Agency used for solo certification?

[scubadada]

Divers relatively frequently ask about which agency to use for solo certification. Which agency did you use? Has your certification ever been rejected by an operator who allows solo diving with certification? If yes, please elaborate, below. If you solo dive without certification, describe, below, i.e. shore/boat, operators who do not require certification, operators who know you....

 

[WarrenZ]

I have mine through PADI as that is the only option I have around here. Blackbeards in Bahamas denied anyone diving solo cert or not I guess they had a bad experience their website still lists solo with cert though.

 

[MichaelMc]

No cert. Shore dives. Tiny doubles or tiny 2x side mount. Plan to get SDI.

Also solo within the group with two boat operators in Hawaii, one in Belize. No pony but I showed up with my own gear, BP/W long hose DSMB, and likely looked fairly competent.

 

[tursiops]

LOL. I carry instructor cards for both SDI Solo and PADI Self-Reliant. Neither help if the operator doesn't want solo divers.

 

[Diver-Drex]

SDI.

It’s accepted at Dutch Springs. On NJ boats I’ve gone in solo with or without the cert. I normally show up to the boats solo. About half the time I get paired up with some but end up going in ‘same ocean’.

In NC I know of one operator that allowed a solo diver but this was on a charter with a group of tech divers. I won’t give their name in case that was a violation of their ‘normal’ policy.

In NJ and on the St Lawrence there are a few places I shore dive. There is no one to stop you from diving solo. But the currents are pretty aggressive and I wouldn’t risk it.

And I clean my pool solo all the time.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I've only been asked for my solo certification twice. Both times my SDI Solo Diver was absolutely adequate and was not questioned.

 

[TMHeimer]

I don't think our shop (only one for a long way) teaches the Self Reliant course. I only solo to 30' or a bit more. Glorified snorkeling (Probably safer if you get entangled). Not traveling a long way for the cert. I'd probably do it if it were offered here.

 

[agilis]

I self-certified based on the fact that I've been diving solo longer than most of the people who presume to certify anyone.

 

[tursiops]

I self-certified based on the fact that I've been diving solo longer than most of the people who presume to certify anyone.

What do you mean by this; how does one self-certify in a specialty?

 

[agilis]

What do you mean by this; how does one self-certify in a specialty?

I was being flippant. This agency stuff is tiring. If one wants training one should seek it without needing some sort of childish certificate. In any case solo diving is not a specialty. It is the essence of diving. All diving is, in the final analysis, solo.