Bad attitudes about solo diving are still prevalent

[shoredivr]

Why I prefer solo diving.

What the heck was that.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

What the heck was that.

The way scuba is often taught?!?

 

[happy-diver]

Come on, I would love to be able to walk or sit or stand on something under there
even if to just to take a break or have a drink or a smoke
but buoyancy just prevents it

 

[markmud]

I still get surprised.

Posted about a (solo) shore dive in a local facebook group and the discussion quickly shifted to how I was going to die because I'm a solo diver.

And I avoid a local dive club whose newsletter every month has the tag line, "Dive safe, dive with a buddy."

I'm willing to educate people who want to be educated but most won't listen. It's frustrating.

Hi 2airishuman,

I agree with your thoughts in your OP.

However, I was pleasantly surprised by my experience with Ocean Encounters while on the Surge in Curacao.

I wanted to reserve a tank for shore diving.

George, the DM manning the desk asked if I had a buddy. I said that as of now I don't know. He then asked if I had a solo cert. I told him yes, and while filling-out the release, I handed him my necklaced set of cert cards.

He said while looking at my cert cards: Ok Tec 40, um-ah, that's not it, oh wait, PADI Self-Reliant, here it is. Then he asked if I had my redundant gear and I answered in the affirmative.

He then said, well if you don't find a buddy you can solo dive off our pier.

I feel that that is how it should work. Your certs, specialty or not, should count for something.

I was very happy!

markm

 

[JamesBon92007]

On Cozumel last October there was a guy doing reef restoration by himself (Paradise). They rented him a tank. It didn't occur to me until just now that they might not. I've never done a shore dive from Scuba Club Cozumel but I've seen others doing it alone and I'll bet they didn't have a solo card.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I made more shore dives at Scuba Club Cozumel than boat rides. I had never even heard of a solo card until a year or so ago on Scubaboard.

 

[AdivingBel]

On Cozumel last October...

 

[JamesBon92007]

I made more shore dives at Scuba Club Cozumel than boat rides. I had never even heard of a solo card until a year or so ago on Scubaboard.

Me either, and probably not even a year ago.



So far nobody has answered my question about other certifications qualifying for solo diving, at least with some OPs. Anyone know if a Master Scuba Diver card with do it? I suppose even then some of them would want you to have a pony bottle and whatnot.

I suppose I can understand why a dive op, who doesn't know you, would want you to have the cert especially if you don't have a lot of dives or years of experience and it's a challenging dive. Personally, I didn't start diving alone until I had many years of experience and then it was always a place that I was familiar with and was what I would call "routine." Routine could vary, of course, from person to person. For me, going through rough surf in SoCal with strong surge and rip currents and low visibility would be routine. For someone who's only dived in quarries or had done drift dives in Cozumel it might be a really bad day. OTOH I'm sure there are other types of diving that for someone else might be routine but that I'm not familiar with. But some people have mentioned a solo cert needed for quarries so I'm trying to imagine how those could be challenging dives. In my mind there would be no surf, no currents, no surge, and it's probably not very deep. Are there some really rough quarries? From what I've read it sounds like what I'm doing is not actually "Solo" diving--I'm simply diving alone. I don't have any extra equipment, keep an eye on my SPG, and know that I can make it to the surface from 50 feet if I have to. In my 50 years of scuba diving I've never had an equipment failure or needed to do a free ascent so the chances of something going very wrong while I'm alone seem very slim.

I'm also somewhat surprised at how many people have mentioned that they have "shown" their Solo card. When I first got certified I don't think anyone ever asked to see my card. Of course I first started getting my tank filled where I got certified so they knew me, but even when I went to another shop I don't recall showing my card. I think it was probably about 42 years before someone actually asked to see it and then it said "Scuba Diver" on it which, by then, was not very impressive. When I go on dive boats they usually just have me write down my certification number. I suppose some of them look it up but I don't know if they all do. I can only recall two times when I showed my card, and both times were in Hawai'i.

 

[MichaelMc]

So far nobody has answered my question about other certifications qualifying for solo diving, at least with some OPs. Anyone know if a Master Scuba Diver card with do it? I suppose even then some of them would want you to have a pony bottle and whatnot.

This spring/quarry accepts full cave, SDI Solo, and Padi Self Reliant. You need an isolated air source. I haven't been there. FAQs — Kraken Springs Scuba and Watersports Park

Edit to add: Apparently it was in this thread that I had earlier posted this answer, back in November, to your same question. Sorry for the duplicate.

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

Me either, and probably not even a year ago.
So far nobody has answered my question about other certifications qualifying for solo diving, at least with some OPs. Anyone know if a Master Scuba Diver card with do it? I suppose even then some of them would want you to have a pony bottle and whatnot.

I suppose I can understand why a dive op, who doesn't know you, would want you to have the cert especially if you don't have a lot of dives or years of experience and it's a challenging dive. Personally, I didn't start diving alone until I had many years of experience and then it was always a place that I was familiar with and was what I would call "routine." Routine could vary, of course, from person to person. For me, going through rough surf in SoCal with strong surge and rip currents and low visibility would be routine. For someone who's only dived in quarries or had done drift dives in Cozumel it might be a really bad day. OTOH I'm sure there are other types of diving that for someone else might be routine but that I'm not familiar with. But some people have mentioned a solo cert needed for quarries so I'm trying to imagine how those could be challenging dives. In my mind there would be no surf, no currents, no surge, and it's probably not very deep. Are there some really rough quarries? From what I've read it sounds like what I'm doing is not actually "Solo" diving--I'm simply diving alone. I don't have any extra equipment, keep an eye on my SPG, and know that I can make it to the surface from 50 feet if I have to. In my 50 years of scuba diving I've never had an equipment failure or needed to do a free ascent so the chances of something going very wrong while I'm alone seem very slim.

I'm also somewhat surprised at how many people have mentioned that they have "shown" their Solo card. When I first got certified I don't think anyone ever asked to see my card. Of course I first started getting my tank filled where I got certified so they knew me, but even when I went to another shop I don't recall showing my card. I think it was probably about 42 years before someone actually asked to see it and then it said "Scuba Diver" on it which, by then, was not very impressive. When I go on dive boats they usually just have me write down my certification number. I suppose some of them look it up but I don't know if they all do. I can only recall two times when I showed my card, and both times were in Hawai'i.

You're probably having a hard time wrapping your head around the requirement because it makes no sense from a practical standpoint. It only really makes sense from a legal standpoint (attempting to limit the dive operators exposure to liability in the event that something happens to a solo diver).

In the situations discussed (ex. Quarries)...you need a certification card that says "solo" or "self-reliant" on it. Period. A master, rescue, etc. card is not going to help you in those situations.

The requirement to show a solo or self-reliant card at a quarry has nothing to do with diving conditions. As you said...no current, surf, surge, etc. In most cases...there's no fishing permitted in the body of water in question, so you shouldn't even have to worry about getting tangled up in fishing line.

If you've never had to show a solo card, I would just consider yourself fortunate and keep doing what you've been doing.