Solo Diver

[namabiru]

A lot of it is comfort, methinks. I didn't solo at first, until I understood the dive site where I was going. I was at shallow depth, along a wall too. Plus another dive team was in the general area. I think, then, as you gain confidence, you gradually move into more challenging solo diving ventures. I won't say I'm an expert by any means, but finishing my rescue course also gave me further confidence to solo dive and conquer any challenges presented.

[No Misses]

I don't want to be accussed of leading new divers astray. But, a good 40% of my dives are of the solo variety. Especially when hunting lobster, If we split up we can cover more ground. Sometimes we come back together near the end of the dive. But, more times than not, we surface 50-100 yards apart.

[Phestr]

I've been thinking about the solo diving, as my regular buddy's wife started and now I kinda feel like a third wheel. Thanx for the info, it's great to know there is a cert for it.

[namabiru]

Originally Posted by No Misses

I don't want to be accussed of leading new divers astray. But, a good 40% of my dives are of the solo variety. Especially when hunting lobster, If we split up we can cover more ground. Sometimes we come back together near the end of the dive. But, more times than not, we surface 50-100 yards apart.

I don't think you're leading anyone astray at all. I've often wondered about the whys and whereforths of the bias against solo diving. Frankly, solo diving fits my personality better. I simply like to do things by myself. I travel alone, for one. And it's because if you go with a group, or even one other person, you're almost inherently expected to worry about what *they* want to do. I just prefer to look after myself, and set my own pace. So I kind of feel the same way in the water. If you have a buddy, particularly if they're new divers, you kind of feel obligated to check on them, make sure they're okay, etc. Then again, if you have an established buddy, and you both understand that you're doing your own thing, and don't need to check on them every other minute and they can do the same for you, then you're good.

I had an insta-buddy in Cozumel who drove me crazy in the water. Constantly looking over at me, constantly attracting my attention to see if I was fine (tapping on tank, making me look), even though I was swimming peacefully and didn't look distressed at all, constantly drifting right over to me. Eek. Then he literally grabbed my gauge once while I was swimming and studied it earnestly. Almost took off my fin and hit him with it right there Turns out the man was sucking down a 120 like it was beer. Needless to say, we only dove together once.

So, in that case, I would have preferred to hide behind the coral and solo.

[cummings66]

I don't have anything against solo diving. What you said about your buddy, that sounds like he was insecure and was latching onto you.

I do check on my buddy but it's just a glance. With a new buddy I'll monitor their air usage, but normally I just look across at it and note the pressure. Works where I dive because you're usually within 5 feet of the other diver due to limited visibility.

In the ocean where you could get further apart I'd be different. The issue with a buddy is that you're each responsible for the other and sometimes a diver just doesn't pay attention to their air supply. I'd wager that's near the top in causing diver deaths and also injuries.

[Venio]

Well now, after reading all the posts I can summarize the main points of solo diving like this:

• Dive in a location you are familiar with.
• Be comfortable with what you are doing.
• Do not dive beyond your training and ability (I think that's universal ).

So following the point from above I went ahead and did my first solos. The choice of the location was easy, my apartment's swimming pool 8' deep , I'm quite familiar with. As of the second point, It has never been a issue to me. For point three, 8' deep pool is, hopefully, not stretching my abilities!

I did it mostly because I wanted to practice some skills like buoyancy, mask removal and cleaning, and different styles of finning. I'm pretty sure no buddy will be in mood for doing that with me for hours. Also, I thought it would be more distracting for me if I have to be someones buddy.

As a result now I'm able to take off my mask without doing partial flooding first, something I was terrified when I was taking my OW class some 10 dives ago! At the end I was able to do the mask removal and and cleaning while hovering and not moving for more then a foot from where I started. My buoyancy is waaay better than before those improvised pool sessions and I was able to learn how to use my lungs efficiently as a buoyancy device. I will not attempt to do a solo in OW in the near future as I believe that I need to do some more dives before I feel comfortable enough.

[namabiru]

Originally Posted by cummings66

I don't have anything against solo diving. What you said about your buddy, that sounds like he was insecure and was latching onto you.

Yep, you're right about that. I heard on the boat that he and his wife hadn't dived for eons, and in all reality, the dive shop 'overlooked' their policy of someone taking a refresher if they had been out of the water for over 6 months. Heh. His wife was doing just fine; it was the man who was a bit nervous. Nervous, of course, being code for 'a bit dangerous to himself and others in the water'.

I definitely got a small taste of what it's like to be an instructor or divemaster with a new diver, as I spent most of my dive either looking after him or trying to avoid getting run into by him.

[cummings66]

I dive with new divers all the time, I've let the shop know to send them my way. I did one today in fact. You just get used to the antics and try to help them along the way as best you can.

You don't want to see my dive profile, it's pretty ugly but it is shallow.

[Dive-aholic]

Originally Posted by namabiru

A lot of it is comfort, methinks. I didn't solo at first, until I understood the dive site where I was going. I was at shallow depth, along a wall too. Plus another dive team was in the general area. I think, then, as you gain confidence, you gradually move into more challenging solo diving ventures. I won't say I'm an expert by any means, but finishing my rescue course also gave me further confidence to solo dive and conquer any challenges presented.

I remember when you did your first solo dive. I had no concerns. Taking it slow is the key.

[picxie]

I've been dead against solo diving in the past, but I am thinking more and more that I'd like to give it a go. I'd rather dive with a buddy if I can, but I don't have a local buddy. I also have access to being taken out on a boat regularly. So we could do a boat trip out - I'll jump in for a dive, come up, they can fish during my surface interval, then I can have another dive on the way home. It's ideal ... I think it would be better if I had someone with me, but given the opportunity of being able to go out more, I'm really considering doing it alone. It's local diving, pretty shallow. Given that I've not dived for 2 months now I'd do a couple of trips away (with my out of town buddy) to dust of the skills before doing this though.