Advanced Open Water (AOW)

This dive takes you from knowing how much weight you need to be neutrally buoyant to knowing where to position those weights to achieve your best trim. Most people are able to remove 2 or more pounds of weight after completing this dive. 

The deep dive always gets divers excited. We typically complete deep dives at Dutch Springs, PA, depending on availability.  The deep dive will allow you to experience many more dive sites and explore some of the deeper wrecks. As one of the core dives your allowable depth limit will increase from 60ft to 100ft. Planning your depth and time limits is a priority as is monitoring your air consumption and making a safety stop. At Dutch Springs you will make your descent and explore some of the deeper sites. You will see how color and temperature changes with depth and may even experience some nitrogen narcosis. On your ascent, you will monitor your ascent rate and perform your safety stop. On completion of the deep dive your confidence level will have increased and you will be better prepared for the more challenging dives to come. 

In your Open Water course, you learned how to use a compass to perform a straight out and back pattern. This dive builds on that skill. Some of the techniques you will practice are:

1. Different patterns, for example, a square pattern
2. Kick cycles to estimate distance
3. Time to estimate distance
4. Working as a buddy navigation team
5. Basics of "Natural Navigation" using light, shadows, current, bottom composition, and plant and animal life
6. Advanced compass techniques

The night dive is designed to give you a completely different diving experience than diving during the day. This dive will help to eliminate any anxiety you might have about diving after the sun goes down. Many divers prefer night diving to day diving because night diving is so peaceful. If you dive a site during the day and repeat it at night the experience will be entirely different. Fish and corals that are active during the day will go to sleep while others will wake up and come out to play. 

Wreck diving opens another environment for exploration. A wreck is a little oasis in an ocean desert with mini ecosystems waiting to be explored. Many divers research the history of the wrecks they intend to explore during their spare time adding another dimension to their enjoyment.

On the wreck dive you will:

1. Use a descent and ascent line
2. Practice the basics of navigating around a wreck with the use of a wreck reel
3. Navigate a wreck by observing the different structures of a wreck, the bow, stern, and
   superstructure as reference points
4. Discuss the difficulties of safe wreck penetration