PADI Advanced Course - what to expect

The PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course is designed to both advance your dive skills as well as introduce you into the various different styles and types of diving you can do.  You have the choice from a large selection of specialty dives depending on your interests, and each dive will give you a sample of that type of dive.

The PADI Advanced Open Water Course (AOWC) consists of 5 course dives.  Each dive has 1 chapter of theory to read with a quiz at the end.  As with other PADI courses, it can be done on your PADI app and completed ahead of the dive itself. 

The theory section for the PADI Advanced course is significantly less than for the PADI Open Water Course, with an expected time of maybe 30 mins for each chapter.

The Advanced course is mainly practical. The aim is to introduce you to different avenues you can go down as a diver, and to get you diving! 

Two of the course dives are mandatory in order to achieve your AOW certification, and the other three dives are of your choice. Depending on both your interests and the dive center you dive with, you can find the ones that interest you most.

To help you decide, and know what to expect; here is an explanation of what to expect in both the mandatory dives and some of the more popular training dives.

The Mandatory dives

Underwater Navigation: (how to navigate underwater)

You will learn to use different methods to measure distance underwater, use natural navigation methods and how to use a compass to navigate in both a straight line and a square

Deep Diving: (diving up to 30 meters safely and avoiding risks)

You will learn how to dive at depth safely by setting dive limits and gas management, see how colour is affected at different depths and compare depth gauges.

Popular Adventure Dives (a choice of any three)

Altitude Diving: (If you want to dive in beautiful mountain lakes)

You will learn that the effects of pressure underwater when starting at altitude are different than underwater when starting at sea level.  It will cover the physiological concerns of altitude and how to plan dives at altitude.

Boat Diving: (If you want to learn about diving from a boat...as opposed to the shore)

You will learn boat terminology, what safety equipment should be onboard as well as boat diving procedures. You will also learn to deploy a Surface Marker Buoy either on the surface or at depth.

Digital Underwater Photography: (If you are a keen photographer and want to take good photos!)

You will learn techniques for taking photos and videos underwater and how the underwater environment affects images.  You will also learn setting up your camera including its housing, framing your shot and exposure settings to make the best image.

Drift Diving: (If you are keen to dive in awesome currents and stay safe at the same time)

You will learn how to dive in a current, safety techniques and potential hazards, specialist equipment and how to enter/exit and descend in a current.

Dry Suit Diving: (If you are interested in cold water diving, yet, not being cold!)

Because a dry suit has a layer of air inside the suit, and air is affected by pressure, you cannot simply buy a dry suit and go for a dive.  There are techniques, dangers and procedures to learn first. You will learn to don and doff a drysuit, learn to maintain neutral buoyancy and remove and replace your equipment at the surface.

Enriched Air Nitrox: (If you are interested in diving on Nitrox; the healthier option)

You will learn to how to analyse and determine your maximum depth as well as setting your computer to Nitrox. You then do this dive on an Enriched Air Nitrox tank (up to 40% o2)

Fish Identification: (If you want to actually recognise the fish you’re looking at on a dive)

You will learn to recognise and categorise different species of fish, draw fish you do not recognise and identify them using a fish guide book.  During the course you will learn some common species of fish and what to look for regarding fin and tail shape and position, mouth type, sizes and behaviours to help identify what you see.

Night Diving: (If you want to dive after dark...a bit of a marmite dive, you either love it or don’t!)

You will learn how to use a torch and communicate and read your instruments in the dark, as well as navigating a reciprocal course using a compass. The dive will be anytime between sunset and sunrise.

Peak Performance Buoyancy: (If you want to look stealth and skillful underwater)

For this dive you will practice various techniques regarding proper weighting and adjusting your trim, breathing and diving position.  You may be given some underwater games/challenges by your instructor to perfect your ability to remain neutrally buoyant throughout your dive.

Search and Recovery: (If you want to find and recover interesting treasures items from depth)

Not only will you learn various navigational search patterns using compass and natural navigation, you will also learn some different types of knots and put them to use to rig a lift bag and bring to the surface a heavy object.

Underwater Naturalist: (If you want to recognise not just the fish but invertebrates too)

You will learn the different types of marine life and identify several different vertebrates, invertebrates and marine plants.

Wreck Diving: (If you want to dive the depths to investigate cool sunken ships and other interesting sunken things generally!)

You will dive along side a wreck and learn the hazards and safety procedures to explore wrecks safely.

So now you know a bit more about what to expect in your PADI Advanced Course, you can go and get exploring!