How soon is too soon?

[Flatliner]

I have a question for all of you solo divers.

What criteria would you give someone who was interested in solo diving in order to determine if they were ready for it.

I travel a lot and am very interested in diving solo. At this point, I do not even have an appropriate gear config for diving solo BUT I know that it is something I will do at some point. How will I know I am ready?

[NitroWill]

If you doubt your self, you are ready.

You should be completely confident (but not cocky) of your capabilities
You should be positive that you can take care of yourself..
You should be completely familiar with each and every piece of gear..
You must be abe to stay calm in strenuous situations
You must do a lot more planning and think of every possible situation that could come up and how you will deal with it
Redundant air soures would also be a pretty good option..

[finflippers]

The old saying is: If you have to ask then you are not ready.

That being said Only you will know when you are ready. Some questions you might want to ask yourself is:
1. How is your buoyancy?
2. How is your navigation skills?
3. Are you able to handle stressful situations without panic?
4. Have you set reasonable limits for yourself on any solo dive you might do?

Answering these questions for yourself will be a good place to start. Then start on easy shallow dives and work yourself up.

[Flatliner]

Originally Posted by NitroWill

Redundant air soures would also be a pretty good option..

That was supposed to be funny right?

[No Misses]

I solo snorkeled for years prior to getting into scuba. It just seemed natural to solo scuba as well. That is not to say that all of my diving is solo. But, I do not let the lack of a dive partner hold me back. If somebody bails out at the last moment (they don't get invited again ;-) I will just solo it. My dive partners and I have agreed that if we get seperated,we will continue the dive solo. The only exception to this is when I dive with a new/inexperienced diver. In that case I am more vigilant to the seperation thing. Just because I am comfortable with it, I can not assume that everybody is.

Happy diving and good luck!

[Flatliner]

Originally Posted by finflippers

The old saying is: If you have to ask then you are not ready.

That being said Only you will know when you are ready. Some questions you might want to ask yourself is:
1. How is your buoyancy?
2. How is your navigation skills?
3. Are you able to handle stressful situations without panic?
4. Have you set reasonable limits for yourself on any solo dive you might do?

Answering these questions for yourself will be a good place to start. Then start on easy shallow dives and work yourself up.

Many areas that I find myself have easy shallow diving available. I believe that with the addition of the appropriate gear, I would do fine and would really enjoy it. However, I also recognize that at my current experience level (less than 50 dives) there are a lot of things I don't even realize that I need to consider.

How many dives did you have under your belt when you first dove solo? What precautions do you take? Would a "solo diving" class answer the questions? What role does someone's personality play?

[fire diver]

Yep, just like the others have said. You'll pretty much just know when you are ready. That doesn't mean you won't be a little nervous about it though.

FD

[finflippers]

Well my first dive fresh out of my OW was a solo and it was only about 15' deep. If I knew how much I did not know at that point I would of waited until I had more dives and experience under my belt.

When I do go for a solo dive. I get everything setup and ready to dive and I call my wife to let her know I am going under and exactly when I would be up and calling her to let her know I am up. Once the dive is done the first thing I do after setting my gear down is call my wife.

I can not really speak for the solo cert. I don't have one, but when I first started diving solo they didn't have it and you never ever mentioned that you was a solo diver unless you wanted to take a tongue lashing. LOL

[Jaymeany]

I don't like the answer of "when you are ready you will know". I see what you mean but What about things people don't consider. Ignorance is not bliss in this case. I think someone that is ready asks that question. "I believe I am ready to solo but what might i be missing?". Its not like the whole sex advice on the first time "when you are ready you will know it" How many people really were ready? I Think you need a ton of experience but I know what Flatliner is asking for and I agree with the general idea of when you are ready you will know it. However I think that leaves some areas where there could be an issue. Ask a 10 year old if they can drive a car and they will say yes because all they think you do is turn the wheel and push down on the thing on the floor. In other words what might Flatliner or others be missing when thinking about going solo?

[fire diver]

Originally Posted by Jaymeany

Its not like the whole sex advice on the first time "when you are ready you will know it" How many people really were ready? I Think you need a ton of experience....

OMG! I....WANT...TO....POST....SO....BAD!!!! And it's even in the solo forum.

-biting tongue-

FD