PADI Advanced Open Water Course Hurghada: Your AOW Dives Explained
Take the Plunge: What Dives Await in Your PADI Advanced Open Water Course in Hurghada?
You've earned your PADI Open Water Diver certification – congratulations! You've experienced the incredible sensation of breathing underwater and witnessed the beauty beneath the waves. But you know there's more. More to see, more to explore, more skills to master. If you're asking "What's next?" on your scuba diving journey, the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (AOW) course is your answer, and there's arguably no better place on earth to take it than the vibrant waters of Hurghada and Makadi Bay in the Red Sea.
This course isn't about becoming a hyper-technical expert overnight. Instead, think of it as advancing your diving skills through experience. It’s designed to build confidence, expand your capabilities, and introduce you to new types of diving under the guidance of a qualified PADI Instructor. Forget long classroom sessions; the focus here is on diving! You'll complete five exciting "Adventure Dives," each showcasing a different specialty area.
So, what exactly will you be doing during your Advanced Diver course in Hurghada? Let's dive in!
The Structure: Core Skills & Exciting Electives
The PADI AOW course consists of five Adventure Dives. Two are mandatory core dives, focusing on fundamental skills essential for exploring further. The other three are electives, allowing you to tailor the course to your personal interests and the incredible opportunities available right here in the Red Sea. You'll do some knowledge development, often through PADI eLearning® before you arrive or brief knowledge reviews with your instructor, but the real learning happens in the water.
The Core Dives: Deep & Navigation
These two dives are the foundation of the Advanced Open Water course:
Deep Adventure Dive:
What is it? This dive safely introduces you to the procedures and considerations of diving deeper than the 18 meters (60 feet) limit of your Open Water certification. You'll typically dive to a depth between 18 and 30 meters (60-100 feet).
Why do it? Many fascinating dive sites, including some wrecks and beautiful reef walls in the Hurghada area, lie beyond 18 meters. This dive teaches you how to plan for deeper dives, manage your gas supply more carefully, and recognize and manage the physiological effects of increased depth, such as nitrogen narcosis (which often feels like mild light-headedness).
Hurghada Advantage: The clear Red Sea waters often provide stunning visibility even at depth, and numerous dive sites feature beautiful drop-offs or deeper sections perfect for this training dive under controlled, safe conditions.
Underwater Navigation Adventure Dive:
What is it? Ever wonder how dive guides seem to magically find their way back to the boat? This dive sharpens your underwater navigation skills. You'll practice using a compass for more precise navigation, as well as refining your ability to use natural references (like reef formations or sand ripples).
Why do it? Good navigation skills boost your confidence immensely. They allow you to explore more effectively, feel less reliant on your guide (though you should always dive with a buddy and follow your guide!), and enhance overall safety by ensuring you know where you are and how to get back. You’ll practice skills like navigating reciprocal headings and estimating distance underwater.
Hurghada Advantage: Many Hurghada reefs offer distinct features perfect for practicing natural navigation, while the typically calm conditions provide a great environment to focus on mastering compass techniques without battling strong currents (though currents can exist, adding another layer to navigation practice!).
The Elective Dives: Choose Your Adventure (Pick Three!)
This is where you get to customize your AOW course! Based on your interests and the fantastic diving available around Hurghada and Makadi Bay, you'll choose three from a wide range of Adventure Dives. Here are some of the most popular and rewarding options available:
Peak Performance Buoyancy (PPB): Highly Recommended! Mastering buoyancy is the key to effortless, graceful diving. This dive focuses on achieving neutral buoyancy, refining weighting, improving trim (your body position underwater), and hovering motionless. Good buoyancy control helps you conserve air, avoid damaging delicate marine life (crucial in the Red Sea reefs!), and move through the water with less effort. This is perhaps the single most beneficial skill you can refine.
Wreck Adventure Dive: Hurghada is a gateway to some incredible Red Sea wrecks! While famous wrecks like the SS Thistlegorm might require longer trips, there are other fascinating wrecks accessible on day trips (like the El Mina minesweeper or those at Abu Nuhas). This dive introduces responsible wreck diving techniques, including assessing potential hazards, navigation around a wreck, and avoiding silt-outs. It’s a thrilling glimpse into maritime history.
Drift Adventure Dive: The Red Sea sometimes has gentle currents, making drift diving a common and exhilarating way to explore reefs. This dive teaches you techniques for diving in a current, including entries, maintaining buddy contact, using surface signaling devices (like an SMB – Surface Marker Buoy), and exiting the water efficiently. Go with the flow and cover more ground effortlessly!
Boat Adventure Dive: Since virtually all scuba diving in Hurghada is done from boats, this is a very practical dive. You'll learn about boat diving terminology, specific entry and exit techniques (like the giant stride), proper equipment stowage, and safety procedures unique to boat diving.
Fish Identification Adventure Dive: Want to know what you're actually looking at? The Red Sea bursts with colourful marine life! This dive teaches you how to identify common fish families and species found in the Hurghada area. You'll learn where specific fish live and how to spot them, adding a whole new layer of enjoyment to every dive.
Underwater Naturalist Adventure Dive: Go beyond just fish! This dive broadens your understanding of the entire aquatic ecosystem. You'll learn more about coral types, symbiotic relationships (like clownfish and anemones), and the differences between marine vertebrates and invertebrates you encounter around Makadi Bay and Hurghada reefs.
Search and Recovery Adventure Dive: Ever dropped something overboard? This fun, task-oriented dive teaches you various underwater search patterns and how to safely lift small-to-medium-sized objects to the surface using a lift bag. It’s a challenging and rewarding skill set.
Underwater Photography / Videography Adventure Dive: Capture your Red Sea memories! If you have an underwater camera (or rent one), this dive introduces basic principles of composition, camera handling, and techniques for getting great shots or footage of Hurghada's stunning underwater scenery and marine life.
(Other potential electives depending on the dive center and conditions might include Night Diving or Enriched Air Nitrox – often combined with a full specialty course).
Why Choose Hurghada for Your Advanced Open Water Course?
Simply put, Hurghada offers a world-class training ground:
Amazing Conditions: Generally excellent visibility, warm water year-round, and diverse marine life make learning enjoyable and rewarding.
Variety of Sites: From shallow reefs perfect for buoyancy practice to deeper walls, intriguing wrecks, and gentle drifts, Hurghada has suitable sites for every Adventure Dive.
Experienced Instructors: The area boasts numerous highly qualified PADI professionals experienced in teaching the AOW course.
Considering Private Instruction?
While the standard PADI AOW course is fantastic, taking it with private instruction – where it’s just you, your buddy/family, and your dedicated instructor – can elevate the experience further. It allows for maximum flexibility in choosing elective dives that truly match your interests, more personalized feedback on skills like buoyancy and navigation, and the ability to progress at your own pace without the pressures of a larger group. This is particularly beneficial for refining skills that require focused attention.
What About SSI, SDI, or Other Agencies?
While this post focuses on the popular PADI Advanced Open Water course, other reputable agencies like SSI (Scuba Schools International) offer equivalent programs (like the SSI Advanced Adventurer) and SDI (Scuba Diving International) also has advanced training pathways. The core concept of gaining experience through different types of dives is similar across agencies. PADI is the most widely recognized certification globally, but the quality of your instructor is paramount regardless of the agency. Many dive centers in Hurghada offer diving courses from multiple agencies.
Ready to Advance Your Dive Skills?
The PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course is your ticket to unlocking more of the underwater world. It builds confidence, introduces new skills, and allows you to explore exciting new environments like deeper reefs and wrecks. Completing this course in the spectacular setting of Hurghada or Makadi Bay will give you unforgettable memories and make you a more capable and confident advanced diver.
Are you ready to take the next step in your scuba diving adventure? Contact us today to discuss your PADI Advanced Open Water course options in Hurghada!
