Favorite "pet-peave" arguments against solo diving

[ShakaZulu]

I'm not ready to meet my maker yet, so no solo for me, plus I'm scared of the dark.

 

[rjchandler]

Solo dive is not just jump in the car drive to a beach and jump in the water all by yourself.

.

well -- sometimes it is

 

[TCDiver1]

The only time I dive solo is when the choice is solo or no go. Otherwise I prefer a buddy... or several
Rick

This is the way i think about it too.

Like others, i don't promote and try not to overtly advertise, any Solo diving. It's a personal choice IMO. People make bad, life threatening, personal choices everyday that are not dive related. I don't like that fact but also don't worry about it. Such is life.

My biggest peeve is when family, or friends say "your not suppose to dive alone are you", or "its not safe to dive alone is it?" I understand their hesitation but its hard to explain my feelings regarding this. Especially since they don't bat an eye about the car trip to the dive site where you nearly get t-boned on a regular basis.

Life is a risky proposition on many levels. Solo diving is much lower on the worry list for me than many everyday things i have little control over.

 

[nlbford]

I've only ever done one solo dive - and only to about 10 meters. It was the most peaceful dive that I've ever done. I didn't have to worry about anything outside of myself, if something went wrong it would be to me and I'd know about it immediately. It was actually amazingly relaxed - just taking pictures of fish etc. I never realised how much I was aware of - and concentrated on my buddy until that dive - and it was pleasant for a change not to have the extra responsibility.

This has always been my primary reason - and argument FOR - solo diving. If you are a safe and aware diver, diving solo removes one set of stress factors from your dive by eliminating the need to monitor and stay with a buddy. Thus I find I am less distracted and more attentive to my dive than I am when I am tracking a buddy. I feel safer both because I am now solely dependent on my own skills and thus more "in tune" to what I am doing, but also because I know that I won't find myself in the position of having to assist a buddy who may create some kind of trouble on a dive (not that I would ever remotely mind doing so) As I see it, another person involved just increases the "human error" factor. I trust myself to be able to get my self out of trouble whether there is a buddy around or not. I feel confident I won't make any grave errors in a trying and stressful situation, but throw in a buddy who may not make the wisest decisions if I do get into trouble and I could be worse off for that buddy's presence. That's not to imply diving solo is SAFER than buddy diving, but I sure don't feel that it is any LESS safe for a skilled and careful diver to dive solo.

The first post mentioned the notion that diving with a buddy added to the enjoyment factor by sharing the experience. While this may be true on some dives where something particularly exciting happens and leads to animated post-dive discussion, I find I usually enjoy my solo dives more than those dives I have shared. Anything that occurs on that dive is solely my experience and thus a bit more special because it wasn't shared (that's not meant to sound as selfish as it probably does). There is no other body around to infringe upon the atmoshphere of being immersed in the underwater environment and the feeling of being a guest in a wonderous space is enhanced.

Now diving with a buddy is certainly a fun and gratifying experience as well - particularly when it is while traveling to a new place with an old friend and diving partner. But I always try to get some solo diving in when I can. On our last trip to Hawaii's Big Island we stayed in a beach house located at a turtle preserve and I did at least one or 2 solo dives each day and it was the solo dives which generally are the ones that stand out in my memory as the special ones.

 

[Scuba]

Originally Posted by Scuba
On a serious note. How about a "Team Diving" forum?

How 'bout this one?

DIR?

Thank you, Snowbear.

I can appreciate the positive qualities to their team approach. But I really had in mind a broader, more encompassing view. One derived from the discussion of the diversity of individual teams and their diverse individual components. As opposed to ONE team approach composed of CLONES.

This is probably my biggest pet peeve against solo and buddy diving. my, My, MY view is "the" ONE And ONLY RIGHT ONE.

 

[Rick Inman]

Originally Posted by Scuba
On a serious note. How about a "Team Diving" forum?
DIR?
Thank you, Snowbear.
I can appreciate the positive qualities to their team approach. But I really had in mind a broader, more encompassing view. One derived from the discussion of the diversity of individual teams and their diverse individual components. As opposed to ONE team approach composed of CLONES.
This is probably my biggest pet peeve against solo and buddy diving. my, My, MY view is "the" ONE And ONLY RIGHT ONE.

This is a no-troll zone! The discussion is not to be centered around whether to do a solo dive, but in the techniques and strategies involved. Do not participate if you have already decided that solo diving is not for you! Thanks in advance.

Come ON! This forum is not for anti-DIR propaganda. It's about solo diving techniques and strategies. Please take it the Wine and Cheese forum.
Please do not feed the trolls!!!

 

[Scuba]

Come ON! This forum is not for anti-DIR propaganda. It's about solo diving techniques and strategies. Please take it the Wine and Cheese forum.
Please do not feed the trolls!!!

I hear you. Just having a little fun, Anti? Maybe, maybe not.

I do find it curious to see the number of DIR mentions so far on a Solo forum.

 

[novadiver]

I'm sure we all have them...the argument put forth against solo diving that just does not hold water, and maybe you hear it a lot...

Here's mine...
"Don't you know it's much nicer to appreciate a dive with a buddy..."

I don't even respond to that one anymore, but I'm thinking, "I've dove both with buddies and without. You have only dove with buddies. How can you reasonably expect to tell me what my preference between the two activities should be when:
(A) you don't know me at all so how can you presume what I like, and
(B) you probably lack one of the experiences (solo), which gives you no basis for comparison..."

Edit: I must not have communicated well. I meant to elicit arguements you have heard from those around you making the case agaist solo diving, but those particular reasons just don't float in your case, or at all...

The only real problem I've come across solo diveing is I can't take a good picture of myself,

 

[drbill]

Was that clones or clowns?

Doc

 

[nlbford]

I am just curious, but I have seen reference to the DIR forum/people etc. and have ascertained it apparently stands for "Do-it-right" . . . so my question is why that distinction? Is there a significant portion of the community "Doing it Wrong"? It seems tro me that making that designation seems to imply that anyone else who is not "DIR" is somehow errant and incorrect. That strikes me as a bit judgemental and holier than though. What is right for one may not be right for another and if one is diving safely and without impacting others adversly they are doing it right whether someone who does things differently says so or not.

I am not trolling or trying to start any trouble, I am just curious as to how this "DIR" comes about and why. Seems like a distinct fraught with the tendency to divide rather than unite and from my admittedly "uneducated" knowledge of what it is all about seems rather counterproductive and somewhat stuffy and arrogant.

Seems like whether we are diving solo, in a group or with a buddy, if we are doing low impact, safe and contetious diving and coming back safely and emriched for the experience, we arre ALL "Doing it Right".

Am I missing something? Again, just wondering.