Do you dive solo?

[uncfnp]

Once you have enough experience you know what you need to do as a solo diver and you are also more comfortable in the water so a solo course for an experienced diver would be a waist.

Only if you have already learned everything there is to know about diving or you have picked the wrong instructor.

 

[DennisC]

Have you ever seen/heard solo divers say that "if you have to ask (if you're ready) you're not"?
There's a reason for it and its not to be a dick. Its because the only one who will validate your decisions when solo diving is Mr Murphy and if you're lacking the confidence and preparation to deal with manure hitting the fan yourself, nobody is going to come to your aid...

Yea, I'm not really worried about validation and I feel that I have to confidence to dive solo. I was more worried about driving somewhere to dive solo and not being allowed to dive due to a lack of an over priced piece of paper. As for preparation, I would obviously have to have a dive plan and read a book or 2 about solo diving to see what problems I might encounter and how to deal with them if needed, plus redundant gear and what not. Not to be mean, but I'm not stupid nor would I risk my life doing something I did not think was safe.

 

[drrich2]

It's legitimate and responsible to ask about readiness to solo dive. A cliche' oft repeated on the forum is 'You don't know what you don't know.' Even if you're confident you're ready, it's worth getting some outside input. You may or may not find reason to reconsider.

Richard.

 

[Tigerman]

It's legitimate and responsible to ask about readiness to solo dive. A cliche' oft repeated on the forum is 'You don't know what you don't know.' Even if you're confident you're ready, it's worth getting some outside input. You may or may not find reason to reconsider.

Richard.

If you have to ask someone else if you are ready to do a dive, that means you have doubts about wether you should do the dive. That's a big fat alarm bell on any dive and getting into "trust me diving" (which there's plenty of threads about on this board) and its most definetly one for a dive where you'll have NO assistance of ANY competence level.

If you DON'T have doubts about wether you are ready to solo dive, your question wont be "if its ok" it will be "how should i" or "is there restrictions on solo diving" and the answers may very well put you back to doubting if you're ready - again with the alarm bells...

 

[Kharon]

... and read a book or 2 about solo diving to see what problems I might encounter and how to deal with them if needed, plus redundant gear and what not.

I'd suggest studying rather than simply reading, getting the redundant gear and practicing with it till it's second nature, and "what not". Your statement (quoted) makes me think you are a bit cavaleer. Might be best to go with a bit more caution. Also, just having the gear doesn't mean that it's deployed effectively. It took more than a couple of dives for me to get everything worked out perfectly to my sattisfaction. Just because it seems OK in your parlor dosen't mean it will be OK on a dive.

 

[DennisC]

well that is true, I would definitely have to study and practice as opposed to just going in and going deep. As you said, "more than a couple [shallow] dives to get everything worked out". I wasn't just gonna read a book strap up and drop down to 100ft alone lol. Thank you for all the advice though. <- not sarcasm in case you think I'm being a dick. I know most everyone is just trying to be helpful.

 

[Diver0001]

Last weekend I overheard a heated discussion about solo diving. Both made very good points for both sides of the argument. I’m interested to know if you dive solo or not, and why you feel the way you do about it.

I personally will dive solo to recover a dropped object or place something like a dive flag attached to the bottom. Put it must not be deeper than 20 feet or so. I simply don’t feel safe diving alone. But that’s just me.

I used to dive solo more when I was DM-ing than I do now. At the end of training days I would go pick up the buoys and tell the instructor that I was going to take the scenic route. I used the time to unwind.

These days I don't get as many opportunities for it but I still enjoy it when I can slip one in.

R..

 

[lowviz]

...//... I’m interested to know if you dive solo or not, and why you feel the way you do about it. ...

Why? Easy answer: peace and solitude.

But this doesn't make any sense out of the context of who I am and I'm not about to let on... People are fundamentally different.

...//... At the end of training days I would go pick up the buoys and tell the instructor that I was going to take the scenic route. I used the time to unwind. ...

Soloing is an extremely personal thing. Not at all for "rules-based" people. If it were up to me and I were an instructor, the first thing that I would do to solo students would be to give them a DiSC analysis. DISC assessment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Know thyself.

 

[fnfalman]

I'm not solo-certified but I've ventured out on my own before. I think that I know enough about southern California water by now that I can manage to get by.

 

[JohnN]

I was on Curacao for a two week diving vacation. All my dives were solo (I carried a 19 cuft pony) and was only 'refused' once. All dives were shore dives, and I only passed on one (Superior Producer with more surf than I felt comfortable with). I've not taken a solo course, but the conditions on Curacao were ideal (IMHO) for the solo diver: warm water, very easy beach access, little/no current, 70+ feet of visibility, limited depth (most dives were 70-80' max with a 35-40 feet average).

Unfortunately the survey doesn't allow me to capture these parameters. . .