This question comes up every week. Someone emails or WhatsApps us before their trip: "Should I get my Open Water or go straight to Advanced?"
Short answer: get your Open Water first. Always.
What Open Water gives you
A global certification to dive to 18 meters with a buddy. You learn buoyancy, navigation basics, mask clearing, emergency ascents, and how to plan a dive. On Bonaire, 18 meters covers 80% of the reef. Most of the best marine life sits between 5 and 15 meters.
Open Water takes three to four days with us. Theory online before you arrive, confined water skills on day one, four training dives over two to three days. You leave certified, logged, and ready to dive independently.
What Advanced Open Water adds
AOWD extends your depth limit to 30 meters and includes five introductory dives: deep, navigation, night, perfect buoyancy, and wreck. It is a structured way to gain experience in different conditions, and you can complete it in a single trip.
Beyond AOWD, SSI has the Advanced Specialty Diver rating, which requires four full specialties and 24 logged dives. That takes longer, and most divers build toward it over multiple trips.
The honest advice
If this is your first certification, do Open Water. Spend the rest of your trip doing guided shore dives. You will learn more in five relaxed fun dives than in any classroom.
Come back for AOWD on your next visit, or build toward it by adding specialties over multiple trips. Nitrox and Deep together put you halfway there.
The divers who rush to Advanced often miss the point. The certification is not the goal. The confidence is. And confidence comes from dive time, not card upgrades.
When AOWD makes sense immediately
Two scenarios. One: you did your Open Water in cold water back home, you are a confident diver, and you want to structure your Bonaire week around training. Two: you are heading toward Divemaster and want to knock out requirements efficiently.
In both cases, talk to us. We will map out a schedule that makes sense for your trip.