How Did You Go Solo?

[Andy_Mason]

Wow...I love it. Never thought about it that way but that is definitely true.

 

[Andy_Mason]

Did it "illegally" for some time and the finally got the proper cert (SDI). I started by entering the water with a group and telling them beforehand that I will be going my own merry way and that I'd joint them after so and so minutes during the safety stop. Then I started striking out on my own doing my dives in sidemount with 2 tanks for redundancy. I got my recreational solo cert in a roundabout way since I got it after having been tech certified for some time.

Is it really "illegal" though? In what sense? What if someone decides to take their own initiative to read, study, learn from other solo/tec divers and practice to become proficient? I suppose it depends on where or who you're diving with; whether or not they require some piece of paper or card to prove it.

 

[Andy_Mason]

For me, it just happened.

Of course, like many, I had a few brief exposures to solo diving while finishing off a tank below the boat or something similar. Off and on, I dived with the same operator in Key Largo. I was usually by myself on these trips and was paired with an instabuddy. One day, about 15 years ago, a DM/mate who I had gotten to know well, asked me if I would like to dive by myself. I took advantage of the opportunity and it was absolutely liberating. Previously, I had nervously watched over my assigned buddy for the day, often worrying about their diving skill, judgment, gas consumption, or, just where they were. For the next several years I generally dived solo on my visits to Key Largo. Eventually, I moved north and did most of my diving in SE FL. After getting to know the operators, I was allowed to dive solo with them.

It was not until about 6 years ago that I finally got my SDI Solo Diver certification. This has allowed me to dive solo with operators who allow solo diving with certification, who do not know me. This has expanded my dive freedom significantly. So....now I have about 600 solo dives, nearly a third of all of my dives. This is the right diving for me, I would not change a thing.

Thanks for this post...you answered my previous question about taking the initiative to learn on your own.

 

[Esprise Me]

Like many, I was driven to go solo by bad instabuddies. Some of them made me feel really unsafe, like the guy diving the oil rigs (700 feet to the sea floor, NBD) who couldn't maintain bouyancy and started sinking uncontrollably, or the woman on a 90 ft wreck dive who swam off in the opposite direction from the anchor line and then corked to the surface. Many others just ditched me--mostly not on purpose, I believe, but at some point they chose to continue the dive rather than surface to find me. I came to feel safer diving alone than with a stranger.

I admit I did a couple of on-purpose solo dives while working toward dive #100 so I could take the solo course. Now that I've done so, though, I've finally found a good regular buddy whom I really enjoy diving with, so I've done very few solo dives since. But it's nice to know I have the option.

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

When my dad taught me to dive back in the 60's we only had one tank and one regulator. He would snorkle above me with a rope tied to my weight belt so he could pull me up if I got in trouble. Otherwise, I would happily swim around on the bottom of the sea. We would then trade off tank and reg and he would dive. So I guess that means my very first dives were solo.

cc: @Sam Miller III

 

[Andy_Mason]

When my dad taught me to dive back in the 60's we only had one tank and one regulator. He would snorkle above me with a rope tied to my weight belt so he could pull me up if I got in trouble. Otherwise, I would happily swim around on the bottom of the sea. We would then trade off tank and reg and he would dive. So I guess that means my very first dives were solo.

cc: @Sam Miller III

That's an awesome story. Thanks for sharing. You must have (or have had) a really special dad.

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

That's an awesome story. Thanks for sharing. You must have (or have had) a really special dad.

Thanks for your kind words. Dad was amazing. He passed at age 90 in 2012. @Sam Miller III knew him. Dad took me on many diving adventures (mainly spearfishing) here in So. Cal and throughout the Caribbean and Mexico back in the day. I did have to suffer through his repeated stories of his exploits as a B-24 Liberator pilot in the Pacific Theater during WWII but it was tolerable. Plus, he took me on a tour of a beer factory just outside of Mazatlan when I was 10. The free samples at the end of the tour got me hooked for life.

 

[dead dog]

When my dad taught me to dive back in the 60's we only had one tank and one regulator. He would snorkle above me with a rope tied to my weight belt so he could pull me up if I got in trouble. Otherwise, I would happily swim around on the bottom of the sea. We would then trade off tank and reg and he would dive. So I guess that means my very first dives were solo.

cc: @Sam Miller III

Did you have to tie a rope to his weight belt to pull him up if he got in trouble?

 

[Andy_Mason]

Did you have to tie a rope to his weight belt to pull him up if he got in trouble?

I doubt it...sounds like his dad was a super hero to me.

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

Did you have to tie a rope to his weight belt to pull him up if he got in trouble?

Nah, he would disappear into the depths with a speargun and game bag, returning 30 minutes later with a limit of lobster, abalone and the occasional halibut or white sea bass. To me it was normal. In fact, I was taught that the only reason to dive was to kill small sea creatures and eat them.