Solo diving certification

Are you allowed to dive solo? Please elaborae in comments

  • I have SDI solo diver certificaion and have always been allowed to dive solo

    Votes: 22 17.6%
  • I have SDI solo diver certification but have been denied the ability to dive solo

    Votes: 9 7.2%
  • I have PADI self reliant diver certification and have always been allowed to dive solo

    Votes: 2 1.6%
  • I have PADI self reliant diver certification but have been denied the abiltiy to dive solo

    Votes: 2 1.6%
  • I am not solo certified and have always been able to dive solo

    Votes: 72 57.6%
  • I am not solo certified and have been denied the ability to dive solo

    Votes: 18 14.4%

  • Total voters
    125

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I don't have a dive buddy and can't find one who's schedule works out. The last time I booked a dive with the school dive master, he showed up at the shop at the appointed time and then got a phone call and cancelled. So I drove out to my spot and went for a nice stress free solo dive. It was nice.
 
I'm a solo diver instructor-trainer, was primary author for SDI's Solo Diving Manual, and have been denied opportunity to solo dive! LOL! Depends totally on the operator I guess.
 
I'm a solo diver instructor-trainer, was primary author for SDI's Solo Diving Manual, and have been denied opportunity to solo dive! LOL! Depends totally on the operator I guess.

Yeah, I guess that one knew you.....:D
 
I'm a solo diver instructor-trainer, was primary author for SDI's Solo Diving Manual, and have been denied opportunity to solo dive! LOL! Depends totally on the operator I guess.

Yeah, yada-yada, but do you have a Solo cert card? :)
 
So, not the perfect poll, but, interesting, nevertheless

One third of respondents SDI certified, none PADI certified, two thirds not certified. Less not certified divers appear to have been denied ability to solo dive but may be many reasons for this.

What I really wanted to know was ability to dive solo in a situation where certification was generally required.

Many of us dive, or have dived, with operators we know well or who simply do not require buddy diving. My first solo dive followed being booted off the boat in San Diego without any question about a buddy. I took full advantage, the rest is history. The majority of my dives are solo and I'm only asked about certification by operators who do not know me and require it.

Lastly, where should solo diving reside on SB? This thread was initially posted to the Advanced forum and then got hidden away in the Solo subforum of the Technical forum. I did not weigh in during the previous debate of this topic. Solo diving is an advanced activity, not a technical activity. It would benefit from the wider exposure afforded by being in the Advanced forum

Good solo diving, Craig

So.....one month later, the thread has pretty much played out. One hundred seven divers responded to the poll, 75% no solo certification, 22% SDI certification, and 3% PADI certification. This may reflect the distribution of the solo divers on SB who pay attention to the solo sub-forum.

The denial rates are probably not particularly accurate as described above. It is interesting that one of five divers with no certification state that they have been denied the ability to dive solo, whereas the rate for SDI certified divers is twice that. I would have thought that solo certified divers would check with their operator to make sure that they allow solo diving and that their certification would be accepted. The high denial rate surprises me.

I've been diving solo for 9 years but have only been solo certified for 2. Certification has expanded my ability to dive with new operators. Checking with the operators ahead of time has given me a success rate of 100%.

Good diving, Craig
 
I would have thought that solo certified divers would check with their operator to make sure that they allow solo diving and that their certification would be accepted. The high denial rate surprises me.

Not to be foolish but the question asks - have you been denied the ability to dive solo. The answer is yes I checked before hand - yes I was denied - no I did not solo on that dive boat - yes I went anyway and dove with an instabuddy... Why is it surprising that I answered the question as asked - have you been denied?
 
Not to be foolish but the question asks - have you been denied the ability to dive solo. The answer is yes I checked before hand - yes I was denied - no I did not solo on that dive boat - yes I went anyway and dove with an instabuddy... Why is it surprising that I answered the question as asked - have you been denied?

Sorry, the poll was not perfectly written and my communication has not been perfect either. So, are you solo certified by one of the agencies? Were you denied before or after your certification? Did you communicate with the operator with regard to their solo policy and whether you would be qualified to dive solo?

Before I was solo certified, I was not able to solo with some operators who did not know me or had a policy against solo diving. I did not necessarily count these as failures, just a fact of life, perhaps like you did. I have dived with my share of instabuddies, some OK, some not. Over the years, I have accumulated operators all over who know me or who don't require buddy diving. Since solo certification, I have inquired in advance whether I would be able to dive solo and have had no failures.

I think the way divers successfully solo dive has become quite clear. It appears that the majority of solo divers, as reflected by this poll, are NOT solo certified, but are quite successful in solo diving. Certification may increase success with operators who allow the practice.
 
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