Diving alone?

[MXGratefulDiver]

Heard a great line about solo diving from a fellow instructor the other day. He'd just done his first solo tech dive (to 150 feet) and I asked him how it went. His reply ...

"It was just like the first time I had sex. It was cold and dark, and I was alone" ...



... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Hank49]

" As solo diving goes, this is about as close to a bathtub as your going to get.

At the jetty dive at slack water or incoming tide. On the several beach dives I know of be aware of sometimes significant longshore currents. Be sure to determine how far is required to stay away from active fishing piers before the dive. I think Navarre Beach has some sort of small marine sanctuary from the ruins of the old pier--not sure about that. I think about 30 feet will be max at Navarre Beach and maybe 50 feet or less at the Destin Jetty. Also, be aware of boat traffic.

N

Good advice. One other thing that needs consideration in my part of the world is visibility and how much fishing....especially gill net....is done in the area. What may appear to be a safe shallow dive can turn bad quick if you come into a lost gill net alone in bad vis. I dive on our pipeline routinely to check it and although it's only 15 feet at it's deepest point, I always do that with a buddy and cutting tools due to the above mentioned conditions. On the other hand, out near the reef with 90 foot vis....I feel much safer and dive solo most of the time.

 

[ShallowDiverDave]

Heard a great line about solo diving from a fellow instructor the other day. He'd just done his first solo tech dive (to 150 feet) and I asked him how it went. His reply ...

"It was just like the first time I had sex. It was cold and dark, and I was alone" ...



... Bob (Grateful Diver)

haha, that's a good one!

Wow, that's pretty damn deep for solo. I personally would never consider soloing that deep...partly because Von Maier suggests that you should solo no deeper than twice the depth to which you can freedive...but of course, where does this constraint come from? Out of thin air? No, probably a logical-personal-limit set by him. So, maybe your friend is just a badazz with some series capabilities/experience.

 

[Nitrox50]

The problem with solo diving is that it comes down to attitude. And it is very hard for the diver himself to see if he has the right one.

Apart from a few pieces of equipment, a little knowledge (it is not rocket-sience), and attitude then is no different than diving with a buddy.... But do you have the right attitude?

As a solo-instructor I have had potential students ask for the course - and knowing them as persons and divers I have told them no. Something most tech-instructors will have tried - you want the money from teaching the student, but at the same time you know there is a good chance he will kill himself later if you do it! Dxxx

If you don't know if you have the right attitude then ask someone with experience and who have been diving with you. But if you are already thinking about your own attitude.....then you most likely have the right one.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

haha, that's a good one!

Wow, that's pretty damn deep for solo. I personally would never consider soloing that deep...partly because Von Maier suggests that you should solo no deeper than twice the depth to which you can freedive...but of course, where does this constraint come from? Out of thin air? No, probably a logical-personal-limit set by him. So, maybe your friend is just a badazz with some series capabilities/experience.

My friend has been a tech instructor for several years ... he's logged way more dives than I ever will ... and under conditions that I'll never consider diving.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

The problem with solo diving is that it comes down to attitude. And it is very hard for the diver himself to see if he has the right one.

Apart from a few pieces of equipment, a little knowledge (it is not rocket-sience), and attitude then is no different than diving with a buddy.... But do you have the right attitude?

As a solo-instructor I have had potential students ask for the course - and knowing them as persons and divers I have told them no. Something most tech-instructors will have tried - you want the money from teaching the student, but at the same time you know there is a good chance he will kill himself later if you do it! Dxxx

If you don't know if you have the right attitude then ask someone with experience and who have been diving with you. But if you are already thinking about your own attitude.....then you most likely have the right one.

The problem is that most people won't take no for an answer. I know several cases of people who were patently unprepared for the class they wanted to take ... and when one instructor told them no they just kept looking till they found an instructor who would give them what they wanted.

I worry about those people ... one of them already ended up dead ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[ShallowDiverDave]

My friend has been a tech instructor for several years ... he's logged way more dives than I ever will ... and under conditions that I'll never consider diving.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

My current instructor is of the same variety. It's very humbling to see his dive history.

My instructor told me a great story yesterday about an incident on a boat trip. He was minding his own business on the dive boat and a gentlemen was going on a babblefest/egotrip about how hardcore his dive profiles were recently. My instructor and his friend chuckled a bit and the gentlemen asked my instructor "what, do you think you can do better?". My instructor silently handed the man his dive computer, which was the same model as he was using. The man turned around and never spoke another word. The last six dives on my instructor's computer were in excess of 200 ft.

 

[Walter]

Fair enough but that's where the discussion belongs. And hopefully your point can be made just as effectively but with far more finesse than....

Fair enough. I should have been gentler in telling him it was stupid or suicidal. I apologize.

There are no laws against solo diving in Florida, but you should be aware that a new diver diving solo runs a much greater risk of death and diving with a competent buddy. A new diver who has given this concept the thought it deserves would never rationally decide to dive solo. Making such a dive would be close to suicidal. It is my sincere wish that you will put the thought completely from your mind and enjoy many years of diving.

Just because solo diving is listed in the Technical forum doesn't necessarily make it Tech. TDI puts solo diving, and its certification, under its recreational division SDI.

Who cares? Technical diving is an artificial separation that has no meaning anyway.

 

[Nemrod]

Walter says:

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"Who cares? Technical diving is an artificial separation that has no meaning anyway."
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Yeah, you know, I think that is becoming an issue. It is an artificial seperation that did not exist until the art and science of scuba ceased being taught.

I dove at Laguna solo and walked right past a guard, guess it has changed in granola land. Well, howabout this, next time I bring my boat and motor up and anchor, will they call Homeland Security on me and torpedo my boat? What if I kayak in from another entry, they gona swim out and arrest me. How will they give me a ticket, I don't know who I am, they don't know who I am, I may have paddled in from China, it is a free ocean as far as I am concerned once I leave the sand behind. If they don't watch out I will cut their hoses.

At Navarre Beach you only have to swim out a hundred yards if that. The best way for the OP to get a dive on the jetties is to go out with one of the local shops (or the natives who have kindly offered). The local dive shops rarely get outside of the inlet or the first bridge rubble and I have seen the boat diving the jetty---imagine that! Well, I proabably will this June when I go down there again but from my own boat.

Anyways, the local shops don't like to go out very far--they are skeeered to get out of sight of land cuz the old tubs might sink I guess. But they can offer you an excellent trip to the jetty I bet.

This pic show me and my kayak at the Destin Jetty entry. That bridge there can be dived also, not much but sand and some chunks of concrete but it can be fun, fish hang around the pilings. Stay out of the way of boats!!!!!!!!!!!!! Use a flag. Dive on incoming tide at slack. Note the easy entry, walk down, swim around--it is a bathtub here.

N

 

[Nemrod]

They dive the east side primarily and there is some sort of entry there but I don't know it anymore. It has been a long time since I used that entry but it is the one the locals use, I mostly have either dove the jetty from my kayak entering here at the west park or from my own boat, in the past my inflatible launched from here, usually get the Liberty Ship first or Amberjack Reef or Shark Alley and then stop back and dive the jetty.

N