Northwest Dive Club

Would like to get my AOW.
Send me a pm if interested.

Any particular reason you are looking for (just) Padi?

Gratefuldiver (Bob) in Tacoma
Peter Guy (Peter) in Woodinville
Dive Girl (Nicolle) in Vancouver
Bdub (Brian) in Seattle
(+more those are just off the top of my head)

Are all on the board and teaching AOW, but not all through Padi. I'd ask about instructor without worrying about card/agency right now.

Oh and welcome to NWDC, maybe introduce yourself sometime soon?

open to all types

I agree with the instructors listed above. One group of independent instructors is Sound Aquatics (www.SoundAquatics.com) which includes Bob Bailey (www.nwgratefuldiver.com). He's trained many members of this board and always receives excellent reviews. He also teaches a lot of information many consider important, especially for diving in our local waters, that isn't usually covered in your "typical AOW." Same for Peter and Brian, also listed above.

What you get out of the class really comes down to who you choose as an instructor. Good luck with your class!!

That's a pretty damn good list for starters and there are several more on the forum as well. Agency means nothing, The instructor means everything.

Tell use where your at and we can be more focused on your local. While your at it introduce yourself and tell us a bit about yourself, your experience and your diving goals and style. Instructors have different ideas or training styles so you need to consider that also.

Who you choose should depend on where you live and what you want to get out of the class. There are several good instructors on this forum to choose from. AOW is one of those classes that you can get a lot out of or come away from with little but another c-card ... it depends on who's teaching it and how well their approach fits your learning style and goals.

As mentioned earlier, I've taught AOW to quite a few folks on this board. Mine is not your typical AOW class, in that it focuses more on developing skills than on exposing you to a variety of diving conditions. Others already mentioned take a similar approach. Oh, you'll still get your deep dive and night dive, etc ... but the emphasis will be on dive planning, gas management, learning how to be a good dive buddy, developing good navigational techniques, taking your buoyancy control to the next level, and other such fundamental skills that are very useful for diving in our local conditions.

I would be happy to talk to you about my class. I would also be completely comfortable recommending any of the other instructors named above ... they're all excellent instructors. I think any of us would want to start by asking you what you hope to take away from the class, and find out a bit more about your diving background and what your future goals are as a diver. Knowing those things helps to better plan how to set you on the right path to achieving them.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

... personally excited to get around to taking Bob's "super AOW" later this year as long as the 'child' fee don't eat too much into the 'kelly' budget (gotta stop collecting hobbies...)

Grateful Diver wrote:Who you choose should depend on where you live and what you want to get out of the class. There are several good instructors on this forum to choose from. AOW is one of those classes that you can get a lot out of or come away from with little but another c-card ... it depends on who's teaching it and how well their approach fits your learning style and goals.

As mentioned earlier, I've taught AOW to quite a few folks on this board. Mine is not your typical AOW class, in that it focuses more on developing skills than on exposing you to a variety of diving conditions. Others already mentioned take a similar approach. Oh, you'll still get your deep dive and night dive, etc ... but the emphasis will be on dive planning, gas management, learning how to be a good dive buddy, developing good navigational techniques, taking your buoyancy control to the next level, and other such fundamental skills that are very useful for diving in our local conditions.

I would be happy to talk to you about my class. I would also be completely comfortable recommending any of the other instructors named above ... they're all excellent instructors. I think any of us would want to start by asking you what you hope to take away from the class, and find out a bit more about your diving background and what your future goals are as a diver. Knowing those things helps to better plan how to set you on the right path to achieving them.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

First off, thank you for mentioning me in the list above! Secondly, I "second" all that Bob has noted above and wihtout hessitation I would recommend Bob for AOW training.

Ron Akenson of adventures down Under
Don Kinney of Edmonds Diving

PM me if you need contacts.

they're not on this board or any other boards. Damn good instructors though