Level Up Your Diving: What to Expect from the PADI Advanced Open Water Course
Finishing your Open Water certification opens up a whole new world, but taking your training to the next level is where the real fun begins. If you have been wondering how the PADI Advanced Open Water (AOW) course works, what skills you will actually practice, and which dives you will do, this guide breaks down everything you need to know.
Watch: Advanced Open Water Course Explained
Check out our full video breakdown below, originally featured on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/0v-PHxi8ubg?si=wRGLRcG6oEAVjajf
How the AOW Course Works
Unlike the entry-level Open Water course, Advanced Open Water is built purely around practical, in-water experience. There are no formal exams and minimal classroom sessions.
Instead, the course consists of 5 Adventure Dives paired with concise knowledge development topics. It expands your recreational depth limit from 18 meters (60 feet) down to 30 meters (100 feet), giving you access to deeper reefs, pelagics, and iconic shipwrecks. Best of all, every single Adventure Dive you complete credits directly toward its corresponding PADI Specialty certification.
The 2 Mandatory Dives
PADI requires two essential foundation dives for your certification:
* Deep Adventure Dive: You descend safely down to 30 meters (100 feet) under the direct supervision of your instructor. You will observe the physiological changes that happen at depth—such as pressure effects, rapid gas consumption, and color loss—while learning proper depth planning and monitoring for nitrogen narcosis.
* Underwater Navigation Dive: Taking what you learned in Open Water a step further, this dive focuses on navigating using kick-cycles, elapsed time, natural landmarks, and compass bearings. You will practice locating and returning to target points accurately without getting disoriented.
Choosing Your 3 Elective Adventure Dives
For the remaining three dives, you can customize your training based on your interests and our local conditions in Pattaya and Samae San:
* Peak Performance Buoyancy (PPB): The top elective recommended by instructors. You refine your weighting, trim, and breathing control to hover effortlessly, burn less gas, and protect marine life.
* Wreck Diving: Explore local historic shipwrecks, learning how to identify structural points of interest, hazards, and navigation bearings along artificial reefs.
* Enriched Air (Nitrox): Learn how to analyze tanks and set your dive computer to use oxygen-enriched mixes, safely extending your allowable no-decompression limits on deeper dives.
* Night Diving: Experience the reef as day-dwellers sleep and nocturnal predators emerge, using underwater torches and night signaling techniques to guide your dive.
* Digital Underwater Imaging & Fish ID: Master basic camera handling, buoyancy control while shooting, or learning how to spot and identify regional marine species.
Prep Like a Pro: Use the Dream Team Divers Dive Hub
Nervous about getting underwater with a compass or forgetting your headings? You do not have to wait until you are on the dive boat to dial in your skills.
On our website, you can visit the Dream Team Divers Dive Hub (https://dreamteamdivers.com/dive-hub) a dedicated preparation tool created specifically for our students and community. In the Dive Hub, you will find practical walkthroughs, including step-by-step guides on how to use an underwater compass, setting reciprocal bearings, and navigating with confidence before you ever splash into the water.
Ready to get started? Check our upcoming course schedules at dreamteamdivers.com (https://www.dreamteamdivers.com/padi-courses) and join our crew in the water!
Comments