Ascending and then descending straight away

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I agree with the above, however you are now diving solo since you now have no buddy. Unless you have been trained for this and have the required gear, this greatly increases the risks. I think in this situation it would have been better to stay on the surface while you make your way over to the boat. The crew on the boat would also have been able to keep an eye on you during this.
I'll also add my $0.02 to say that if the OP was in kelp, he'd end up doing the kelp crawl, which is a real pain. In that case, he'd be better off descending just a few feet and then threading his way through the stalks.
 
From a nitrogen build up or similar pressure change issues what you did was OK. However you did deviate from standard diving practice that could have unfortunate consequences. If you lose your buddy, the standard practice is to search underwater for one minute then surface and stay there. If you go back down neither the boat or your buddy will know what is going on.
 
of course we all hope this will never happen, but it does.
as stated above, all our students are taught to look around for a minute or so (look 360 degrees as well as up and down) then SLOWLY proceed towards the surface as you would if you had a buddy. if a safety stop is required, DO IT. then (even slower) head to the surface. if your buddy and you had discussed this possibility before the dive, tey should be at the surface as well.
you should then inflate your surface marker buoy. if you are close enough to the boat, signal you are ok. depending where you are diving and depending on the dive boats procedures, they may come pick you up or you may have to swim to them.
 
of course we all hope this will never happen, but it does.
as stated above, all our students are taught to look around for a minute or so (look 360 degrees as well as up and down) then SLOWLY proceed towards the surface as you would if you had a buddy. if a safety stop is required, DO IT. then (even slower) head to the surface. if your buddy and you had discussed this possibility before the dive, tey should be at the surface as well.
you should then inflate your surface marker buoy. if you are close enough to the boat, signal you are ok. depending where you are diving and depending on the dive boats procedures, they may come pick you up or you may have to swim to them.
How do you define a "required" safety stop?
 
forgive my use of the word "required". no safety stop is actually "required". it is an added precaution to most recreational dives.
our students are taught to do a safety stop for any dive below 30 feet.
if a certified diver feels they do not need to stop, that is up to them.
 
The buddy stuff aside, to answer your question about physics... coming up should be no faster than 30ft/min, but going immediately back down is no threat to your safety from a physics standpoint. You must ascend slowly to allow time to off gas without bubbles getting stuck in your tissues, but you can descend as fast as you can clear your ears and your body will have no trouble keeping up with the compressing nitrogen. With that said... make sure your checking your computer so that you dont pass ndl time, or with tables remember that anything less than 10 minutes at the surface is still just 1 dive so you must not pass your ndl that you previously planned.

Agree, to +1 this answer your specific question as it relates to the science of diving, the descending isn’t really an issue (assuming you are within your limits), it’s the ascending that can be dangerous if not taken slowly.
 
Typically there is an anchor line and water is 80 or so ft of water. Going to the surface creates a diver at the surface now drifiting away more hassle for all. Makes sense to return to the anchor and go up. Its not like the diver at the surface is any sort of marker for the buddy. when separated meet at the anchor is not bad policy. More than once I have had an instabuddy disappear (actually take off when you are looking at something is more accurate). Look for them and find them waiting for me on the boat.
 
Reading this, I am wondering about the dive conditions. Can you see the bottom from the surface? Looking for a dive buddy often times is about finding out which one of your blind spots he is sitting in, not that he he really lost. When vis is low, I will turn on one of my dive lights and let it burn, even if I am not using it. A dive light will illuminate particulates in the water making you much easier to see from a distance. A dedicated tank beacon can do this, but lack brightness for really crappy visibility. A pop up to find your buddy is going to cut into you air supply because you need to release air from your BCD, then add it back at depth. My first step is to wave my light around and look for his (he does the same). We are seldom in visibility greater 15’

Doing a safety stop while floating in open water, while a best practice, may not be a great idea if there is a possibility of a current. After 3 minutes you may find your self a disturbing distance from your boat, and everything looks even farther when your head is six inches above the surface. Generally, for a missing diver situation, I would skip the 3 minutes if you are going to descend again Immediately. A “meet-up” location like the anchor line or easy to find topographic spot that is predetermined. If you do the safety stop, shoot a marker so if the current takes you, the boat can see you.
 
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Reading this, I am wondering about the dive conditions. Can you see the bottom from the surface? Looking for a dive buddy often times is about finding out which one of your blind spots he is sitting in, not that he he really lost. When vis is low, I will turn on one of my dive lights and let it burn, even if I am not using it. A dive light will illuminate particulates in the water making you much easier to see from a distance. A dedicated tank beacon can do this, but lack brightness for really crappy visibility. A pop up to find your buddy is going to cut into you air supply because you need to release air from your BCD, then add it back at depth. My first step is to wave my light around and look for his (he does the same). We are seldom in visibility greater 15’

Doing a safety stop while floating in open water, while a best practice, may not be a great idea if there is a possibility of a current. After 3 minutes you may find your self a disturbing distance from your boat, and everything looks even farther when your head is six inches above the surface. Generally, for a missing diver situation, I would skip the 3 minutes if you are going to descend again Immediately. A “meet-up” location like the anchor line or easy to find topographic spot that is predetermined. If you do the safety stop, shoot a marker so if the current takes you, the boat can see you.

Rarely can we see the bottom from the surface

In low light conditions I usually carry a light. Especially on deeper quarry dives

There is often some top current.

Your comment about floating away is precisely why I and every other diver on the type of dives I mentioned avoids open water ascents. Why do all that when 5-8 minutes away is an anchor line that will lead you to the boat with little effort. The only reason for an immediate ascent is low air or buddy medical emergency. This assumes you are on a wreck and know where the anchor line is. Now if you are solo diving and decide you are lost on a ledge or a mess of a wreck, then I will do a free ascent (done a couple) rather that get low on air even though I have a pony. Pony is for emergencies.
 
and decided to go back down to swim back towards boat
That's exactly what I would have done as there's almost always less current on the bottom than on the surface. I will do this if I'm not sure where the boat is too. Slowly ascend, take a bearing with my compass, give a BIG OK, just in case the boat is looking at me, return to depth and follow my compass back to the boat.
 
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