First True Solo Dive After Certification

[Randy g]

For the card.

 

[doctormike]

I myself have done hundreds of dives alone, but just out of curiosity, what do they actually teach in a solo diving course?
Why would someone wish to take such a course?

There are some dive facilities and operators who will not allow solo diving without a card - which means SDI solo diver, or maybe PADI's "self reliant diver". For example, Dutch Springs will let you solo dive if you have a card and a "dive locator", and if you file your dive plan with the support staff.

Also, there is actually some useful information in the course, which a newer diver might not know (about redundancy, dive planning, etc..).

 

[scuba127]

All of my solo dives have been on Bonaire. Once I received my SDI Solo Card I start solo diving Bonaire with a single aluminum 80 and a pony tank. I then decided to get side mount certified and now solo dive Bonaire in side mount configuration. Most of the dives leading up to my side mount cert were a max of 80' or so....I am PADI Tec 40 certified also so I now do some 100' solo dives in side mount that does go into deco for not more than 10 minutes deco obligation....its pretty cool finding a 100' bottom on Bonaire and cruising that level solo for awhile...it rocks man..

 

[markmud]

I myself have done hundreds of dives alone, but just out of curiosity, what do they actually teach in a solo diving course?
Why would someone wish to take such a course?[/QUOTE](emphasis added by markm)

Yeah, I got my solo cert for the card.

Many dive operators honor the Solo Cert card. I would rather dive alone than with people I don't know. I am not a fan of insta-buddies.

I actually enjoyed the course. I learned some things and had other tactics confirmed by my instructor.

markm

---------- Post added August 26th, 2015 at 04:04 PM ----------

This past weekend I completed both the SDI Solo Diver course and PADI Self-reliant course (and achieved PADI Master Scuba Diver level at the same time), so I started thinking about what I would do for my first "true" solo dive. For those folks who hadn't done a solo dive (by choice) before becoming Solo Diver certified, what did you do for your first "true" solo dive following certification? Did you do anything special to commemorate it?

Hi BFbedrocks:

I solo dived many times before getting the cert. I have solo dived many times after getting the cert where it did not matter whether I had a Solo cert or not.

The dive where it really became worthwhile was when a divemaster tried pairing me with an insta-buddy and the skipper piped-in and stopped that nonsense because I had shown her my Solo Cert card as proof of diver certification when I gave her my liability release.

PRICELESS!!!!

 

[Doc Harry]

I was soloing long before I became "certified."

The first "real" dive after certification was no different from the preceding solo dives. It was so routine that I don't even remember it.

 

[TMHeimer]

My first solo dive was my 76th dive. It was to 18 fsw at our house in NS in 2007. Am not solo certified. My regular buddy moved, so it was solo or no go. Almost all of my diving since has been solo. Exceptions were the odd time a buddy contacted me here at home and when on a charter in the U.S. of course (though several times there I have gone solo because of circumstances). I try to follow my rule of limiting depth to 30', though I have broken that a few times. Of course I am not solo when assisting with OW courses, and don't bring up the subject with students of course.

I find that when I am buddied up the odd time it seems restrictive. Though I do enjoy the social aspect, it's just easier to do your own thing at your own time and pace, as a previous post points out.

 

[Dnaber]

I know this thread is old but I'd like to share my thoughts on the training and what it can do for you. I was just recently diving the Lucky Lady off of Pompano Beach and my dive partner and I got separated on the decent (he had some ear clearing issues). We had 100' of vis and no current. We both had our redundant gear and I had just completed the Self Reliant course a month before. It was a perfect day for a dive. So, when I realise he was not coming down I went into self-reliant mode and had a great dive. In fact I found that with no one to watch after I had a more relaxed dive. We did meetup about half way through the dive and we repartnered. But it was nice to have the self-confidence in myself and my gear to not have to thumb the dive.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

I also solo dove the Vandenberg in Key Largo

Did the Vandy move? lol

 

[Nemrod]

Did the Vandy move? lol

Plate tectonics, of course!

N