Diving Alone

[Marie13]

I just got certified Oct 2 at the age of 47, doing it by myself. I was inspired by a guy friend to learn to dive, but he's in another state and if we do ever dive together it would be a rare occasion.

I have no regular dive buddy. I went to a quarry 2 states over this just past weekend to dive with a regional group. I was 1 of 2 women without a SO. Plus these were my first post cert dives. I was very explicit with the group that I'm very green, but they told me to still come. I also have knee issues which made the stairs at the site a challenge, but they group said they would help me carry my tank up and down the stairs. They were very kind and patient with me and I had a lot of fun.

Ask around your dive shop for someone to dive with locally, if they know of any women in the same situation.

 

[Rapid Star]

I have no regular dive buddy.

I will join you out a Haigh whenever I can! Maybe the lake next year?

 

[Marie13]

I will join you out a Haigh whenever I can! Maybe the lake next year?

Alrighty then!

 

[urbaneve71]

[QUOTE="Nozomi, post: 7713669, member: 477003"So I'm wondering if it's allowed to go diving alone if you don't have a partner? I don't really know anyone else who would want to do it. .[/QUOTE]

To answer your question, solo diving is not for everyone. Yes you can diver alone in SOME places. I know there are places in FL where you cannot dive solo. I prefer to solo dive, but with that being said.. I have years of experience diving solo. I would never recommend a newer diver or an inexperienced diver to solo dive. There are plenty of groups to dive with out there. There are also places to post if you are a single diver looking for a partner. I know one of the mods posted some good info, be sure to check it out.

Safety as a diver is the number one concern. I have dove with people (inexperienced and experienced that had no concern over dive safety and I regretted that move to this day). I hear a lot of people say that they would dive with just about anyone, I won't. I want to know that my buddy has atleast enough smarts to take safety as a major concern and not play around. Now, that's not to say that there are some great people out there who are diving single and want to be paired up and are safety conscious.. I just had a couple of bad instances where diving with someone I dont know backfired on me -- hence the reason I choose to dive solo.

There are times where I do dive with a buddy, but no one around my circle of friends dives nor does my other half. So I am faced with either diving alone or finding someone I don't know and taking a chance that they are safety conscious. I think finding someone through a website or forum to dive with is a better choice than leaving it up to fate and finding someone last minuted to dive with right before you enter the water. At least this way you can talk to them, find out how experienced they are, etc.

Good luck and I hope you find a partner to dive with.

 

[michael Friesen]

Hey, I know some of the questions I am answering are starting to get old, but I have another perspective here. I am from Quebec, and here we have specific laws about diving. one of these laws is about solo diving: Before solo diving was strictly forbiden by law. Quebec has peculiar water conditions which make diving dangereous, and the buddy system has been really good to diminish risk and correct for mistakes done underwater (two heads are better then one... as well as two tanks, two dive computers, two...) . recently some tentative changes to the law have been made to allow solo diving if you have the training the proper equipment (with back ups) and a doctors note with a clean bill of health.

I spoke with the director of the FQAS (quebec's subaquatic activities federation) and he explained (i don't know if he is right or wrong) that solo diving came out as a thing because americans were afraid to get sued by the familly of their buddy if something happened during the dive and that they didn't act in a way to save or help their buddy (Yes I know it does have other advantages to).

IMO solo diving is stupid and dangereous and requires people to be prepared and plan way more than with the buddy system. Even if I had the proper training for solo diving I would try to keep it at a minimum.

As for looking for buddies: talk to your dive shop and look for a local diving facebook group.

 

[uncfnp]

Hey, I know some of the questions I am answering are starting to get old, but I have another perspective here. I am from Quebec, and here we have specific laws about diving. one of these laws is about solo diving: Before solo diving was strictly forbiden by law. Quebec has peculiar water conditions which make diving dangereous, and the buddy system has been really good to diminish risk and correct for mistakes done underwater (two heads are better then one... as well as two tanks, two dive computers, two...) . recently some tentative changes to the law have been made to allow solo diving if you have the training the proper equipment (with back ups) and a doctors note with a clean bill of health.

I spoke with the director of the FQAS (quebec's subaquatic activities federation) and he explained (i don't know if he is right or wrong) that solo diving came out as a thing because americans were afraid to get sued by the familly of their buddy if something happened during the dive and that they didn't act in a way to save or help their buddy (Yes I know it does have other advantages to).

IMO solo diving is stupid and dangereous and requires people to be prepared and plan way more than with the buddy system. Even if I had the proper training for solo diving I would try to keep it at a minimum.

As for looking for buddies: talk to your dive shop and look for a local diving facebook group.

Hmmm.

 

[RainPilot]

Hmmm.

Indeed.....

A bit off topic but I don't think it's a good idea to automatically trash the way other people do things because it's not for you.

In fact that's really my life philosophy. When I see someone doing something that makes me say "that's not right!" I generally add the caveat "-for me. "

That puts me in a mind space where I can ask myself if this is a genuinely bad thing or if it's my opinion/ bias talking.

I don't dive solo because it's not my thing. That being said I fully understand the appeal and also agree that for a certain set of circumstances a solo dive can be safer than a random bad buddy.

Like anything in this hobby it is about the individual mindset more than anything. Some people are built in a way that makes solo a valid safe choice for them. I'm not that person but who am I to judge?

To link (kinda) back to the OP, if you are someone who has difficulty finding suitable buddies for whatever reason, then solo diving may be a tool in the belt. It's not for everyone but nor is riding a motorcycle or mountain climbing etc.

Oh and I have done solo dives where a buddy would have been a hazard rather than a help. Specifically search and recovery in 0 vis. Hated those dives but they needed to be done so risk analysis made solo the obvious choice.

 

[Goingforsound]

Hey, I know some of the questions I am answering are starting to get old, but I have another perspective here. I am from Quebec, and here we have specific laws about diving. one of these laws is about solo diving: Before solo diving was strictly forbiden by law. Quebec has peculiar water conditions which make diving dangereous, and the buddy system has been really good to diminish risk and correct for mistakes done underwater (two heads are better then one... as well as two tanks, two dive computers, two...) . recently some tentative changes to the law have been made to allow solo diving if you have the training the proper equipment (with back ups) and a doctors note with a clean bill of health.

I spoke with the director of the FQAS (quebec's subaquatic activities federation) and he explained (i don't know if he is right or wrong) that solo diving came out as a thing because americans were afraid to get sued by the familly of their buddy if something happened during the dive and that they didn't act in a way to save or help their buddy (Yes I know it does have other advantages to).

IMO solo diving is stupid and dangereous and requires people to be prepared and plan way more than with the buddy system. Even if I had the proper training for solo diving I would try to keep it at a minimum.

As for looking for buddies: talk to your dive shop and look for a local diving facebook group.

Tabarnak!

Explain to me how quebec waters are different than anywhere else in the world??? That fqas thing is complete ********. Another step into making life harder in QC. We are trying to seclude our nice province in making everything so hard and complicated.

Solo diving is a great idea if you have the proper experience and training. Open your mind buddy.