solo diving as a beginner

[krawlings]

I would strongly advise to stik with the buddy system . YOU never know what may come up
You may forget to turn yor tank on or just turned it on part weay and at dpth wa la no air this happend to my dive buddy . He lost pressure at 35ft tured the valva allthe way open and he had air . your tank could come loos and cause all kids of sress I realy beleave in the buddy system Be safe it's your life . Is it werth it ??? good luck and injoy your dives


Ken

 

[Doc Harry]

What you don't know can kill you.

There is nothing wrong with solo diving as long as you understand the risks and are prepared. A full 50% of my dives are solo.

But I would get more experience and more knowledge before solo diving, especially as a beginner, even in 10 feet of water.

 

[reticentDiver]

+1 for what Doc, Web Monkey and others have answered you.

There are so many problems you can run into that we can not list them all here. Sure, most of them are trivial IF you are an experienced, aware diver and remain calm OR you dive with a buddy, but you won't be in either situation.

It is tempting, but not safe. Wait for a buddy and enjoy yourself safely....

 

[Jupiter31]

What kinds of things?

Like drown????

Although most would tell you solo diving is a really bad idea, and it probably is, I'll confess I've done it - but I'm diving over 30 years and have well over 1000 dives.

If you want to solo dive, you need as a minimum, some real experience (I can't define that - but you can -but I'd say at a minimum, 50 - 100 dives), and a back up air source and regulator.

Its tempting, I know - but remember, you can embolize in shallow water, and can drown in a bathtub. Rethink the solo diving until you have more experience.

 

[MikeSK]

IMO..solo diving should only be done after about 100 dives and at a minimum Rescue Diver certified.

I've done lots of solo diving, especially during my DM internship. I would go to the site early and get it prepped. Which really means grabbing the good parking spots right by the water and tying the flag off on the platform. While i was doing that, I'd do a ten-fifteen minute solo dive just for fun before the newbs got in and stirred up the muck. This was in Devils Lake in Baraboo WI, which is only 20-30 feet where the platform was, and only about 5 fish in the entire lake, so no big deal.

Doing a solo dive after only a few? Natural Selection at work.

 

[spectrum]

Anyhow, I just thought I'd see what you guys thought about it.

Not yet and not for a while. As others have said experience has not had a chance to teach you yet.

Take your perception of this fresh water site being like the beach. I have found that what you see form the shore and surface doesn't begin to tell the story of what is below. That fresh water site may be littered with fishing tackle and mono-filament line that could put you in a world of hurt for instance.

When is the right time? Well after gaining some experience you may decide that it will never be the right time. If the desire persists I would get rescue Diver certification and have logged over 100 buddy dives that you planned and you led. Going from co-pilot to solo pilot is a big step.

By then you will have developed an appreciation for your skills, redundant gear and be able to make a personal objective decision in your own mind.

Pete

 

[Walter]

I have been certified since Sept 08. I do a lot of North Atlantic shore-diving alone [I am far from calling myself a solo diver] mostly because I have trouble finding a buddy on the spur of the moment, am a beginner and feel that I am scuba challenged.

You are a solo diver even if you don't realize it. Unless you've done a great deal of diving in the last eight months, you are rushing it. Since you still consider yourself a beginner and SCUBA challenged, you are not ready to be diving solo. Plan ahead. When you can't plan ahead far enough to get a buddy, you shouldn't be diving.

 

[DaleC]

Things that can happen while soloing (that I did not predict):

1. You can feel a tug on your fin and turn around to see a seal with it in his mouth

2. In low vis you can encounter two sharks (ok they were mud sharks but still...)

3. The BC inflator can free flow

4. Hit with a bout of Vertigo

I began soloing early so I won't say yea or nay to the OP but only suggest more research into what is entailed to see if the activity is right for you. In the end, you will be the one who pays.

Good luck, see you in the solo forum.

 

[gcbryan]

I'm not saying that this directly or even indirectly answers your question but IMHO the best thing you can do in any sport is to read the accident/fatalities report for that sport and find out what actually is killing/injuring the participants of that sport.

If you don't know what is causing problems then it's hard to avoid them.

Regarding your actual question I'd say wait for the solo thing until you have more experience and for now try harder to find buddies. They are generally out there.

 

[Afakasi]

A chance encounter with something that scares the crap out of you (it doesn't even have to be particularly scary ... just unfamiliar) ... and the brain's "hard-wired" fight or flight instinct will have you on the surface faster than your brain can process what it was you just thought you saw. If you hold your breath (again, hard-wiring will take over momentarily) you will blow a hole in your lungs and seriously injure yourself.

Less than a year ago we had a young man die here while solo diving in shallow water in just that manner. If I recall correctly, he had less than 30 dives at the time.

Question for the OP ... are you diving with a redundant air source? If not, how often have you practiced emergency ascents?

... Bob( Grateful Diver)

Thanks to everyone for the excellent feedback.

I do not dive with a redundant air source, but I have practiced emergency ascents in the pool a few times. That is exactly the type of skill (along with bouyancy, trim, mask drills, propulsion techniques, etc) that I would want to practice on a solo dive (shallow swim beach) because I wouldn't want to ask a new dive buddy from a LDS fun dive (my only diving right now) to waste their dive practicing fundamentals. When practicing these skills in the pool I was able to complete them all calmly and comfortably and with proper form, but I not only want to improve on them, but make sure that I stay in good practice with them all (especially emergency skills that may not be used frequently, but should still be in good practice). It seems to me that practicing this stuff would make the 'hard-wired' 'fight-or-flight' response a little easier to control.

Anyhow, don't get me wrong, I am not planning to go out and dive recklessly. I am just using the forum to explore ideas that come accross my rookie mind.