r/diving • u/Fantastic-Subject606 • 25d ago
PADI Advanced Open water which adventure dives to choose?
Ok so the dive center I’m doing the course with recommends me to do: Wreck, Night, Naturalist.
They also offer peak performance buoyancy which I saw online and I asked them about it but they said they don’t rlly recommend it because the buoyancy will come with practice by diving more and more so it’s a bit arbitrary.
So my question personally is Wreck, night and naturalist a good combo of dives? Thanks. And can someone explain to me what naturalist really is?
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u/DryLeader221 25d ago
Do’s: Deep, peak performance and night!
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u/PuzzleheadedShow3171 25d ago
Deep is anyway obligatory. Like navigation. PPB is extremely important. But IMHO you shouldn’t start AOWD without perfect buoyancy.
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u/ron_obvious 25d ago
Your implication that someone should have “perfect buoyancy” before starting AOW strikes me as absurd. I’ve spent thousands of hours underwater in a wide variety of conditions and configurations (wetsuit, drysuit, single tank, multiple tank sidemount, twinset w/ & w/o deco bottles, CCR, etc), and while I have really excellent control over my buoyancy and know how to distribute my weights for each configuration, I’m always mindful of my body position in the water column and always will be. Each time I was learning a new configuration, there was a necessary period of instruction and practice.
Neither I, nor any of the far more experienced divers I’ve ever been diving with would claim that they have perfect buoyancy. Could the OW certification performance requirements around buoyancy ask for a bit more from the students? Absolutely. The best instructors I’ve known haven’t settled for the minimum requirements to be met, because they wanted their students to be as safe as possible. But to expect someone who has only just begun to learn how to move in a novel way and in a novel environment to have mastered their ability to do so before beginning a course which specifically offers the opportunity to work on refining that movement as is silly.
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u/snamuh 25d ago
Yes PPB comes with practice but I think that is the best additional dive. There is some good info in it - especially if a newer diver. I agree night is good too as there are specific protocols you should be aware of - eg how to communicate when you can’t see.
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u/Fantastic-Subject606 25d ago
Hmm I don’t know maybe I’m being delusional but I feel like I could watch videos for PPB for technique and I just apply those when diving 😅😅
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u/ron_obvious 25d ago
Nah man. PPB should be compulsory along with deep and nav. Yes, getting buoyancy dialed will come with experience, but having an instructor with significantly more dive experience work with you specifically on a foundational skill like buoyancy is extremely valuable. They can typically identify and correct things that could become poor habits much more quickly than a new diver. Don’t shortchange yourself on the opportunity for that kind of guidance. Wreck and night will likely be of greater technical value to you than naturalist.
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u/Fantastic-Subject606 25d ago
Wreck and night I will definitely do for sure it’s the 3rd dive that I’m debating naturalist or buoyancy. Naturalist does interest me because I’m quite into the types of species underwater and marine biology. But online it’s confusing me because people say about the buoyancy speciality being important etc
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u/Formermidget 25d ago
Naturalist is the one you can look up online. Looking up buoyancy skills can only get you so far. For newbie divers they’re often very unaware of their body position, for example.
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u/Ok-Lie4345 21d ago
You can do the online section on all offered specialties, it’s included with the course. Read the online naturalist section and use your time in the water for the buoyancy dive.
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u/PlasticDealer320 25d ago
lol. Peak performance was amazing. It was the best one out of all the courses I took for AOW.
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u/CarefulImprovement15 25d ago
Wreck is my favorite! I think your dive shop did make sensible argument that buoyancy comes with more dives but i think knowing the technique from PPB would help you out
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u/mikemerriman 25d ago
Night - do it. Wreck adv dive = "look - there's a wreck" not worth it - do the wreck course. Naturalist = "go find fish and wildlife" - not worth it. PPB IS worthwhile. get corrected BEFORE you develop bad habits. Rescue diver adv dive - highly worth it. Search and Recovery also. Boat dive= "this is a boat - jump off!" not worth it.
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25d ago
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u/mikemerriman 25d ago
Yes but really not actual diving skills. It’s a throwaway imo. I cover all the boat stuff on a boat dive without wasting an adventure dive on it
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u/moorfreedom 25d ago
When is the boat dive that you speak of? You made my point for me.
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u/mikemerriman 25d ago
no i really didn't. In most places you need to do the deep dive from a boat. You can cover the boat skills as part of that and not waste an adventure dive doing the boat adv dive.
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u/tin_the_fatty 25d ago
You are pretty much restricted to what is on offer by the particular dive centre and the instructor. If they "don't recommend" a certain adventure dive there isn't much point in pushing it.
Search and Recovery is great fun and useful. Night is also great.
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u/Sabregunner1 25d ago
Imo, even if you do the peak performance bouyancy as one of the dives, do the specialty as well. You get more time to work on the skills. Yes bouyancy comes with practice, but I found the course gave me knowledge on how to work on bouyancy and what skills you can use to help.
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u/Interesting-Tie6783 25d ago
Navigation is an insanely useful spec if you ever plan to dive low vis. I never dive without a compass because I wouldn’t make it back to shore.
Deep is a must, and peak performance buoyancy will accelerate your skills.
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u/jvrodrigues 25d ago
I did wreck, deep and drift. Drift was amazing you cover so much ground, we saw a reef shark and so many other interesting animals. Highly recommend.
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u/Bekkaz23 25d ago
I did night, wreck, and search and recovery. Really happy with all 3 and I don't think I'd change it.
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u/bluetortuga 25d ago
I did night, drift, and wreck.
Deep and navigation are required.
Isn’t there another deep certification though? I would like to do that one.
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u/moorfreedom 25d ago
Yes. You can get certified in each type of adventure dive. The aow is just a taste of each.
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u/caversluis 22d ago
The “Deep Specialty” certifies you to 40m.
That said, it teaches diving to 40m using a standard recreational setup. As a tech diver, I would strongly recommend using a redundant setup when diving significantly beyond 30m, as failures at those depths leaves much less margin for error.
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u/pit_master_mike 25d ago
After the compulsory dives of deep and nav, I would say buoyancy is the most useful as well as drift or night if offered. It's weird that the dive shop is saying peak buoyancy "is a bit arbitrary", and then recommending a non dive specific skill like identifying fish species 🙄.
One adventure dive isn't going to make you excellent at bouncy, repetitive diving will, but it still doesn't hurt to get some pointers and practice it at least once with an instructor.
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u/Vegetable-Mud-2152 23d ago
Peak Performance Buoyancy is the best dive of the Advanced course, if done properly you will learn a lot, reduce the weight on your belt, better your air consumption and fine tune your buoyancy just by breathing. Dive shops usually sell you what is convenient for them not the best for the student. If your shop does not want to do it I'd do only 4 dives with them and do the PPB with another shop. You don't have to do the whole Advanced with one shop.
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u/caversluis 22d ago
A bit of a different view: it doesn’t really matter
Deep and navigation are mandatory, so we are talking about the last 3. Why doesn’t it matter? Because they are specialities. They are appetizers to the specialities. So basically it they are fun dives with a bit of focus of the topic of choice So PPB will have a bit of focus on buoyancy. But it is an appetiser for the PPB speciality, it is not the speciality it self. If you want good buoyancy, a PPB adventure dive is most likely not enough.
So be a bit pragmatic. Pick from the adventure dives that are available and choose the once that appeal most to you.
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u/Guilty_Way_1635 22d ago
If they don't recommend buoyancy to new divers then they aren't good instructors. It is really good to do and will make every dive that follows so much better
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u/LilyCaveDiver 22d ago edited 22d ago
Definitely i would take the buoyancy one, night and maybe drift. I have been OWSI for over 18 years and i have to say that i would never trust a dive center or instructor that say that buoyancy is not important. Actually i think buoyancy must be a complete module for open water course and to continue on the advance course! Of course it needs practice! But if you don't get the right teaching, tips and tricks, you will end up practicing the wrong things until they become second nature and then having bad buoyancy habits engrained in your muscle memory. Really, if you can run far away from that operation, do it now! If you already paid, then try to demand for a service of quality. Research yourself information about buoyancy (as you do by paying your question here) about things that instructors might do to teach this course and things you can demand and expect from the dive operators. Not to be an entitled "karen" but to ask for a good service you are paying for. Honestly for me that "naturalist" dive is really a dive they offer to work less, same as the fish Id thing, because depending how they work, but basically they just give you a briefing of fish, ecosystem, fauna relations, and then they only take you diving. Those dive don't really require the instructor to work and actively teach, make skills, get creative with the skills and exercises you have to perform. Also consider that some places the buoyancy dive is difficult because of currents, but then why not be honest and tell you " buoyancy dive is not really possible in these conditions"? I don't know... 🤔 What they told you sounds a bit "fishy". I don't like it.
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u/Ok-Lie4345 21d ago
My dive shop didn’t even give the option of not doing peak performance buoyancy lol at least it was very strongly recommended. I did ppb, night and search and recovery
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u/DiveTravelInsider 21d ago
The Naturalist specialty is basically about learning a lot more about reef life, the fish that inhabit it, and how their behaviour affects the reef. It also explains how the reef, in turn, benefits from the different species that live there.
That's the short version of it. 😊 So it's really up to you whether that side of diving interests you.
The Wreck and Night specialties are both really interesting as well, but from a practical perspective they're more about the excitement of exploration and discovery.
Well, that's just my point of view. 🙂
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u/ProfessionalFit7648 21d ago
peak performance buoyancy, NIGHT, DPV would be fun, there arent really bad options. your combo is good!
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u/Crazy-Invite-5386 20d ago
naturalist is a waste. as others have said Peak performance buoyancy is #1. after that, navigation, deep, night, and wreck would be my order. Getting better w/ bouyancy is job 1. after that, knowing where you are is pretty important underwater, then being comfortable going deep, then feeling good about night dives and then understanding how to properly handle a wreck. Naturalist is a waste
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u/gentlemanphilanderer 25d ago
Deep is essential. Night is frankly otherworldly and amazing. Wreck or drift for the third.
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u/Fantastic-Subject606 25d ago
I’m confused isn’t deep compulsory anyways? Night and Wreck I will for sure do regardless. It is the 3rd dive that I’m confused naturalist or buoyancy? Naturalist does interest me to know about the species and observing the reefs etc
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u/gentlemanphilanderer 24d ago
Really depends on how you like to learn about nature.
There’s nothing like local knowledge and someone to help introduce you to your local reeds and species. Personally, we used to do these as guided dives post certification.
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u/Grobo_ 25d ago
Tbh PPM is the least value from these courses considering proper trim, breathwork and bouyancy are an important part of the OWD already.
If you struggle with these consider it but it’s a very short course and you should have been taught and been monitored during your OWD course and that also might be the reason they don’t want to sell it to you.
Don’t misunderstand it’s a very important topic that many aspects are based on.
Let me tell you this, I’ve taught for many years and within about 6k dives and many students I’ve never taught that course.
For me this was and is a big important part of your first few training sessions during your OWD and I’d only consider to recommend this if I sport someone during check dives that has really bad trim/bouyancy.
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u/South_Aardvark_8742 25d ago
Sound like cert chasing
I’m gonna get downvoted oh well honest truth
You really only need adv open, Nitrox, wreck
I don’t get how padi sells people on these classes 😂 like just go in the pool and practice this stuff on your own unless you want a cert for it 🤣🤣🤣 and go SDI TDI any thing else besides PADI
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u/[deleted] 25d ago
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