there are things you need to attend to that you do not. I’ll try to elaborate; this was the first time I would be diving with a flashlight in my hand. Every dive before my night dive, I have always had my hands free. When we started the dive, it was sundown when we splashed in to start the dive (task#1-night dive low visibility). As we descended the line, I moved my flashlight from my right hand to my left hand to hold the line as I descended to the wreck. All the while trying to use the light to see where the bottom is. I have to inflate my BCD as I descend, but my flashlight is in my left hand.( task #2 BCD inflation) (task# 3 illuminate dive with a flashlight) during the whole dive, I always felt like I was chasing something, knowing where the wreck was or where my buddy was or trying to make sure I was trim. Finally, when ending the diving now, its pitch black in the water and on the surface and we have to follow the wrecks morning line back to the surface. Again I had a juggling act moving the flashlight back and forth from my left hand to my right so I could hang on to the line while venting my BCD so that I wouldn’t rocket to the surface. I was quite inexperienced when I did this dive and have learnt a lot about myself and diving since. What I would say to a recreational diver doing their first-night dive on a wreck would be. Make sure your flashlight has a lanyard and use it. (the one I had didn’t) secondly, if you are right-handed, keep your flashlight in your right hand and use the lanyard to attach it to the wrist. If you need to let go of the flashlight, at least you won’t drop it to the bottom. When ever-ascending or descending and you will use your BCD, place your flashlight in your right hand. Your left hand will be busy at that time. The night dive was a new experience. With the zero visibility brought on by the night dive, the last thing I needed on that dive was to struggle with my buoyancy and feel a little out of control the whole dive because one hand was always occupied holding the flashlight. Also, night dives can be a little disorienting because of the zero visibility and the neutral buoyancy. You may even question which way is up. I know that may sound crazy, but when you do your night dive, you will experience this. The trick is to look for your bubbles, and Anytime you don’t know which way is up look for your bubbles they always know the way.
Deep Dive
the Deep dive, by far, is another great dive, and I think you’re going to hear me say that a lot throughout this blog. After all, is it a blog about Diving to Escape. The deep dive was held on the Niagra II shipwreck, the same place as my wreck dive and my Night dive. This was a good location not just because of the nice wreck we had to explore but also because it is 100 feet to the bottom, which is the PADI Deep dive course requirement.
The Deep dive is fantastic because it shows you a great example of the truth of dive theory, that nitrogen Narcosis is a real thing. During our Deep dive Mike, our instructor, took us to the bottom(100ft) and asked us to solve a math problem at the bottom. I don’t remember the exact question, but you are given a blank plastic slate with a simple math question. It may have been something simple like 7+3+4, and I know I saw the question, and I answered it on the slate with the utmost confidence. The instructor will just shake your hand and take the slate back and put it in his pocket, and you will continue with your dive. Once on the surface, Mike will ask each student whether they remember the math question and answer. It quickly becomes quite bizarre how vividly you think you remember it, but there are no details when recalling it. Some students remembered their questions. Then the instructor, Mike, asked if we remembered our answers, and he returned our slates to us to see what we answered. I think I answered something like 13 when the proper solution was 14. Mike asked how confident were you when you responded underwater, and we all reacted pretty confidently. It was a fun yet powerful demonstration of the effects of narcosis and, more importantly, how hard they are to recognize underwater.
This was my experience doing my advanced Open water with Mike Marcotte at Divers Den in Tobermory, Canada. I would highly recommend Tobermory for any cold water diving as there is plenty to experience there and I would recommend divers den for any training I did for my advance open water back in 2010. Below is a list of some of the other topics that can be taken with your Advanced Open water Course this was a summary of what I did and my experience.
Altitude diving
AWARE-Fish identification
Boat diving
Diver Propulsion Vehicle
Drift Diving
Dry Suit Diving
Multi-level computer diving
dry suit diving
Search and rescue
Underwater Naturalist
Underwater photography
Underwater videography