Diving solo?

[RJP]

How do you get AOW with only 20 dives? SSI requires minimum of 24 I believe PADI DOES AS well... dive your experience not your card level. I would challenge your instructor for building false confidence....

PADI requires four dives before AOW (ie OW dives 1-4) You can go right from OW into AOW.

SSI Advanced OW Diver requires four specialties and a total of 24 dives, inclusive of dives for OW and the four specialties.

---------- Post added January 26th, 2014 at 06:12 PM ----------

100 dives is hardly a lot of experience ... it's more like a threshold where people begin to realize that there's a lot to learn yet ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I wish I knew as much now (approaching 1,000 dives) as I thought I knew when I only had 100 dives.

---------- Post added January 26th, 2014 at 06:16 PM ----------

Lord help us all....AOW seems to be handed out by the lottery system .... 24 min dives and 4 specialty classes is how I go by.

Yeah, because 24 dives (at least half of which would be for courses) is a ton of experience. :d

 

[Vegan Shark]

Come dive the beautiful kelp forests of California, you can solo to your hearts content

It is a bit strange that rules for solo diving vary so drastically between region and individual ops. Does anyone know of the actual statistics for solo diver deaths vs deaths in the buddy system?

 

[spoolin01]

Good points. Assume you mean DM lead dives is the norm in the tropics. As far as finding a buddy when you get there, the key word could be "might". I would be sure of everything--that the Op will get you a buddy, let you dive solo, etc.--all details-- before spending all that $ on a trip.

Hard to imagine not being able to make an omelet even if there's no solo eggs in the bunch. I haven't sampled much variety in tropical locales, but I have faith I'd like anywhere with nice diving, regardless of protocol.

Come dive the beautiful kelp forests of California, you can solo to your hearts content

It is a bit strange that rules for solo diving vary so drastically between region and individual ops. Does anyone know of the actual statistics for solo diver deaths vs deaths in the buddy system?

Do you find the Cali boats are OK with solo diving? That's been the case with the full charter trips I've done in the Channel Islands, but I assumed the operators relied on the sponsors to vett the divers to some extent, and they still seem to do some gatekeeping with the newbies. I haven't done enough open charters to know about those.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Come dive the beautiful kelp forests of California, you can solo to your hearts content

It is a bit strange that rules for solo diving vary so drastically between region and individual ops. Does anyone know of the actual statistics for solo diver deaths vs deaths in the buddy system?

... or more relevant ... divers who entered the water with a dive buddy and ended up dying alone ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Vegan Shark]

Do you find the Cali boats are OK with solo diving?

One of the Cali dive veterans will have to weigh in, but on the few boats I've been on I was never questioned, and I was under the opinion from other posts on here that all the boats have a policy for solo diving being okay.

 

[Agility]

Does anyone know of the actual statistics for solo diver deaths vs deaths in the buddy system?

Mark Powell does: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ad...-powell-presents-lids-2012-a.html#post6725688

 

[Kharon]

Mark Powell's presentation should be a must see for every diver before starting their OW class.

 

[RJP]

One of the Cali dive veterans will have to weigh in, but on the few boats I've been on I was never questioned, and I was under the opinion from other posts on here that all the boats have a policy for solo diving being okay.

The three or four Cali boats I've been on have all been ok with solo diving.

 

[spoolin01]

Even on those boats, I wonder if it's a blanket policy or if they're assessing the divers first. On the boat I've been on the most, they do engage more with the inexperienced divers. They're also the divers least likely to dive solo.

 

[RJP]

Even on those boats, I wonder if it's a blanket policy or if they're assessing the divers first. On the boat I've been on the most, they do engage more with the inexperienced divers. They're also the divers least likely to dive solo.

Of the Cali boats I dove with, none of them knew me from the man in the moon... nor did they "assess" me in any way.