Formal solo diving training?

[Tigerman]

A little backstory to begin with;
Im living in the inlands in Norway, and given the population density here, there is to my knowledge only one other diver "near" me (and even that is 60 km away from here) and there is obviously no dive shops around. Ive also taken AOW with navigation, s&r, navigation, deep and wreck specialties.
Ive been working a fair bit with higher than normal risk and incident levels and do not easilly "freak out" when things happen.

Therefore I consider diving solo as an option to get some actual diving done a bit easier. Its not only hard to find a buddy here, but its also rather far (and costy) to travel around to locations with active divers. I want to keep my skills fresh at the least and of course also improve my bouyancy, sac and so on (yep, im still an air hog).
I have done 3 or 4 solo dives in a rather large lake with few obstacles and low risk of entanglement and i have kept the dives shallow (no deeper than 10 meters), so that CESA is an option.

Im wondering if there is any organization that provide "formal training" for solo diving?
I would assume the answer is no, but if there is any such training, who can provide it.

 

[do it easy]

SDI has a solo diver course. I think there are a few others...

You are in a tough situation since lots of divers learn informally through a buddy or just seeing and watching other divers.

 

[FishDiver]

The SDI Solo class would add little to what you have learned in your other specialities. I agree with do it easy-at your level of experience you will benefit from diving and learning from more experienced divers.

 

[Tigerman]

I do dive with more experienced divers every chance i get, obviously, but when there is none, being able to dive as safely as possible would be a good way to be able to keep my skills fresh and polished

Yeah, i know.. polishing a lada dont make it a porsche

 

[captain]

Tigerman you are facing the same issues I faced when I started diving 50 years ago (has it really been that long ago). Scuba was a relativly new activity and where I lived there weren't any other divers near by so I stated solo from the very beginning. You have one advantage I didn't have is that you do have formal training where as when I started there was no formal training avaible so I learned on my own. Only you can decide to solo or not but looking at your training I dought you would get much more useful information from the SDI course. I say that after having looked over the course content. I believe most divers who are taking the solo course are already solo divers who wanted a card that they hope dive charter operators will accept. Most of your questions could probably be answered here.

 

[Diveral]

Yeah Captain that's how I look at the SDI course. I have been soloing for over 25 years and I view that course as just a way of getting a card that may or may not reduce any of my hassles when attempting to dive solo in some locations.

T-man, you have a lot of courses, more than I do in fact, or were those a part of your AOW? Work on your experience, skills, and comfort levels. The most useful class for a solo diver in my experience is Rescue diver. I found the self-rescue and awareness portions of the class to be extremely relevant and applicable for the solo diver. Also it is far better to err on the side of caution and stay within your skill and comfort level while you explore and learn solo diving. So dive very conservatively while soloing.

AL

 

[Tigerman]

The mentioned specialties was the ones i did on AOW.

And rescue is the very course ive been planning to do next..

 

[Diveral]

Where in Norway do you live? I spent time in Oslo, Stavanger, and Bergen while working on the Troll Olje Project. You have a very beautiful and friendly country.

AL

 

[grazie42]

Rescue really is a good course to take!
It is as much about self-rescue and proactive problemsolving as anything else...
Take the oppurtunity to talk your rescue-instructor and explain your situation, ask for advice and input on how to go about it as safely as possible from someone who´s seen you underwater...

 

[Tigerman]

Where in Norway do you live? I spent time in Oslo, Stavanger, and Bergen while working on the Troll Olje Project. You have a very beautiful and friendly country.

AL

Approxmately halfway from Oslo to Stavanger. It is nice and friendly here, but other than the cities.. Long distances..

Rescue really is a good course to take!
It is as much about self-rescue and proactive problemsolving as anything else...
Take the oppurtunity to talk your rescue-instructor and explain your situation, ask for advice and input on how to go about it as safely as possible from someone who´s seen you underwater...

Im planning to take the rescue course with the same instructor i took OW and AOW and also have done a few dives with out of class, partially for the reason that hell know my strengths and weaknesses and will more easilly pick up on things ive improved and not (i assume). Ive also sort of mentioned solo diving for him before and hes not of the "ill slap you silly if you do that" kind, so I guess he could provide some usefull input on the matter